Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Monday morning, Stiles finds himself staring up at his ceiling contemplating whether or not to even bother getting ready for school or coming up with an ingenious excuse to skip for the day. The latter option sounded the most appealing but the chances of actually fooling his father are slim to none; Stiles would literally have to look and sound like a walking corpse for his father to even consider letting him miss a day of school. Stiles looked over at the digital clock that sat next to his bed, his father should be at work right now; he thought about calling him and feigning some illness but the last time he tried that it didn’t necessarily work out and he wound up having to go to school.

In the end, he wound up abandoning all ideas of trying to skip school, sighing out his frustrations he reluctantly got himself out of bed.

He took a quick shower and got dressed for school; throwing on his usual t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans. He didn’t really make much of an effort to do anything to his hair other than try and position it to a point that it looked decent. He missed the days when he rocked a buzz cut; when he was younger the look complimented him well, but ever since puberty began late last year near the end of his freshman year in high school, his face and the haircut did not go together; so he decided to just grow it out.

He can’t particularly say that his time in high school has been the greatest time of his life because in all actuality it hasn’t. He’s been harassed and bullied ever since the beginning of his freshman year on a pretty consistent basis. Most days he wishes he could walk through the halls of Beacon Hills high school (BHHS) and not be seen; other times he wishes he didn’t go to BHHS at all. Stiles only reason for staying in high school rather than going online is solely because of his best friend Scott who conveniently never has time for Stiles anymore now that he’s dating the girl of his dreams and soulmate, Alison Argent. So with that being said his real reason is the fact that his father told him, “Online school doesn’t build social skills like going to school in person and you could miss out on the chance of finding your soulmate. Who knows you might get lucky and net yourself an alpha.” Stiles couldn’t necessarily argue with that but who needs to socialize with a bunch of kids he’s going to forget a year after graduating? And who honestly needs a soulmate and an alpha at that?

Matter fact, who’s to say he’s not an alpha himself? Stiles knew the answer to that question already though, every book and article he read online on presenting as an alpha/beta/omega clearly stated that all alphas present before the age of 15. Scott was one example that came to mind having presented as an alpha at the age of 14. Stiles obviously wasn’t an alpha considering the fact that he was about to be 16 in 2 months, meaning he was either a beta like his mother or the extremely rare omega. Betas usually present before or by the age of 16. Omegas presentation is iffy, from what is known of Omegas they present around the same time as betas; most of the time they present after the age of 16 but the chances of presenting as an Omega are slim to none.

Alphas and betas are most common in society, betas being more prevalent than alphas. Omegas, on the other hand, were few in numbers, up until ten years ago you could count the number of omegas living in the US alone on two hands. Females were more likely to become omegas than males being that they are born to naturally be able to carry an Alpha or Betas cubs. Male omegas were the rarest in the hierarchy system, it is said that when they present it is an absolutely excruciating process seeing as though their physiology goes through a change to allow the male Omega to be able to carry an alpha or betas cubs. Male omegas are the only beings in the world to be able to either carry cubs themselves or impregnate a female to carry cubs for them. There weren’t very many male omegas to present over the course of time so studies on them aren’t really up to date. As of today, there are probably only 2 or 3 male omegas in the world.

Presenting used to be important to Stiles when he was younger, he had always wanted to present and be an alpha like his dad. The day Scott presented as an Alpha, Stiles was certain he was going to as well soon after. (Presenting is like an extreme version of puberty that all weres go through. Alphas gain an exceptional amount of strength and speed; Betas are pretty much just like alphas except they aren’t as fast and don’t get the same amount of strength. Omegas are the fastest weres in the world, gaining an incredible amount of speed and as much strength as a beta.)

He will never forget the day Scott presented as an Alpha, they were about three months into their freshman year of high school; the two of them had been at lunch eating with one another discussing what they would be doing over the weekend. Scott hadn’t been himself the entire day, he had seemed really glum; physically he looked sickly. Stiles remembered asking him if he was feeling okay and Scott told him that he was feeling a little under the weather. As soon as lunch ended Scott wound up going to the nurses' office and he was later sent home; he had sent Stiles a text and let him know that he was presenting and he would be out of school the rest of the day.

Stiles was then woken up the following day by Scott after he’d called him to tell him that he had presented as an Alpha. Word got around fast and the following week Scott was being heckled by a few students at school, betas begging him to claim them as his own, but Scott only had eyes for Allison. Both Scott and Stiles figured that should either one of them present as an Alpha they’d be the target of numerous requests from a lot of the Betas they went to school with and they were prepared to turn them down should the situation present itself.

Alphas usually tend to be the most desired in society apparently everyone has a thing for the strong leader persona; that and Alphas are apparently great in bed, some women and men have a kink for the knot that male Alphas provide upon climax. Betas commonly flock to single Alphas begging the Alpha to claim them as his or her own but there are some who could care less who they wind up with and don’t see the appeal of becoming an Alphas groupie. Omegas, on the other hand, draw the attention of both, Alphas and Betas, their heat pheromones alone can apparently drive anyone wild with the need to mate and claim. So much so that sometimes an alpha or Beta who’s already mated will break their mate bond just to claim the omega, some say that they go so wild that they do the impossible and break their mate bond with their soulmate.

That last part is just hearsay though but apparently, it’s happened before, Stiles only heard about it by eavesdropping on some of his father’s deputy’s back when he was in middle school. From what he heard about 2 and a half years ago, from that time,  some alpha celebrity went out of his mind when a young Omega girl went into heat in some club out in New York. He fought off every person that tried to make a go for her and when he finally reached her the only people that were standing in between them were his wife who everyone knew was his soulmate, and the Omegas friends that she had gone to the club with. Apparently, they all struggled not to claim the girl for themselves but found some inner strength and reigned in their animalistic senses. But that couldn’t be said for the celebrity, he lost all control knocking his wife out of the way and easily severing their mate bond, the loss of the bond was enough to kill the Alphas wife on the spot; he then went on and slaughtered the Omegas friends and soon after he claimed the Omega for himself. Apparently a week later when the Omega’s heat finally subsided, after finding out about what happened to her friends and her new Alphas wife she killed herself; the Alpha killed himself the following day, after driving his car over a cliff.

The story seemed a bit far-fetched in itself but it was enough to make Stiles initially fear presenting as an Omega. Doing research on the story only helped to reinforce that fear, he didn’t find any actual news on the story itself or any evidence that the story was real; but he did find more stories on blog post that were relatively similar to the one that the deputies were talking about. Every story he read gave him another reason to fear presenting as an Omega, which is why Stiles prayed to almost every deity known to man that he would present as an Alpha or Beta.

Stiles snagged his cell phone off of the charger, he had been texting Scott last night but fell asleep on him after he started going on about how beautiful Allison was. He opened his messages and noticed he had 2 new messages, both from Scott. The first was sent last night “She’s honestly the most amazing, beautiful, awesome girl in the world. She literally sings to my soul and dances to the rhythm of my heartbeat. I love her so much bro …” Stiles could swear if he rolled his eyes any further they’d get stuck in the back of his head. The next message was sent about 10 minutes ago, “hey man sorry about drowning you in my love life, you know I don’t mean it right? I know I haven’t seen much of you lately maybe we can hang out this weekend?”

Stiles thought to respond ‘okay’ to the message but decided against it, there was really no point in getting excited about hanging out with his best friend anymore; they’d usually make plans but they’d always fall through at the last minute. In fact, Stiles can remember more than a few times when Scott would ask to hang out over the weekend only to bail on him to go hang out with Allison.

But Stiles couldn’t really be mad at Scott, he’d just begun dating his soulmate and anyone and everyone knows that newly bonded soulmates are practically conjoined at the hip. It stays that way all the way up until they decide to solidify their bond and the mating rituals are performed; at least that was the way Stiles father explained it to him when Stiles had asked about soulmates. The sheriff gave him an easy explanation and let him know the basics; “Soulmates are forever, while regular mates are just fill-ins for the soulmate that hasn’t been found. A person will always know when they’ve found their soulmate being that both of them will feel their soul marks being branded onto their skin. Once the marks have appeared a bond is formed, it is up to the pair to cement the bond through the mating rituals; once soulmates bond they bond for life, they will never seek another mate even if their soulmate dies. But the chances of actually meeting your soulmate are one in 7 billion which is why most people settle for simply mating with whoever fits their profile; some people just get lucky and happen to meet their soulmate in the process. Like me and your mother …”

Stiles flinched at the memory, every time his father mentioned his mother it was like taking a knife to the gut. It reminded him every time that she was no longer with them and he would never see her beautiful loving face again, Stiles couldn’t imagine how his father must have felt. There were days when Stiles longed to have the friendly, loving, caring, honest relationship his parents had but as of now, with the way Stiles life is going he’d be lucky if he ever found someone to mate with.

Stiles scoffed at his cell phone and shoved it in his back pocket, he scrubbed his face and sighed at the thought of having to go to school. He ran downstairs and made himself a quick breakfast consisting of nothing but cereal and a pop tart, grabbed his keys off of the table, threw his backpack over his shoulder and ran out of the house. He was going to be early regardless but he needed to make sure he had enough time to make it to his class before the halls filled up with students and he ran into a certain group he didn’t particularly care for.

He started his jeep up and before he knew it he was out of his driveway driving down the street heading off to school.

The drive was pleasant, the morning air blowing through his hair, the sun just peaking over the horizon; it was truly a beautiful sight that never failed to take Stiles breath away. If he could he would drive past his school and out of town and go wherever he felt like going without a care in the world. But life won’t allow it and a sophomore in high school can only get so far before they run out of resources needed to live a carefree lifestyle. That and his dad would lead a statewide search to find out where he is and probably kill him when he finds him.

Stiles grunted at the thought, he pulled into the school parking lot which was still relatively empty and parked his jeep where he usually did. He had more than enough time to make it into school and to his class before the halls filled up so he decided to sit back in his jeep and enjoy being outside. He scented the air nodding at the comfort the smell brought him, a smile played at the corner of his mouth.

He thought back to when he first started high school he’d used to drive in with Scott and his mom or Stiles dad would give them a ride when Scott’s mom couldn’t. Stiles figured when he finally got the okay to drive his jeep on his own from his dad he’d be able to drive Scott in but ever since he started dating Allison, he was getting rides from Jackson. Stiles found it funny that Scott and Jackson were now all buddy, buddy when considering at the beginning of their freshman year Scott was also the victim of Jackson’s douchebaggery; Jackson used to put Scott and Stiles through the ringer.

It all started about two months into his freshman year when one giant douchebag who goes by the name of Jackson Whittmore, decided it would be a good idea to badger Stiles at every wake and turn which ultimately lead to Stiles getting depantsed in the lunch line causing his fellow classmates to point and laugh at him. From then on he was either getting shoved into a locker or Jackson would call Stiles out of his name; and because Scott was Stiles best friend he got the same treatment by association.

Stiles knew the reason why Jackson was so vile towards him and that was because he had a not so secret crush on presumably the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, Lydia Martin; who just so happens to be Jackson’s soulmate. The day Stiles found out about Lydia and Jackson being soulmates was the day his heart was crushed and his hope of ever finding a soulmate or mate dwindled and perished. Jackson loved to throw it in Stiles' face that Lydia was his and there was nothing Stiles could do about it. It hurt in the beginning but it’s happened so much now that Stiles doesn’t particularly care and Jackson took notice to that so he made more efforts to physically harm Stiles rather than getting at him with his words.

Stiles figured Jackson would let up on the bullying especially after it was obvious that Stiles could never actually steal Lydia from him, but halfway through his freshman year, Stiles tried trying out for the lacrosse team as a courtesy to Scott who was only trying out for the team as a way to impress Allison. Needless to say it was a disaster, Jackson was also trying out for the lacrosse team and being that Allison and Lydia were apparently inseparable and Scott kept starring in their direction, Stiles would often look in that same direction to see what Scott was looking at; which gave Jackson the wrong idea being that the only reason Stiles was trying out for the team was because he was trying to impress Lydia and take her from Jackson.

Jackson then took every opportunity to knock Stiles on his ass, harder than necessary and he made it abundantly clear after the third time he tackled him to tell him “you go anywhere near my girl, I’ll rip you to fucking shreds and send what’s left of you to your house for your parents to find.” Stiles didn’t really bother trying to make the team after that, the rest of “practice” was full of almost every guy trying out for lacrosse, tossing Stiles around like a rag doll.

A few days later when the coach put out the paper showing who made the team he wasn’t surprised his name wasn’t on the list. Scott had managed to make the team though and it was after making the team that Jackson started going ‘easy’ on Scott but he still treated Stiles terribly.

A few months into the lacrosse season BHHS was comfortably leading the regional rankings and looking to take the win at the conference championships. Of course, when the team does good it brings a lot of attention to the players and that attention is part of the reason Scott started to drift away from Stiles. Scott was slowly but surely becoming one of the most popular kids in school, all thanks to him being one of the star players on the lacrosse team. Stiles remembered how Scott used to always wonder how he managed to make the team but Stiles thought he was talking crazy; to be honest, Stiles knew there was no way Scott wouldn’t make the team being that he presented as an alpha before tryouts took place so his abilities were enhanced making him faster and stronger. Stiles thought that maybe if he had presented before tryouts he could have made the team too, not that he cared either way.

Soon after BHHS lacrosse team won the conference championship, Scott had started getting invited to parties, Allison was apparently at most of these parties so there was no way he wasn’t going to them. Scott had tried to take Stiles along for a few of them but Stiles thought long and hard about going to a party where he hardly knows anyone but everyone somehow or another knows him and it would just be too awkward, so he declined each time. Stiles sort of got the idea that Scott only asked him out of pity and was secretly hoping he would decline; again he didn’t fault his best friend for that, he was going out of his way to try and win over the girl of his dreams who later turned out to be his soulmate.

By the end of freshman year, Stiles didn’t really hear much from Scott at all, he was always busy, becoming one of the boys most guys in school aspired to be. They had stopped eating lunch with each other and they no longer hung out in between classes. Stiles thought that maybe at the start of Summer Scott would come around more often but that didn’t happen; from what he saw on social media if Scott wasn’t away visiting family he was hanging out with Jackson and other members of the lacrosse team. Scott did, however, make sure to text Stiles every now and again to see how he was, so at least he hadn’t completely forgotten about him.

By the start of the sophomore year Scott was hanging out with Jackson and his group regularly, he even started eating lunch with them but that’s only because Allison ate lunch with them or so Stiles thought. Isaac Lahey (Beta/Werewolf), Vernon Boyd (Beta/Werewolf), Jackson Whittmore (Beta/Kanima), Lydia Martin (Beta/Banshee), Allison Argent (Beta/Werewolf), Erica Reyes (Beta/Werewolf), Derek Hale (Alpha/Werewolf) and now Scott McCall (Alpha/Werewolf) were all some kind of freaky unified pack of werewolves and a token Banshee and Kanima.

Because Jackson didn’t like Stiles the boys in the group, besides Scott, didn’t particularly care for him either; Isaac was the tall surly good looking guy who upon first glance seems a bit dopey; he usually called Stiles a loser or something along those lines. Boyd the tall, dark, silent, sexy type didn’t do much other than shove him out the way whenever Stiles was in his way; Jackson was Jackson and Derek was Mr. Hotshot, the star player of the lacrosse team; there wasn’t a girl or guy in school besides Stiles that didn’t want a piece of him. Derek like Boyd would shove Stiles to the side if Stiles somehow managed to get in his way and he would sometimes follow it up with some kind of snide remark.

Stiles has had more than a few run-ins with Derek, during his freshman year Stiles had shared Biology class with him. He initially thought Derek was harmless and that he didn’t really care about the feud between Stiles and Jackson seeing as though every time he saw him he didn’t really do anything unlike the other boys; one time he could have sworn Derek had said “Hi” to him but he convinced himself it was just a delusion.

It was midway into the lacrosse season when Derek had suddenly decided that it was okay to treat Stiles like shit, Stiles had walked into class minding his own business and tried making his way to his desk but Derek thought it would be a good idea to stick his foot out and trip Stiles and when Stiles tried picking himself up Derek quietly said, “watch where you’re walking punk, my shoes are worth more than you.” Stiles simply shrugged the confrontation off telling himself it was bound to happen eventually and ever since then Derek had treated him terribly.

The torment they put him through was out of hand; Stiles figured that one of them also had to be the cause of the malicious rumors going around school about him. He didn’t know anyone else in school who would go out of their way to defame his character in such a way. Scott knew all of this and he had tried to get them to lay off but apparently, they told him it was all in good fun and Scott wound up telling Stiles not to take it seriously and to just go along with it. It took everything in Stiles not to blow up on Scott right then and there for believing such a blatant lie.

Now, a month and a half into their sophomore year Scott has all but forgotten about Stiles … most of the time. He would see him in the hallways and walk right past him without saying anything; too distracted by everyone greeting him to notice Stiles was even there. Stiles didn’t mind though, he was happy his best friend had managed to get the fairy tale high school experience, even at the expense of being somewhat alone.

Stiles found it funny that he still considered Scott to be his best friend, in all honesty, it made him feel kind of pathetic. Scott became super popular and Stiles was Stiles, other than Scott he didn’t have any friends in school. He would say Danny Māhealani was a friend of his but Danny was friends with everybody and Danny just so happened to be Jackson’s best friend; so really, without Scott, Stiles was basically a loner and with rumors about him running rampant through school and his terrible rep with Jackson and other members of the lacrosse team, Stiles probably would stay a loner throughout the rest of high school.

Stiles shook the negative thoughts from his head, there was no point getting upset over something so trivial, he just has to make it through the rest of his sophomore year, his Jr. Year and finally his senior year and he will be free to take the world by storm and get out of the shit hole that is Beacon Hills.

School was going to begin in about thirty minutes, so Stiles gathered his things in his jeep and made his way inside the school making sure to stop by the bathroom before class started so he didn’t have to do it when the halls were full of students.

His first class was chemistry taught by none other than, Mr. Harris. Stiles sat in the back of the class and he was thankful for that if it was one thing Mr. Harris did right it was assigning Stiles to sit in the back of the class.

Last year after Jackson humiliated him in the lunch line a lot of people found it funny to poke fun at him regardless of if they knew him or not; it happened often, he could be sitting in class minding his own business and next thing he knew someone was throwing something at the back of his head and if they weren’t throwing something at him they were talking about him and making him feel more self-conscious than he already was.

Usually, by the time Stiles got to his class, Mr. Harris would have his door open and his class prepped which allowed Stiles to walk in and take a seat before the first bell rang. But today his door was closed and the lights were off, “what the fuck?” Stiles asked.

Harris was nowhere to be found, if he wasn’t back in ten minutes then Stiles was basically screwed. Lydia was in his chemistry class and Jackson always made sure to escort her to and from her classes and the last thing Stiles wants on a Monday is a run in with Jackson or any of his friends. Stiles thought about heading back to his jeep and waiting until the bell rang to go to class but then he remembered that a few of the lacrosse players like to hang out in the student parking lot before school starts and if they spotted him they’d probably make a scene and do something obscene.

So with that Stiles decided to head to the cafeteria to pick up something to snack on, if he was honest he could really go for a stack of pancakes and bacon; which was odd considering he wasn’t much of a breakfast guy but today he was feeling unusually hungry. It was risky going to the cafeteria especially when the bell would be ringing in less than 15 minutes but he needed to eat something or he was going to lose his mind.

He made good timing getting to the cafeteria, he bought some Chex mix and a small box of apple jacks; the second he got the food in his hands he went to town on it, he ate the apple jacks without milk and practically inhaled the box into his mouth. When he was finished he threw the box in the trash and checked the time on his phone; the bell would be ringing in a moment so he stashed the Chex mix in his pocket and walked back towards his classroom.

Along the way, a group of girls passed by him one of them had said something he didn’t catch and they had all started laughing, he decided to ignore it and not think too much of it until he felt someone tap him on his shoulder from behind. He turned around to see who it was and immediately he noticed it was one of the girls from the group, “can I ask you something?” the girl asked.

Stiles shrugged letting her know it was fine, “are you really like … you know …” the girl struggled to get the words out.

Stiles looked at her a little dumbfounded, “no I don’t know.”

“Is it true that you can’t present?” The girl asked innocently.

Stiles gawked at her, “what?”

She had begun to start laughing maniacally at that point, “I’m sorry but there’s this rumor going around that you’re some kind of freak that can’t present.” Stiles knew that people were going around calling him a freak lately but he didn’t exactly know what for, now he knew why.

Stiles nodded and didn’t really care much to answer her question and felt it would be best to leave the situation but as soon as he tried turning around to walk away the girl grabbed him by the wrist; “wait …” the girl said.

Stiles tried to wrench his wrist free of her grip but she only held him tighter, ‘great’ Stiles thought. This was just another instance where he wished he had already presented, so he could overpower her and escape the situation. The girl’s brown eyes turned blue, 'of course she's presented already and she's a beta just my luck,' Stiles thought to himself.

“Stop struggling I don’t want to have to hurt you. Lord knows what I could do to someone who hasn’t presented yet … I almost feel sorry for you,” the girl said menacingly.

He wouldn’t be struggling if she didn’t have a death grip on his wrist, “let me go.” Stiles said.

The girl looked to be enjoying herself, her friends were obviously enjoying the show behind her, they were laughing hysterically; she was prepared to throw Stiles back but she caught wind of something and just like that she let him go, her eyes returning to their original color. “You-you … smell … really good,” The girl said slowly.

Stiles didn’t know what to think of that, all he knew was that he needed to get away from her and get to class before something else could happen; he turned around and made a beeline for his classroom. He practically sprinted down the hall and rounded the corner and just as soon as he entered the hall where his classroom was located he ran smack dead into what felt like a brick wall.

He fell back onto the floor and before he could register what he had run into he was being lifted up off the floor and slammed back into a wall, red eyes gleaming at him; “well look who it is, everyone’s favorite little freak Stiles Stilinski.” Go figure he’d into Derek Hale, “How you been? I haven’t seen much of you since we don’t have any classes together this year.” Sarcasm spilled out with every word he spoke. “I gotta say I kinda miss messing with you every now and then, you remember that don’t you?” Of course, Stiles remembered it, tripping, punching, shoving, pulling Stiles chair out from behind him so he’d fall on the ground and the awful jokes about him that left him embarrassed while the entire class laughed at him; there was no way he could forget it.

Stiles nodded and had tried to squirm his way out of Derek’s hold, Derek simply shoved him back into the wall and leaned in close, “listen, you little shit, you run into me again and I’ll make sure you go home with a couple bruises.” Derek threatened; he then shoved Stiles to the side knocking him back on the ground.

Boyd clapped Derek on the shoulder, “nice one man …” he said glancing at Stiles, “come on I need to drop off some things to Erica before class starts.” Boyd mentioned, Derek simply nodded in response.

“Remember what I said … freak,” was all Derek offered before walking off down the hall with Boyd.

Stiles didn’t immediately get up off the floor, he sat up and leaned against the wall watching Derek and Boyd’s retreating figures disappear in the crowd of students. Stiles sighed and decided to look over himself to make sure everything was still functioning properly. He deduced that the only thing injured was his pride and decided there was nothing he could do about that except suck it up. Stiles clapped his hands to his cheeks, “just get through the day,” he told himself.

Before he could pick himself up someone had tripped over his foot, luckily whoever it was didn’t fall to the ground to join Stiles, they had managed to catch themselves. “What the hell du- … Stiles?” Scott said surprised.

Stiles looked up at Scott, he didn’t bother offering him any greeting, he just stood up and wiped his pants off.

Obviously wherever Scott was Allison wasn’t too far behind, “Scott, are you okay?” She asked.

Scott came from surprised to lovesick puppy in a matter of milliseconds, “Ye-yeah … I just ran into my friend that’s all.” If Stiles life were a comedy show that would be the best joke of them all.

Allison looked over to Stiles and smiled, if the circumstances were different Stiles would have swooned at the sight of such a beautiful smile but considering what he had just gone through he was done with everyone and everything. “Hi my name is Allison,” Allison offered cheerily, holding her hand out for Stiles to shake.

Stiles looked down at her hand and over to Scott, then back down to her hand; he opted to shake it but decided against it. “Yeah … hi,” was all Stiles offered; he had begun to walk away from them towards Harris’s classroom, he heard Scott call for him but he wasn’t really feeling like entertaining his so-called best friend and his soul mate at the moment.

Stiles was a few steps away from Harris’s classroom and noticed that Jackson and Lydia were nowhere to be found and he was grateful for that. He then noticed his stomach rumbling uncontrollably; there was still 5 minutes left until class officially started and Stiles still had that bag of Chex mix in his pocket. He quickly took it out and scarfed down the contents of the bag, surprisingly quick. He had no idea why he was so hungry all of the sudden, again he wasn’t really a breakfast person and usually a bowl of cereal and pop tarts were more than enough to make him full in the morning. He stashed the empty bag back into his pocket and walked into Harris’s room or Satan’s torture chamber as Stiles liked to call it.

He had made it most of the way through class when suddenly he was stricken by a sharp pain in his lower abdomen. He thought it might pass quickly but it didn’t, it only seemed to be getting worst and it felt like it was spreading. He did his best to conceal the fact that he was in a lot of pain but his efforts clearly didn’t go unnoticed. When Harris decided to pass out a pop quiz, Stiles assumed he must have looked like a wreck because when Harris walked up to him to hand him his quiz he quickly took it back, “are you feeling okay Mr. Stilinski?” Harris asked. Stiles thought he must look worse for wear because Harris actually looked concerned.

“Ye-yeah just fine …” Stiles struggled, he knew he wasn’t fine though, he felt horrible. He thought maybe he was getting indigestion, his stomach isn’t particularly used to digesting a lot of food in the morning.

“Mr. Harris sir, I heard he’s been popping pills trying to force his presentation, he’s probably having some withdrawal symptoms; supposedly the pills are really addictive.” A boy said from the front of the class, the rest of the class laughed in unison; Stiles thought Harris might have found humor in that since he didn’t particularly like Stiles but he seemed to be visibly upset by that statement.

“Greenberg, tell me … have you ever seen these so-called pills before?” Harris turned and asked.

The boy (Greenberg) stiffened in his seat, “no-no sir …”

Harris nodded stepping towards the front of the class, “interesting … so you have no proof that Mr. Stilinski is, in fact, popping pills then?”

Greenberg fiddled with his fingers, “no-no sir …”

Harris nodded again, “so then what you’re saying is just a rumor correct?”

Greenberg nodded, “Ye-yes sir …”

Harris picked up Greenberg’s quiz off of his desk, “you know I heard a rumor just now too … the rumor was that you’d be making up this quiz in detention after school. Go to the front office and get out of my classroom!”

Greenberg looked visibly shaken by that, “but-but sir I have prac-“

“NOW!” Harris yelled, Greenberg struggled to gather his things and he ran out of the classroom; Stiles was astonished at what just happened. Any other day Harris probably would have let that slide but apparently, today wasn’t one of those days. Harris made his way back over to Stiles desk, “gather your things and take this …” Harris handed the pop quiz to Stiles. “Go to the nurse’s office now, you can take your quiz home and bring it back to me when you’re feeling better.”

Stiles was reluctant to do what Harris said, “I-I can finish it now it-it’s fine, I’m fine …”

Harris narrowed his eyes at Stiles, “Stilinski if you could look in the mirror right now you would do as I say without hesitating. Get up and go to the nurse’s office, now.”

Stiles wondered how terrible he looked, he looked fine when he left for school and obviously he didn’t have a mirror to see himself now but he assumed he was fine before class started as well. Thankfully he sat next to a window and when he tried placing his quiz in his bag he caught a glimpse of his reflection and now he understood why Harris was so adamant about him leaving. Stiles looked like absolute garbage, this was the way he needed to look to convince his father to get out of school. Dark rings had formed under his eyes, he was ghostly pale and he hadn’t noticed but he was sweating … a lot, so much so that his hair was sticking to his forehead.

Stiles got all of his things and tried standing up but the pain in his lower abdomen only got worst and he fell to the floor. Some of the students thought that it was funny until Harris fixed them with a menacing glare, “Mr. Stilinski do you need help to the nurse’s office?”

Stiles waved him off, “no … no, I’m fine.” Stiles said picking himself up off the floor, he was not going to allow himself to look any more pathetic than he already did. “Thank you …” Stiles offered Harris before walking out of the class. He heard Harris order the rest of the class to get to work on the pop quiz before he made it out the door.

The walk to the nurse’s office was excruciatingly painful with each step he took he felt like one thousand shards of glass were ripping through his intestine. Stiles couldn’t imagine what he could have caught between the time he left home and the time he got to school that would make him look and feel so bad. He was going to make it the nurse’s office no matter what it took, no matter how much pain it caused him, so long as there was some kind of pain relief waiting for him. At least he wasn’t trying to make his way through a whole bunch of his classmates, he at least was thankful that school was now in session and the halls were empty. He figured they all would probably point and laugh at him and throw some horrible jokes at him along the way, Stiles wouldn’t put it past some of them in his short time at BHHS he’s seen and dealt with some pretty awful people.

His luck couldn’t get any worst at this point; he had made it halfway to the nurse’s office and was passing up the boy’s bathroom when he felt he couldn’t go any further without taking a break. He leaned against the wall trying to catch his breath, the pain that was in his abdomen now spread to his legs; Stiles couldn’t feel it before but he became extremely aware of why he was sweating so bad, he was on fire. His body literally felt like it was on fire, he knew he didn’t have much time left, he knew he was probably going to pass out from his sudden symptoms at any moment. He was surprised he hadn’t passed out already from a panic attack, but that was something he didn’t want or need to think about at the moment.

As soon as he decided to get back to making his way to the nurse’s office, the boy’s bathroom door opened and Stiles hadn’t noticed, he currently had tunnel vision, his only objective was to get to the nurse’s office. He thought there was no way his luck could get any worst, he, unfortunately, he was wrong, before he could register what was happening he had been snatched up and his back was slammed into the wall; when he finally focused on who had gotten a hold of him it was none other than the brick wall he ran into earlier, Mr. Hotshot … Derek Hale.

“I told you if you got in my way again I was going to send you home with some bruises, you little shit.” Derek seethed his Alpha eyes glowing crimson red, he was so angry it looked like he was on the brink of shifting into his beta form.

Boyd came up behind him and held onto Derek’s shoulder, “dude … I think you should leave him alone … he looks bad.” 'Wow so Boyd really did have a heart,' Stiles thought.

Derek shrugged Boyd’s hand off, “fuck off Boyd, I’m going to teach this little bastard a lesson. He needs to learn to stay the fuck out of MY WAY!” Derek said gripping Stiles collar tighter. Stiles didn’t mind if Derek hit him at that moment, he was already in so much pain he probably wouldn’t even register getting hit.

Boyd’s eyes flashed blue, “dude … he …” Boyd struggled to form a sentence.

Derek looked like he was ready to knock Stiles around a few times but the hits never came, what came was a new pain on the inside of his right wrist. Stiles already felt like he was on fire before but now it felt like his skin was actually burning; Derek seemed absolutely shell-shocked, he had dropped Stiles and held onto his left wrist and just like Stiles the inside of his wrist appeared to be bothering him. Stiles noticed Derek lifted his sleeve on his letterman jacket, “no fucking way …” Derek said.

Like Derek, Stiles reached over and struggled to lift the sleeve of his hoodie, Boyd must have snapped out of his initial shock and noticed what Stiles was trying to do because he rushed over and helped him lift it up to reveal a mark; it was a wolf’s head that was shaped like half of a heart.

Boyd turned around and snatched Derek’s wrist and looked between the two marks, from what Stiles could make out Derek’s mark was also a wolf’s head shaped like half of a heart.

The last thing Stiles heard was Boyd telling Derek, “dude … he’s your soulmate …” Stiles passed out right after that.

 Derek POV

Derek felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him, this couldn’t be right; Stiles Stilinski was not his soulmate. He looked down at his mark and traced over the wolf’s head that was now forever marked onto his skin, he looked over to where Boyd held Stiles wrist glancing at the mark on his skin and sure enough it was a similar wolf-shaped the same way as Derek’s; Stiles Stilinski was, in fact, his soulmate.

“Derek … DEREK!” Boyd called him snapping him out of the trance that he was in, “we have got to get him to the nurse, now! He passed out and he’s burning up!” Boyd panicked as he lifted Stiles up off of the floor, throwing one of his arms around his shoulder. Boyd looked hesitant at first, “what the hell … why does he smell so good?” He looked at Derek expectantly.

Derek wondered what Boyd had meant by that, Stiles never smelt good, he always smelt a little bit off; most people have a distinct smell to them, some smell like candy or the forest, others smell like wood or pine, it all depends on the individual, but Stiles … well, he always smelled a little ‘funny’ that was the only way Derek could describe it.

One whiff of the air and Derek immediately understood what Boyd was talking about, Stiles smelled amazing; his scent literally engulfed him igniting all of his senses making him feel at ease like he was home. But that feeling went away quickly replaced with the overwhelming need to protect and ensure his mate was okay. He knew right off the bat that his wolf’s instincts were taking over and there was no way he could fight it. Derek quickly moved to assist Boyd and draped Stiles other arm over his shoulder and helped Boyd carry him to the nurse’s office.

They had gotten there relatively fast; Derek practically kicked the door in and hounded the nurse into checking Stiles over.

“What’s wrong with him?!” The nurse questioned taking Stiles and helping him onto the exam bed.

Derek found himself reaching out for Stiles when the nurse had taken him away but he caught himself and reined in his instincts, he trusted the nurse would do what she could to help Stiles, “I don’t know … we found him in the hallway like that.” Derek lied, Boyd nodded in agreement.

She gave Stiles a quick once over, checking areas around his body to try and figure out what was wrong. “This can’t be right …” the nurse said pulling out a thermostat and placing it gently into Stiles' mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked but the nurse didn’t answer his question she was too focused on Stiles. “HEY! What’s wrong with him?!” Derek asked again making sure he got her attention; he couldn’t help himself, his wolf was going insane.

The nurse turned back and it appeared she was ready for a shouting match but she must have caught a glimpse of Derek’s wrist because she glanced down at Stiles and turned his right wrist over revealing his mark and immediately understood Derek’s urgency, “I see … he is … he is presenting …” the nurse started; Derek sighed in relief, Boyd had clapped him on the shoulder. “But something is wrong, he has an extremely high fever and I’m not sure what’s causing him to have these dark circles under his eyes and I can’t figure out why he’s so pale …”

Derek clenched his fist, he felt himself lose a bit of control as his alpha claws slowly started growing out, the only thing he could do was dig them into his own skin to avoid alarming anyone.

The nurse had looked down at his fist, she must have noticed blood dripping from them, she seemed a little startled but did not falter; she looked Derek in the eyes before she spoke, “as you know … when we present, we can feel a little under the weather and you know that that doesn’t last long at all. It probably lasts a few hours at most, it’s nothing a good night’s rest can’t fix, which is why it is recommended the individual rest in bed …”

Derek understood and he knew she was right, it had been the same for him and all of his friends that had presented, he came to school one day feeling like crap, got sent home early and his mom put him to bed and the next morning he was as good as new. “So what’s going on with him?” he asked pointing to Stiles.

The nurse held her hands up, “just give me a moment, I need to call the ambulance and then I need to call his father and then I need to inform the principal of what’s going on.”

“Hey it’s going to be okay,” Boyd said from behind him, Derek was grateful for his friend's presence, had he have not been there he would probably have flipped a few tables to get some answers.

In front of him the nurse had just hung up with the ambulance and Derek assumed she was now calling Stiles father, “Sherriff … Sherriff this is Nurse Baldrow at the high school … yes well, I’m calling because of your son … no … Sheriff, please listen … no, no he’s not in trouble I just …. JOHN LISTEN TO ME! Your son is presenting but there’s seems to be some kind of problem. Now I am calling to let you know that I’ve called the ambulance and I think it’d be best if you head over to the hospital right now … I'm, sure he will be okay I just thought it’d necessary he get immediate medical attention … there is no need to apologize and I’m sure he will be fine, just get yourself to the hospital … you’re welcome.” With that, she hung up the phone.

She turned to Derek, phone still in hand, “alright just one more call.” She immediately dialed the principal's extension, “yes principal Thomas … I’m fine sir, I was just calling to tell you that I had to call the ambulance, one of our students is presenting and … no sir, he seems to be showing unusual symptoms … no sir it’s just that these symptoms, well these symptoms could potentially be life-threatening.” She whispered the last part but Derek heard everything.

“WHAT?!” Derek roared.

Boyd yanked him back and held him against the wall, “CALM DOWN DEREK!” Boyd yelled, punching him in the face.

Derek struggled to break free of Boyd’s grip, he could have easily overpowered him but he did not want to hurt his friend and have to deal with worrying about him as well as Stiles. He took a few deep breaths and relaxed, he was going to get Boyd back later for hitting him. He heard someone yelling, “Hello? Are you there?” It was coming from the phone that was now on the floor; Derek’s roar must have scared nurse Baldrow so much that she dropped it and braced herself for the worst. “I’m sorry …” Derek said calmly.

Nurse Baldrow nodded and picked the phone up off the floor, Principal Thomas must have hung up the phone because when she answered she didn’t get a response. Not a minute after she put the phone down, Principal Thomas came barreling into the nurse’s office, “WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!”

Boyd clammed up and avoided making any kind of eye contact, Derek just turned his attention back to Stiles, who was still passed out even after all the commotion. Nurse Baldrow walked over to the principal, who was glaring at Derek and Boyd like he had a bone to pick with them, “sir this boy … there is something very wrong with him.” Nurse Baldrow said cautiously.

Principal Thomas looked over to Stiles who was lying on the exam bed, “you said he was presenting? Obviously, he’s not feeling well, that’s normal.”

Nurse Baldrow nodded, “yes sir it’s normal, but his symptoms are worse than normal presentation symptoms.”

Principal Thomas looked back to Nurse Baldrow, “how so?”

“He’s running an extremely high fever, he … he-well look at him,” Nurse Baldrow held out her hand towards Stiles, “did you look like that when you presented?”

Principal Thomas cocked his head to the side, “I don’t think so … I mean yeah it was bad, but I don’t think I looked that bad. Maybe he’s just in a little pain and he’s not taking it well, there are people that don’t take pain well you know.”

Nurse Baldrow rolled her eyes, “yes sir I know, but the pain we go through during normal presentation is bearable and barely noticeable if you’re used to having pulled muscles.”

Principal Thomas waved her off, “yeah okay …” he walked closer to the exam table to get a better look at Stiles, “maybe I can take his pain away and see if that helps.” Nurse Baldrow scoffed for an old guy he was extremely stubborn. He reached to place a hand on Stiles, Derek released a menacing growl in response. Principal Thomas spun around in alarm, “is something wrong, Mr. Hale? Is there a reason you’re in here and not in class?”

Nurse Baldrow stuck her hand out pleadingly, “sir … they brought him here and … Mr. Hale … he is his soulmate …”

Principal Thomas nodded, “and that explains everything … alright, Hale, I’m just going to try and take his pain away and see if that helps any okay?”

Derek nodded and backed down, Principal Thomas grabbed hold of Stiles left wrist and after only a few seconds he let go and fell back into one of the nurse’s cabinets clearly shaken. His breathing seemed labored and he was having a hard time keeping himself upright. “Sir are you okay?!” Nurse Baldrow asked alarmed.

Principal Thomas stumbled a little but righted himself, “we need to get this boy to a hospital … this is not a normal presentation.”

Nurse Baldrow nodded frantically, “I know, the ambulance should be here soon.”

Principal Thomas placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “I’m going to go wait outside and see them in … he’s … he’s in so much pain, I’ve never felt anything like it.” With that he was out of the nurse’s office, to await the arrival of the paramedics. Nurse Baldrow had become distracted by cleaning up the mess Principal Thomas had made after falling back into her cabinet.

Derek wondered how much pain Stiles could possibly be in; his instincts screamed that if Stiles were in any kind of pain he should be the one to take it away not anyone else. He walked over and stood next to Stiles, he held out his right hand and grabbed hold of Stiles left wrist and before he knew it he was leaching his pain away.

The second he felt what Stiles was feeling, he screamed out in agony, it was the worst pain he’s felt in his life and it only got worst. Boyd was by his side in an instant and snatched Derek’s hand away from Stiles, Nurse Baldrow ran over to assist him.

Derek’s knees buckled, his legs had given out on him, he wondered how Stiles was able to walk, hell he wasn’t sure how he managed to stand up. He wondered how he was able to breath when it felt like a ton of bricks were sitting on his chest, he wanted to know more than anything how he was surviving all of this.

Boyd and nurse Baldrow helped Derek over to one of the chairs and sat him down, Boyd took a seat next to him and helped him catch his breath, by doing breathing exercises they learned in lacrosse and track.

“I’d advise that you not try that again,” Nurse Baldrow said. Derek nodded, he knew there was no way he could handle doing that a second time.

Boyd tapped him on the arm, “hey, so, I know this isn’t the best time to ask this but … what are you gonna do when he wakes up?”

Derek flinched at the question, it was a really good question and he hadn’t thought of it, “I-I don’t know …”

Boyd shrugged, “I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but … it’s just that I know you’re running purely on instinct right now and I know you’ve gotta be going insane not being able to do anything but again that’s all out of instinct. What are your instincts gonna tell you to do when he wakes up? You and him, don’t really have the best track record …” Boyd looked bothered to have to remind Derek of that.

But someone needed to remind him that this was Stiles Stilinski, he was the same kid that Derek was going to ‘send home with a couple bruises’ ten minutes ago; he was the same kid that he’d slammed into walls and tormented for the past year. Stiles was his soulmate and thinking back on everything he and his friends have done to Stiles, well Stiles is most likely not gonna want to have anything to do with him.

Derek leaned his head back against the wall and covered his face with his hands trying to contemplate what he was going to do, “I don’t know … I don’t know what I’m going to do …” Derek whispered.

Boyd sighed, “I think you should probably prepare yourself for the worst …”

Derek huffed, “yeah thanks Boyd for stating the obvious, I got that …” it felt like every shitty thing he had ever done was coming back to haunt him. That was the only way he could explain why fate decided to be so cruel and make Stiles his soulmate, this whole ordeal was fucked up but Derek can’t really say he didn’t deserve it.

Suddenly paramedics had come bursting into the nurse’s office followed closely by Principal Thomas, they had come in asking questions like how Stiles vitals were, what his temperature was and some of the symptoms he was suffering. Nurse Baldrow answered to the best of her ability while the paramedics did their initial check, it was all really fast paced; before Derek knew it they were bringing in a stretcher and getting ready to transfer Stiles over to a gurney to wheel him out of school. But before they could get him on the stretcher something strange had happened, Stiles had begun coughing uncontrollably and Derek watched as the paramedics tried to help him get a handle over himself.

After a few seconds Stiles sprung up and gasping for air like he had been underwater for a long period of time, he was hunched over and the paramedics were holding onto him; one of them had asked if he knew what was going on and where he was but Stiles didn’t respond to him, Derek assumed he was having a hard time registering what was going on.

Stiles POV

It felt like someone had lifted a huge weight off of his chest which allowed him to breathe normally, coming out from the darkness of passing out was much like surfacing above water and catching your breath. He shot up gasping for air, he heard someone next to him asking him a few questions, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He was still in a lot of pain, but at least now he could breathe normally. He tried to recall the last thing he remembered, he had been in the main corridor heading to the nurse’s office and he was by the bathroom where he ran into Derek. One of the paramedics had asked him if he knew his name, “Stiles,” he rasped.

He kept thinking about what happened in the hallway, Derek had gotten a hold of him and he was going to hit him and then …

Suddenly a sense of urgency overcame Stiles and he looked at the inside of his right wrist and sure enough, a mark was there. The wolf head that was shaped like half of a heart, Derek had the other half, Derek Hale was his soulmate. Shit.

He gasped and one of the paramedics asked him if he was having problems breathing, he nodded his head, yes, “I just … I just need some time,” he struggled to say.

Stiles was well aware that he was no longer in the main corridor, he must have been in the nurse’s office as he looked up to check his surroundings a collective gasp was heard from each individual in the room.

“His eyes …” Principal Thomas whispered, his face shrouded in disbelief. Nurse Baldrow held a hand over her mouth her eyes wide with shock, the two paramedics holding onto Stiles looked at one another and nodded as if they had gotten an answer to their question. Stiles noticed Boyd in the corner, his mouth was hung wide open like he was seeing the most shocking thing he had ever seen in his life. Derek was the one who stood out from the rest, his eyes were a deep scarlet red and they were fixed on Stiles and he looked to be lost in some kind of trance, starring in awe at something magnificent, which sort of freaked Stiles out.

Stiles couldn’t figure out why everyone seemed so shocked; it was nurse Baldrow that started to answer the question for him, “Green eyes … he’s …”

“Omega …” Derek answered awestruck. Shit.

Stiles read something online a while ago, ‘Blue Monday,’ apparently, the most depressing day of the year. It happens in the third week of January or so they say, it’s nothing more than calculated pseudoscience. But Stiles thought whoever coined the term was wrong, because it was the middle of September and today was not only the most depressing day of his year, it was the shittiest.

An Omega, he was an Omega, he presented and he was now an Omega, he couldn’t believe it, he refused to believe it just like he refused to believe Derek Hale was his soulmate.

The reality of it all came crashing down on him and he passed out again shortly afterward. One word came to his mind before he lost consciousness, it was the perfect word to describe his entire situation.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Derek POV

“Omega …” Derek said, the sight before him completely took his breath away.

It was quite amazing how this person whose emerald green eyes took complete control over Derek, captivating him in his entirety; filling him with an overwhelming need to protect and nurture. This Omega was the same person he was about to pummel for getting in his way not even an hour ago.

Stilinski's eyes were so beautiful the way they illuminated the room, casting a brilliant and deep fluorescent green light that shined bright like an emerald under light; there was no way anyone who looked into his eyes would be able to look away. Derek felt his eyes shift as crimson red bled through his natural hazel eyes, it was as if his wolf was responding to seeing the eyes of its mate for the first time.

Suddenly Stilinski's eyes closed and the glow from the beautiful emerald green eyes that captivated the entire room diminished. Stilinski's head fell forward and his weight had gone slack against one of the paramedics, Derek assumed that Stilinski fainted again and he was thankful for that because after seeing Stilinski's Omega green eyes Derek felt as if he had little to no control over himself and knew he was seconds away from trying to lay claim on his Omega.

His Omega and soulmate, Stiles Stilinski; no matter how many times he went over that in his head, it sounded wrong, like some terrible joke that someone was playing on him. The whole situation seemed like a joke but Derek wasn’t laughing.

The paramedics transferred Stilinski to the stretcher and placed it on the gurney, they strapped him up and took his vitals and before Derek knew it they were getting ready to roll Stilinski out. One of the paramedics checked Stilinski's wrist, it was clear he noticed the soul mark, he turned around and addressed the room, “does anyone know who his soulmate is?” 

On instinct, Derek held up his left wrist and revealed his soul mark, “Are you going to be traveling with us to the hospital?” The paramedic asked him.

Derek, who eyes had been on Stilinski the whole time finally looked away from him and around the room. How was he supposed to answer that, he didn’t exactly like Stilinski and unless Stilinski enjoyed being picked on all the time, Derek could only assume Stilinski hated him too. Derek wondered how Stilinski would feel waking up in a hospital room seeing someone he hated standing over him. If it were Derek, he’d probably tear the place apart and knock someone’s lights out.

“Are you coming or not?! We need to get him to the hospital!” The paramedic interrupted Derek’s thoughts.

“Mr. Hale I will advise you that even if you choose not to go with them to the hospital you are not permitted to stay in school. I can’t risk you being here under such stressful circumstances, I don’t need you losing control.” Principal Thomas chimed in.

There wasn’t any way in hell Derek would be caught dead in a hospital room worrying over Stiles Stilinski, that was just something he could not allow, not now, not ever. Derek shook his head, “no … I’m … I’ll just go home,” Derek answered defying every single one of his instincts that were screaming at him to stay with Stilinski.

Boyd stood in front of Derek, his face was shrouded in worry and fear, “dude it’s no pressure, no one will think any differently of you if you went. If … if that was Erica … I … I’d-“

“I don’t want to go Boyd … I just want to go home.” Derek interjected. Truth be told, the only thing he really did want to do was go home, get back in his bed and wake up from this nightmare. But Derek knew this wasn’t a nightmare, this was now his reality, and every morning he wakes from then on, he will have a constant reminder on his left wrist that this day actually happened.

Boyd shuddered at Derek’s response clearly bothered by it; Nurse Baldrow walked up to Derek and placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “I don’t think you understand what going with them can do for you, you’ll be more at ease and you won’t face the possibility of going feral …”

Derek shrugged her hand off, “I. Don’t. Want. To. Go.” he said with finality. The idea of going feral over not being around Stilinski made him crazy. There was no way Derek was willing to accept that the amount of control he had over himself and his wolf’s instincts were now based around Stilinski's wellbeing.

“You’re sure?” One of the paramedics asked. 

Derek simply nodded in response, it might be a shock to them and everyone else in the room that he wasn’t going with Stiles to the hospital. But they don’t know the history between them, so they could never understand why he’s choosing not to go.

The paramedic nodded, “right, then let’s get out of here.” One of the three paramedics opened the door to the nurse’s office and just as soon as he did the bell rang signifying the end of first period. Sooner rather than later the hallways will be full of students going to their next class.

“We need to get him out of here now,” Principal Thomas said urgently.

“Sir it might be best if we wait until after the students have gone to their next class before we move him.” Nurse Baldrow suggested.

Principal Thomas simply nodded in agreement, “that may be best, we can avoid trying to work around a crowd.”

Derek’s eyes focused back on Stilinski, his body looked lifeless like he could go at any minute; it felt like he was looking at a corpse. Suddenly Stilinski had begun violently coughing, the paramedics each tried to get a handle on him but looked to be struggling. Derek saw blood trickle down the side of his mouth as he gurgled and struggled to breathe, the sound was one of the most disturbing sounds he’d ever heard in his life.

Eventually, Stiles stopped coughing and the paramedics quickly got him cleaned up, “We’re going now, we can’t wait for all these students to get into their classes. We need to get him to the hospital …” one of the paramedics said urgently.

Principal Thomas started nodding frantically waving his hand at the door, “right, right, fine, I’ll clear a path.”

Derek wanted to protest that they wait a few more minutes; he knew the halls would be empty in no time and he figured Stilinski could hold out a little longer. It might be selfish but he didn’t need people seeing what’s happening; if anyone were to see him coming out of the nurse’s office with Stilinski the way he is now, everyone will start asking questions, people will gossip. His reputation will take a massive hit, 'Shit,' Derek thought to himself.

Derek balled up his fist, this was easily becoming one of the worst days of his life; Principal Thomas opened the door and immediately began telling people to stand back and move out of the way. Apparently, there was already a crowd around the nurse’s office, Derek could only assume people must have already known something was going on.

As the paramedics began to wheel Stiles out of the nurse’s office, Derek stayed back, forcing himself to remain in place so he would not be seen by anyone. But as the paramedics started wheeling Stiles through the crowd and away from the nurse’s office, Derek felt the uncontrollable need to follow. He let out a low growl unintentionally, he felt his control waning; his eyes were in between shifting, one hazel, the other crimson red.

Boyd must have noticed something was up with Derek as he walked up next to him and said, “it’s not too late to go Derek.”

Derek shook his head, clenching his fist tighter as he felt his claws coming back out; “no … no, I need to get out of here now!” he shouted.

Derek couldn’t understand what was going on, he’s never had a problem with staying in control. He'd lost control a few times before he presented, but ever since his presentation, he’s always managed to stay in control even during the most difficult times. It was as if he and his wolf were of one mind at all times; but now his wolf was somewhere else, somewhere foreign, somewhere Derek never imagined he’d be, it was somewhere Derek couldn’t follow and he hated it.

Nurse Baldrow walked up next to Boyd looking to him expectantly, Derek heard her tell him; “help him get his things and get him out of here. I’m going to call his parents and I’ll write you a note for the classes you miss, just please get him out of here. I don’t know why he won’t go with him but I do know what can happen because of that, and I know it’s not safe, so please be careful.”

Boyd gave her a stiff nod and turned to Derek, he placed both of his hands on his shoulders and leaned in close, his breath shuddered when he got a good look at Derek’s face. Derek could only assume that he must have noticed something was wrong with his eyes, “Derek, buddy … we’re going to get out of here now, okay?”

Derek struggled but nodded, “okay …”

Boyd dropped his hands and stood upright, “do you think you can walk on your own?” he asked.

Derek shut his eyes and struggled to get a handle over himself, he took a few deep breaths trying everything and anything to calm himself. When he was sure that he had enough control over himself he opened his eyes and looked to Boyd and said, “I’m fine now …”

Boyd smirked he looked to be satisfied with what he saw, he then looked to the door, “Alright, come on, we can go now while everyone is distracted.”

“Beacon Hills Memorial …” Nurse Baldrow said before they got to the door.

Derek turned around and asked, “what?”

A small smile crept on Nurse Baldrow’s face, “they’ll most likely take him to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital … in case you change your mind.”

Derek was sure he wasn’t going to change his mind but he nodded his thanks to Nurse Baldrow and before he knew it he and Boyd were walking out of the Nurse’s office. The crowd they faced when walking out of the nurse’s office was massive, it was as if half of the school had gathered to see what was happening.

People were standing around, staring at Stilinski as the paramedics and Principal Thomas made their way through the crowd. Some were shoving into one another trying to get a better look, Derek could hear most of them as they were whispering to one another, some commenting on how horrible Stilinski looked. 

One girl in the crowd of students was heard asking “What happened to him? He looks terrible” Another girl could be heard saying, “I heard Stiles was popping pills to try and force his presentation, maybe he had a bad reaction.”

As Derek and Boyd headed in the opposite direction of the paramedics and Stilinski, Derek heard someone ask, “Did Derek Hale just come out of the nurse’s office?” 

'Shit,' he thought, as his eyes widened in horror; one question would lead to a million more in no time.

But then he heard someone ask, “What the fuck smells so good?” Then on queue, everyone began to notice the smell, the pungent scent that poured off of Stilinski. The same scent that ignited everyone one of Derek’s senses, a scent that reminded him of home, the scent of his omega.

Derek stopped and turned around completely, watching as the paramedics wheeled Stilinski through the crowd. He was thankful he was tall enough to see over the mass of students; a guy Derek thought he recognized from the lacrosse team had stood out and begun sniffing the air, his eyes flashed blue when he noticed where the scent was coming from, “Stilinski … he smells really-really good.” The guy said, in that instant, Derek wasn’t able to see what happened next as a few students had begun to push closer to Stilinski blocking Derek’s view; there was a big commotion and Principal Thomas could be heard growling menacingly at the students.

“Get back all of you!” Derek heard Principal Thomas order, he spotted a pair of red eyes as the students backed away holding their heads down in submission. The principal stood ready to defend Stilinski as did the paramedics, Derek’s instincts were telling him that he should be the one to protect Stilinski, but that was not happening.

Derek thought if he could have it his way Stilinski wouldn’t be his soulmate, and he would be in the crowd somewhere close by, holding up his middle finger for the little freak. But to his misfortune that wasn’t the case; the paramedics continued to follow Principal Thomas as he made a path through the students. Derek snapped out of his thoughts the second he heard someone yell, “Stiles has a soul mark!”

If the chatter was bad before it was even worse now, people were crowding into one another more so than they were before to see the mark making sure to stay far enough away so they didn’t anger Principal Thomas even more. “Who’s his soulmate?” “How the hell does some low life piece of shit like that have a soulmate?” “Who would actually fall in love with someone like him?” Who indeed, Derek thought as he listened to the many questions of his fellow peers.

Derek checked his wrist and noticed his sleeve was still rolled up, putting his mark on display for anyone to see. He quickly covered it up and mentally berated himself for forgetting to cover it before he walked out of the nurse’s office. Thankfully the entire school was distracted by Stilinski who was now finally making his way out of the front doors. Derek heard Principal Thomas shouting and threatening that if anyone even so much as opened the doors to go outside and pursue the paramedics they’d be suspended for the better part of a month and serve in school suspension for two weeks after that.

'Why the hell couldn’t he make a threat like that when they were trying to get out of the school? At least then everyone would have just run off to class and they wouldn’t have had to deal with all the damn nosey students,' Derek thought.

Boyd snapped Derek out of his thoughts, “hey we better get going … we need to get you out of here,” he said.

Derek nodded and followed Boyd to the weight room to gather his things. As he got further away from Stilinski he noticed that mental pull trying to drag him back to follow Stilinski to the hospital had gotten stronger. But he’d made up his mind and he’s decided he’s not going to see Stilinski at all.

Things were still the same way they were an hour ago, the only difference was now Derek knew Stilisnki was his soulmate; but that meant nothing to him, nothing changed between them. He still felt the same way he did before regardless of his wolf’s influence over him. Derek still hates Stilinski and he vowed to himself that he would never fall for the schools resident freak.

Stiles POV

Stiles' eyelids felt heavy as he struggled to wake up, he had probably just had the best night’s sleep he’s ever had in his life. His bed probably was the main reason for this; he couldn’t remember a time that his bed felt so comfortable; it literally felt like he could have been lying on a cloud.

He managed to open his right eye; his left was about halfway open, he could imagine he looked like a complete idiot. He turned over expecting to see his digital clock that lied on the dresser next to his bed but what he saw instead was an electrocardiograph monitor (heart monitor).

Suddenly the events of the day came crashing back to him; the pain, and trying to get to the nurse’s office. He shot up in his bed instantly as he came to the sudden realization that Derek, the Derek Hale, the same bastard that took joy in his misery, was his soulmate. “No ..” Stiles whispered to himself. He looked around the room and recognized that he was in the hospital; the room appeared to be a standard inpatient room, his dad was slumped in a chair next to his bed fast asleep. Stiles noticed that he still had his police uniform on, he had no idea how long he had been sitting there.

“Dad …” Stiles whispered, “Dad … wake up.” He tried again but he still wasn’t responding, “DAD!”

His father startled awake, “what-what, what’s going on?!”

Stiles gave his father a once over, he had heavy bags under his eyes, his face riddled with worry. “Dad, what happened?” Stiles asked cautiously.

His father scrubbed a hand over his face as he tried to wipe away his exhaustion, “Oh God son …” he murmured as he stood up and cupped Stiles face, looking him over, “you almost gave me a heart attack.” He said pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

“Dad … what’s going on?” Stiles asked.

His father pulled back and stood up over the bed, Stiles has only ever seen him with such a grim expression once before and that was when he found out his mother died, “you presented son …” he said gravely.

'He presented?'  he wondered. Then it came back to him, he remembered that the cause of the pain he experienced was because he was presenting. He remembered waking up in the nurse’s office and gauging everyone’s reaction to his eyes. His eyes widened in horror when he remembered his Principal state that his eyes were green. He then remembered Derek’s crimson red eyes gazing at him, he never once thought he would ever see Derek Hale look at him the way he did like he was a one of a kind priceless treasure. He remembered the one word Derek got out before he lost consciousness, “I’m an … Omega?” Stiles asked.

His father faced him and nodded, “yes son … you presented as an Omega,” he said

His heart was racing. Of all the things he could have presented as he wound up becoming the rarest and the most dangerous one of them all. He felt like the walls were closing in on him, it was one thing to have to deal with the fact that one of his most hated bullies turned out to be his soulmate it was another thing to have to accept the fact that he became one of his biggest fears. “Shit …” Stiles said in a hushed voice.

Life loved to deal him the shittiest deck possible and it never failed to deliver, “Stiles it’s going to be okay, you’re going to be fine.” His father said reassuringly.

Anger swelled within Stiles, “no it’s not … no … it will never be okay, what happens if I randomly go into heat in public? What happens when people start killing each other to get to me? I don’t want to be responsible for stealing someone else’s soulmate I can’t live with that," he said, his mouth had become a leaky faucet spilling his fears out.

“On the contrary Mr. Stilinski it is impossible to steal someone’s soulmate even for an Omega,” Deaton said as he stood by the door, Stiles was surprised he didn’t hear him come in.

“Deaton, when did you get here?” Stiles dad asked seeming just as shocked as Stiles that he wasn’t able to hear Deaton.

“I came when I was informed that Stiles vitals were off the charts,” Deaton said to the Sheriff, he then turned to Stiles, “are you feeling okay?”

For the most part, he felt great, but there was something in him that felt a little off, “yeah I feel fine I just feel a little weird," he said sitting up in his bed. "what do you mean it’s impossible for an omega to steal someone’s soulmate? I’ve heard otherwise,” Stiles pressed.

“The weirdness you’re feeling is probably the new organs that have developed from your presentation, I understand that must be quite uncomfortable but given the right amount of time you should get used to the feeling and start to feel normal again,” Deaton said, paying no mind to what Stiles was asking.

Stiles nodded, “okay, that’s great but what about ... what about what you said? I thought Omegas were able to steal people’s soulmates away, what do you know?”

Deaton sighed, “Let me guess you heard a story about an Alpha and his soulmate being in a club somewhere in New York and an omega girl going into heat at that same club correct?” he asked, his eyes narrowed making him appear to be a skeptic.

“Ye-yeah,” Stiles answered wondering how Deaton knew the story.

“I think I’ve heard that story; a few of my deputies were talking about it a few years back,” His father said thoughtfully.

Deaton smirked and looked over his clipboard, saying, “that is nothing more than a tall tale that has been spread like a plague; I happen to know the real story.” Stiles leaned in; he was itching to know the truth, Deaton looked over the clipboard at him and a full-on grin appeared on his face. “There was no Omega and there was no club, the woman who proclaimed to be the man’s soulmate turned out to be nothing more than a fraud and conned him out of over a half a million dollars. She somehow managed to trick him into thinking that they were soulmates and that their marks would appear at a certain time. When he finally caught onto what she was doing he then publically broke their mate bond and left her in shambles, to which she then attempted to commit suicide. She failed and now two years later they’re both respectfully in healthy relationships and have given up on the prospect of finding their soulmate,” Deaton finished.

Stiles gawked; the story actually sounded a lot more believable than the latter and something like that could definitely happen in this day in age. There have been a few major cases where people were conned into thinking they found their soulmates and wound up losing a bunch of money and valuable belongings. But Stiles still wasn’t buying it, he never understood how someone could be tricked into thinking they found their soulmate, “how do you trick someone into thinking they’re your soulmate?” Stiles asked.

Deaton flipped through the papers on the clipboard appearing uninterested in the conversation at hand, “seeing as how there is no actual science on how soul marks appear, people have gone into the business of conning individuals desperate enough to find their soulmate. There are businesses all over the world that claim they can help find someone’s soulmate by utilizing bogus questionnaires that when answered can be matched with other peoples answers, and based off of those results, those people who wind up matching are potentially each other’s soulmates. But it has been proven time and time again that there is no way to tell who someone’s soulmate is, some soulmates could be completely opposite of one another, others can be almost identical to one another. The only thing we know for a fact is that soul marks do not appear until after both parties have presented. Other than that there is no way of knowing how or why the marks appear and there is no way of knowing who or what causes the marks to appear; it has all been accepted as natural science and is viewed as a part of our physiology, “ he said.

The explanation gave Stiles more information than he asked for and it explained a lot in regard to his situation with Derek. But Stiles still needed to know how Deaton actually knew the real story, “What proof do you have to show that your story is real?”

Deaton looked up from his clipboard and said, “I treated the girl who tried committing suicide.”

Stiles nodded, that was the answer he was looking for. Deaton’s answer calmed some of Stiles fears regarding Omegas, “so, is there anything wrong with me?” Stiles asked, deciding to change the subject back to himself.

“From what I can tell, no; you look much better than you initially did when you were brought into the hospital. All of your vitals are normal and you don’t appear to be in any more pain, and you’re no longer convulsing blood, so it’s safe to say that as of today you are the first male Omega to present on the North American content in over 400 years; congratulations.” Deaton said.

Stiles didn’t necessarily feel like cheering though, there wasn’t much information on Male Omegas. If he were a girl and an Omega this would be much easier to handle seeing as there are a few female Omegas in the US but he’s not a girl, he’s a boy and like Deaton said he was the first male to have presented as an Omega in the US in over 400 years. Deaton must have sensed that Stiles wasn’t taking the news well, “calm yourself Mr. Stilinski, you are rare that is a fact and I assume you fear that, seeing as how there are only now 3 male Omegas in the world on record.”

Stiles father patted his head, “I knew you were special from the moment I first held you. Don’t worry son, you’ll be fine,” he said reassuringly.

Deaton sat the clipboard on the side of Stiles bed, “yes you will be fine, this isn’t common knowledge among the general public but we do have plenty of information regarding male Omegas, and I must say Mr. Stilinski you are quite special.” Deaton said with his eyebrows raised. “There will be some things that we need to go over and discuss at a later time but for now you need your rest. I will be taking my leave now,” Deaton said and looked to Stiles dad and nodded, “Sheriff, Stiles goodnight.” With that, he left the room.

Stiles looked to his father then and asked, “dad, so-so how long was I out?”

His father checked his watch, “it’s almost 9 p.m. they got you here at around 10:00 a.m. you’ve been out for basically the entire day; are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Stiles shrugged and leaned back in his bed, “for the most part, I feel fine,” he said.

His father smiled at him and took a seat back in the chair that sat next to the bed, Stiles noticed he was staring intently at his right wrist, the same wrist his mark was on. “So you found your soulmate in all this commotion I see?” Stiles father asked.

Stiles quickly covered his wrist, “Ye-yeah,” was all he could get out.

His father sighed and chuckled shaking his head, “you’ve just presented as an Omega and found your soulmate, what’s next? A mating ceremony? I thought you’d at least get out of high school before-“

“No …” Stiles said quickly, his father flinched in response, confusion etched on his face.

“No?" his father asked, bemused, "Are you guys going to take it slow or-“

“No …” Stiles interrupted again, he didn’t know how to tell his father that his soulmate turned out to be a complete jackass that loved to see him hurt. He didn’t even know how to talk to his father about bullies and actually get him to do something about them. 

The first time he tried his father simply told him, “people only bully others because they’re jealous of what other people have that they don’t.” Stiles couldn’t exactly think of anything he had that Derek, Jackson or anyone else in their group didn’t, so that was no help to him.

The second time Stiles brought it to his father’s attention, his father simply told him to “go to the front office and report it, if it’s really that big a deal.” But going to the office and ratting out Derek and Jackson’s group would only get Stiles into more trouble, so he never went.

Stiles tried to tell him a few more times in between that with the same result, no help at all, his father actually told him that if people are being mean to him then he needs to stand up for himself and fight. But Stiles knew if he fought back, they’d come at him ten times worse than before. The final time Stiles mentioned he was being bullied in school to his father was near the end of his freshman year; Stiles had gotten sent to the office after he was blamed for making a ruckus in class no thanks to Derek. The office called his father and told him he would be serving in after-school detention and when Stiles tried to tell his father what really happened his father simply brushed him off and told him, “you need to take responsibility for your actions, it’s a part of growing up. Don’t blame others for your mistakes.”

Ever since then Stiles gave up on trying to get his father to help him in school with his bullies, he’d decided that he would handle it on his own and bare all the torment they threw his way, hoping each day they would eventually let up and leave him alone.

“Okay, well you know who it is, don’t you?“ His father asked.

Stiles nodded hanging his head low, “yes,” he murmured.

His father adjusted in his seat and leaned forward, and asked, “well are you going to tell me who it is or am I going to have to find out from one of your friends?”

'Friends, what friends? what world was his father living in that actually gave him the idea that Stiles had any friends,'  Stiles wondered. Stiles understood that his relationship with his father had gotten pretty strained over the past year or two but he didn’t think that it was so bad to the point that his father would seem completely out of touch with what’s going on with him.

When Stiles didn’t answer him right away his father pressed harder, “Stiles I know you have a few friends running around here it won’t be hard for me to-“

“I don’t have a lot of friend’s dad … in fact I don’t really have any at all,” Stiles said quickly. This was all so strange to him, his father had to know that he didn’t have friends. Whenever he’d ask how his day at school was, Stiles only ever mentioned what he did in class, he never mentioned people he hung out with; he now rarely ever mentioned Scott. And sometimes on the weekends, he would ask him if he was going to do anything with his friends which always made Stiles feel awkward because he didn’t know how to answer that. It should have been a dead giveaway, there was no way he couldn’t know that Stiles didn’t really have anyone other than himself.

He watched his father lean back in his seat, “Stiles you don’t need to joke around just tell me who-“

He thought he was joking; even now his father wouldn’t take him seriously and understand that he was truly alone and had no one, “I’M NOT JOKING!” He yelled causing his father to sit up straight, “when have you ever seen me hanging out with anyone other than Scott? When was the last time you even saw me hang out with Scott?!” Stiles shouted. His father was at a loss for words, looking dumbfounded at Stiles, “I never have anyone over and I’m always cooped up in the house, in my room because NO ONE LIKES ME!” Stiles continued. The gloves were off, there was no holding back now, he was finally letting go of feelings he let build up for far too long; he understood where he was and what he was doing and he didn’t care who heard him. He needed to get this off his chest before he suffocated under the weight of his unspoken feelings; “I have told you repeatedly that I get pushed around, beaten up and picked on all the time at school and you’ve done NOTHING!” 

His father knocked his chair on its back as he stood, eyes wide but Stiles pressed on, “I have to go to school a half an hour early EVERYDAY to avoid seeing anyone that might want to knock me around just because I’m in their vicinity. I have to keep my head down and my mouth shut in class so I don’t give anyone any ammunition to berate and embarrass me in front of the entire class. Whenever we have to partner up to do an assignment NO ONE wants to partner with me because THEY DON’T WANT TO ASSOCIATE THEMSELVES WITH THE LITTLE FREAK!” His father’s eyes widened, “Yeah the little freak that’s my nickname, people spread rumors about me all the time, people I don’t even know. They’ve said so much stuff about me I’ve lost track of what they’re saying anymore.”

“St-Stiles I … I …” his father tried, but Stiles was adamant to get his point across.

“My so-called best friend has all but forgotten I exist and has started hanging out with the people who love to make my life hell; who I have tried to tell you about countless times BUT YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING! I tried telling you so many times that I was being picked on in school only for you to do nothing, so when I actually started coming home injured because the bullying got worst I didn’t bother telling you because I knew there was no point. And don’t try and tell me to go to my teacher’s and ask them for help because everyone knows they won’t do a thing to harm the star players of the lacrosse team!” Stiles said continuing his tirade. 

Stiles was so angry, he hadn’t noticed that he had so much pent up rage from everything he’s dealt with; “To top it all off my soulmate … my soulmate is a piece of shit that happens to be among the group of people who love to see me miserable and I hate him with every fiber of my being. I didn’t think it was possible that you could hate your soulmate but I do; I would rather be alone the rest of my life than wind up with someone as shitty as him. But that’s not what bothers me the most dad … it doesn’t even come close, do you want to know what bothers me the most?”

A stray tear made its way down his father’s cheek, “Stiles …” he gasped.

Stiles closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath and exhaled slowly, the next time he opened his eyes they were no longer the honey brown his father knew and loved. The shift had taken over his eyes and the emerald green replacing the honey brown, “it’s you and the fact that with everything I deal with I feel like I don’t have your support, and I feel like no matter how many times I ask you to help me you never will. You make me feel like I’m alone …”

His father appeared to be absolutely shell-shocked, “son … I’m sor-“ he tried.

“Get out,” Stiles whispered, he had had enough, he was done dealing with the events of today and ready to call it quits, everything was proving to be too much for him to handle.

His father stepped towards the bed with his hand outreached, “Stiles, please … son, let’s talk about this.”

It was too late to talk though, there wasn’t anything left that needed to be said; now all Stiles wanted to do was drift away from the world and forget about the pain the day brought him. “There’s nothing left to talk about, just get out,” Stiles said with finality.

“Stiles …” his father tried once more.

“Sheriff it would be best if you go home and come back tomorrow,” Deaton said from the doorway. “You’re causing his heart rate to go wild and it’s setting off alarms at the front desk, not to mention I am sure the entirety of this floor has heard the conversation at hand and I’m sure you would much rather discuss something like this in the privacy of your own home. And seeing as how this is a hospital and I do have patients that need their rest, I would advise that you remove yourself from this situation and go home, sleep on it and come back tomorrow to pick up your son. Am I understood, Sheriff?” Deaton questioned, leaving no room for argument.

His father simply nodded to Deaton, his shoulders slouched and his overall demeanor defeated. It was clear he was still short on words but before he left he did manage to say to Stiles, “I’m sorry son … I’ll do better I promise … I’ll see you in the morning.” With that he walked out of the room, past Deaton with his head hung low clearly stricken by immense sorrow and shame, Stiles didn’t care that he caused it.

Deaton stayed put after the Sheriff left eyeing Stiles as if he were analyzing him, trying to assess his mood; “are you going to be okay?” he asked.

Stiles laid back in his bed and shut his eyes, “I don’t know,” he murmured.

He stepped further into the room cautiously, “before I go there are things that you need to be made aware of and I feel now is as good a time as any to tell you about them. It might help to calm you down,” Deaton suggested.

Stiles eyebrows quirked and he sat up; when he opened his eyes they were back to normal. “What is it?” he asked.

Deaton stood next to Stiles bed and looked down upon him, and said, “Stiles, you know now that you’re an Omega, a male Omega, you are rare and at this current point in time invaluable. And I believe that there are many things you don’t know about yourself that you could learn and benefit from.”

“I-I” Stiles tried, “I don’t understand.”

Deaton walked around to the other side of the bed and righted the chair the Sheriff knocked over and took a seat, and asked, “Stiles do you know the rules of shifting between Alphas, Betas, and Omegas?”

Stiles shook his head “n-no,” Stiles answered.

“Are you aware of the connection shared between an Alpha, Beta and Omegas were-counterpart?” Deaton asked.

Still shook his head again, and answered, “no.” He had planned to research more on the subjects after he presented.

Deaton shrugged, “that’s understandable, you are in fact newly presented so I figured you wouldn’t know, if you don’t mind I’m going to explain to you the rules of shifting and why your connection with your Omega-counterpart gives you immense control over yourself, do you understand?” he asked.

Stiles nodded, and said, “Ye-yes."

Deaton nodded as well and began his lesson, saying, “okay I’ll make this as short and as simple as I can; as you probably know Alphas are able to freely shift into their were-forms at any given time. Betas, on the other hand, can only fully shift during the half and full moon; Omegas are like Alphas, not many people know this but they too can shift at will. Some female Omegas struggle to achieve a full shift but they manage in time, male Omegas apparently have no problem shifting, why that is I do not know. The first full shift always happens on the full moon that immediately follows the Alpha, the Beta or the Omegas presentation. After the first full shift Alphas and Omegas can then shift at will afterward, Betas can only half shift and as I said before they can fully shift during the half and full moons. Are you still with me?”

Stiles nodded, and answered, “yes.”

“Good, now I will explain the connections; Alphas tend to be more in tune with their were-counterpart, they practically share one mind; but there are times when Alphas lose touch with their were-counterparts and they find themselves at war with their own instincts struggling to do what the other wants. Betas are aware of their were-counterpart but not as in tune with them as an Alpha which is why they cannot freely shift. It is only on the half and the full moons that Betas achieve a connection similar to an Alphas which allows them to fully shift,” Stiles nodded frantically anxiously awaiting Deaton to speak on Omegas. Deaton must have noticed his anticipation as a smirk appeared on his face before he spoke again. “Omegas are a little different, tell me, Stiles, before you presented how would you describe your relationship with you and your unpresented wolf?”

Stiles looked around and tried to think about the question, from what he remembered he thought he had a pretty normal relationship with his were-side; he never had any problems with it and vice versa. When he got into high school and started dealing with the constant bullying he started to see his were-side as more of a thing of comfort than anything else. Whenever he’s needed it was always there, and it was the one thing he could trust to always be there because it was a part of him. “It was ... I don’t know lately, I would say it’s the one thing that’s kept me sane through all the BS I deal with day to day.”

Deaton adjusted his glasses and sat back in his chair, “so you would say that you did acknowledge it but more so like a separate being than as a part of you?” he asked.

Stiles nodded, “kind of, I knew it was me but it was a different me …” he said.

Deaton squinted his eyes as he thought over Stiles answer, “Have you ever had issues with control Stiles? Have you ever lost yourself in your animalistic instincts?” he asked.

Stiles thought that over, he looked back on the entirety of his life but he never once remembered ever losing control, “no-no, I don’t think I have,” he said.

Deaton nodded, saying, “I understand, well Omegas are almost like Alphas … or should I say Alphas are almost like Omegas. Omegas are completely in tune with their were-counterpart so much so that the Omega wouldn’t have to partially shift to utilize some of their were-counterparts strength. I believe the reason you presented as Omega is because throughout the entirety of your life you have maintained a strong connection with your wolf. I say this based off of the fact that growing up it is completely normal for children to lose control over their were-instincts and it can happen from the simplest thing, that being a child losing a toy to a simple fight, anything could cause them to lose it, especially traumatic events …” Deaton waited, gauging Stiles reaction.

Stiles thought about the many traumatic events in his life; the one that stood out more than any was when his mother died. He remembered having to stay at Scott’s house for a while, he’d frequently asked to go home and see his father but Melissa, Scott’s mother, always told him that his father wasn’t feeling well and Stiles couldn’t see him until he got better. She never clearly explained what was wrong with his father, but now he knew; he had lost control after he lost his soulmate. So why didn’t Stiles lose control? “So what does that mean for me?” Stiles asked.

Deaton scrutinized Stiles response, “I can tell that you’re disturbed by this … why?”

A new fear had planted itself inside of Stiles. 'If what Deaton said was true and traumatic events cause someone to lose control did that mean he didn’t really care about the events he’s faced?' Stiles wondered.

"Do you think the reason I didn’t lose control was because I didn’t really care?” Stiles asked. The question sounded odd after he voiced it, it couldn’t be possible; he was very deeply affected by the loss of his mother and it still hurts him to this day. In fact, every traumatic event he’s gone through still affects him and time only seems to mend the wounds the events caused but it never seems to heal them.

“No Stiles,” Deaton said interrupting his thoughts. “The reason you don’t lose control is because you and your wolf have an unspoken understanding between each other. You probably understand that there is no value and no reason to lose control and fall into a blind rage because it does not bring you any comfort, just more pain. Omegas embody the saying ‘One Mind, One Body, One Soul,’ they think and feel the same at all times; they are initially One. That connection and understanding is what makes Omegas stronger than any other, including Alphas.”

That surprised Stiles more than anything, “but … but Alphas… Alphas are proven to be the strongest in the hierarchy system.”

Deaton waved Stiles off, saying, “Physical abilities alone do not truly measure one’s strength. Although, the way I speak of it, I make it seem as if you aren’t capable of falling victim to your animalistic instincts. That isn’t true, it just takes much much more for it to happen, for instance, you would probably have to be on the brink of losing your life for your Omega-counterpart to take complete control in order to save you and we should only hope that never happens.”

Stiles nodded, he could only hope that would never happen but with the way life has been dealing him a shitty set of cards to play with, he probably might experience it once in his lifetime. All of the information Deaton shared proved to be a necessary distraction but there was something else Stiles was interested in. Something that he needed to know for himself; what he really wanted to know is what he’s going to do about his soulmate situation and how it’s going to affect him in the future. “I appreciate the lesson but there’s else I need to know … something important.” Stiles said.

“I’m listening,” Deaton offered.

“Soulmates … how-how does it work exactly? When you find them what happens?” Stiles struggled.

Deaton looked down at Stiles' wrist, and asked, “is there something wrong with your soulmate.”

Stiles sighed, “I know you heard me earlier when I was talking with my dad. Am I … am I gonna start following my soulmate around like a lost puppy looking for a home?” he asked.

Deaton let out a light chuckle, saying, “no Stiles, in fact, just because you’ve found each other it doesn’t necessarily mean anything is going to happen between the two of you.”

Stiles nodded, “but-but won’t there be some kind of bond between us that drives us to get together?”

Deaton sighed, “It is true that a type of bond forms even before the soul marks appear but it does not dictate whether or not you get together with your soulmate, that decision is up to you,” he said

That didn’t sound right, if that was the case Scott didn’t necessarily need to go out of his way to spend all of his time with Allison, Stiles though. “Okay, then what happens if we get together … am I always going to want to be around him?” Stiles asked more so in regards to Scott.

Deaton shook his head, “no definitely not, the only time soulmates are ever really inseparable is immediately following their mating ceremony. Afterwards their relationship is just like any other only they’re bonded for life and the feelings shared between the two are more intense due to the soul bond. Other than that they would act as they normally did before …”

There it was, another shitty card dealt from life itself; so the time he spent telling himself that Scott couldn’t help what he was doing in regards to spending all of his time with Allison was for not. It was all a lie, Scott didn’t need to be around Allison even if she was his soulmate and from what he knew they still haven’t had their mating ceremony so they didn’t have to be around one another 24/7. Everything Stiles thought he knew about soulmates was basically wrong and he had just gotten all the proof he needed to know that his best friend, someone he would consider a brother, didn’t really want to have anything to do with him.

'Shit.' Stiles thought.

Deaton stood up, and said, “I think you may want some time to yourself, we can continue this conversation another time.”

Stiles wondered how Deaton could possibly tell he needed time to himself, he was sure he wasn’t outwardly expressing himself. When he looked up to ask about it, Deaton was already near the door, facing him, ready with an explanation; “one thing you’ll learn is now that you have presented your senses are heightened and you can tell how a person feels based off of their scent. You have an unusual scent it smells quite appealing but there’s something funny about it, it smells a little off like it’s tinged with ... I think the word I’m looking for is despair, but I can’t be certain and I’m usually a good judge of scents. Never the less, it is late and I have rounds I need to be making; if you ever want to know more just schedule an appointment with me and we can talk. But until then you need to rest.” With that Deaton was out the door and out of sight leaving Stiles alone with his thoughts.

Derek POV

Three days had passed since Stilinski went to the hospital, Derek had left school that day angered and on the verge of losing all control over his wolf. He never made the effort to go check up on Stilinski, he didn’t care to; his immediate concern was himself and trying to get control over his instincts so that he didn’t go feral. It was hard but after hours spent in the middle of the preserve he managed, by the time he made it home that day it was past 7 P.M. and he was completely exhausted.

“Where have you been?” His mother asked the minute she noticed him enter the house.

“Hi mom,” was all Derek offered as he attempted to walk upstairs to his room.

“Derek, answer me, where have you been?” His mother pressed.

“In the preserve …” Derek threw over his shoulder and continued, walking upstairs to his room.

“Derek, the school called they said-they said that you-you found your soulmate and that-“

Derek stopped and faced his mother from atop the staircase, and interjected, saying, “I don’t want to talk about it, mom … I’m going to bed.”

Usually, his mother would press for the truth and nag him constantly until he told her what was going on but that night she didn’t; she simply conceded and told Derek “good night.” Derek was lucky his father was away on business, if he was home, he and his mom would have teamed up and surely never let Derek hear the end of it until he explained what was going on with him.

The next day Derek had reluctantly gone to school he felt a lot better, his wolf had calmed and they were back to thinking on a more collective mindset again. Stilinski hadn’t come back to school, not that Derek was looking for him. It was the same the day after, Stilinski was absent from school again, his absence spurred many rumors, some ridiculous, some plausible. One of the many rumors Derek heard around the school was that Stilinski almost OD’d on some strong narcotic and it nearly killed him. Derek knew that wasn’t true but he didn’t care to dispel the rumor, he reminded himself again and again that Stilinski meant absolutely nothing to him.

Derek made sure his wrist always remained covered so his mark was not visible, at home and at school. Even after his father’s return home he didn’t allow his mom or his dad to look at his mark regardless of how much they badgered him for just a glimpse of it; and he wouldn’t tell them who his soulmate was, he thought it be best to just keep them out of his soulmate business entirely. His sisters were unaware that he found his soulmate and he would prefer to keep it that way if either one of them found out who knows what they would do. The only person that has seen his soul mark and knew who his soulmate was, was his best friend Boyd and it was going to stay that way. Of all the things Derek knew in life, one was that Boyd was trustworthy and loyal and he could keep a secret.

Stilinski had been absent for three days, Derek assumed he was taking the week off, again, not that he cared, at least then he wouldn’t have to worry about running into him in the hallways. It was now Friday and the fourth day since Stilinsk's trip to the hospital, that Derek found himself slowly pulling into the school parking lot arrogantly showing off his now 3-week old present he got from his parents for his 17^th birthday, his 2015 Chevy Camaro. As he looked around the school parking lot he noticed his usual envious onlookers, the sight of them always made Derek feel a little smug. A familiar jeep parked at the far end of the school parking lot tore his attention from everything, he could recognize the piece of junk anywhere and he knew who it belonged to.

'So the little freak is back,' Derek thought, he quickly parked his car abandoning his little ego trip and got out examining the parking lot, looking around frantically to see if he could find Stilinski. Derek needed to be sure he wasn’t going around flaunting his mark, he needed to be sure he wasn’t telling people that he was Derek’s soulmate. Derek spotted Boyd and Erica hand in hand standing next to Boyd’s car looking to him expectantly, they waved him over but he ignored them in favor of heading towards the school to find Stilinski.

A few girls, Betas he recognized from the cheer squad had greeted him obnoxiously trying to get his attention but he ignored them. As he got closer and closer to the school more people started greeting him, “what’s up Derek?!” “Hey, Derek!” “Looking good Derek!” he heard from all around, it had become routine for him; some people would do anything and everything to get him to acknowledge them. As he made his way inside the school and through the halls, people were quick to get out of his way but not because they were afraid of him but because they loved to marvel over Derek in his entirety.

Girls giggled and whispered how hot he was, boys were either envious of him or just as stricken with his looks as girls. Those that were all taken by his looks shamelessly reeked of lust, it reminded him of how he used to get approached all the time by Betas and Alphas alike; every time they would ask for the same thing to either be claimed or be mated and Derek rejected them every time, so much so that now most people just lust after him from afar.

Derek wasn’t sure of Stilinski schedule so he guessed that heading back to the place he ran into him the day Stiles presented would be the best place to look. As he weaved his way through the halls sending greetings to people he was acquainted with while still keeping a lookout for Stilinski he finally came upon the scent that stood out from all the others. There was no mistaking that the scent belonged to Stilinski, Derek’s instincts were immediately drawn to it, from what he could tell Stilinski wasn’t too far away. His body moved as if it were on autopilot, he made his way around a corner and halfway down a corridor before he noticed a small crowd of a little more than 10 people standing in the middle of the hallway next to the lockers.

From where he was standing Derek could tell there wasn’t any kind of commotion and no one was fighting one another, so the fact that people were crowded around looking aimlessly at something seemed strange to him. As he got closer he heard Stilinski's voice coming from the crowd, “fine before you showed up.” He immediately spotted Stilinski next to an open locker speaking to Scott.

Derek then heard Scott say, “Woah dude is something wrong? Hey-hey I heard that you got like taken away by the ambulance a few days ago? Hey …” Scott leaned in and sniffed at Stiles, “why do you smell so good?”

When Derek finally was close enough to see them in full view the first thing he noticed was that Stilinski had his right wrist wrapped in an Ace bandage covering his mark. The sight calmed Derek immensely but the same could not be said for his wolf, “fuck you, Scott,” Derek heard Stilinski say with conviction. He watched as Stilinski slammed the locker shut and pushed past the people crowded around and was down the hall and out of sight before anyone knew it, leaving Scott and everyone who witnessed the confrontation stunned.

Stiles POV

Stiles was released from the hospital the day after he presented, his father came and got him like he said he would although he seemed a little standoffish it was clear he was still too ashamed to confront the problem at hand. Before Stiles left the hospital Deaton had his father schedule two separate appointments for the following week, one the day before the full moon and one the day after. Deaton told Stiles and his father that he would utilize that time to explain some things Stiles may experience in response to Stiles first full shift and he encouraged the Sheriff to be present during the appointments. Immediately following that Deaton pulled the Sheriff to the side and asked that Stiles wait in the waiting room while he spoke with his father. Stiles complied and when his father came out and met him in the waiting room Stiles noticed him turn back to Deaton and nod before they left.

They drove home in the cruiser, an awkward silence looming in the air, Stiles wasn’t really sure what to say; he didn’t know where he stood with his father after the blow-up. His father broke the silence the minute they pulled into their driveway, “I called the school … told them that you’d be taking a few days off, I picked up all your homework before I came and got you.”

Stiles nodded, and said, “thanks …” he was grateful for that, he didn’t feel like returning to school, not now. He still felt like he was suffocating under the weight of everything he was dealing with.

His father sighed gripping the steering wheel tightly, “I … I have to go away for a few days to handle a case … when I get back, I’d like to talk about you, about everything you’re dealing with, I want to help,” he said.

Stiles nodded, as he fought to hold back tears, “okay …” he murmured. Scents were still something Stiles had to get used to and at the moment Stiles could smell his father’s pungent scent it made him feel horrible; he got out of the car, in need of fresh air, it was a lot to take in; he was finally getting what he wanted for so long, his father’s help.

His father got out of the car following him and they made their way to the front door and walked into the house, there was still tension between them, and many things that went unsaid, and Stiles didn’t like that. “Your homework is on the table … I left you some money so you can get yourself some food and don’t worry about school; if you want to take the rest of the week off that’s fine … I understand. I made sure to get your homework for the entire week,” his dad said.

Stiles gave his father a stiff nod, “okay,” he said looking away trying to avoid eye contact with his dad. At that moment his father crossed the room and before Stiles knew it he was being embraced.

“I love you son … I know I haven’t been there for you like I should but I promise I’ll do better.” His father struggled.

Stiles returned the hug and almost completely broke down as a few tears escaped his eyes, “I love you too dad …” he said.

His father kissed his head and tightened his hold, his scent shifted and seemed more inviting, “I have to go now kid, I’ll be back on Saturday, okay?”

Stiles let go of his father and nodded, “okay, be careful, don’t eat a lot of fast food," he said.

His father smiled at that, and said, “no promises.”

Stiles gave his dad one more hug before he left and saw him off.

When he finally had the opportunity,  Stiles checked his phone after plugging it into a charger; he had no new messages. So either Scott didn’t care or he didn’t hear about what happened with him, either way, Stiles didn’t care, not anymore.

The next two days went by in a blur, Stiles had spent the majority of his time trying to research information about Omegas; Google wasn’t providing much though. He couldn’t even find detailed information on Omegas shifting abilities and that made him wonder how Deaton knew so much about it, he reminded himself to ask Deaton the next time he saw him. When he kept running into dead ends and found mostly speculation on Male Omegas he gave up and went to finish his homework.

He finished his weeks’ worth of work in less than 12 hours and spent the rest of the day lounging around the house enjoying his own company. His father checked in daily and asked him how he was doing to which Stiles told him he was fine but then something out of the ordinary occurred. On Thursday when his father had called to check in on him he had asked Stiles about his homework to which Stiles told him he got it all finished and was going to turn it in tomorrow. The answer must have surprised his father because he was silent for a moment.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just wait to go back until next week?” His father asked.

Stiles nodded, and answered, “yeah I’m sure, I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“You will let me know if something happens won’t you?” His father asked.

“Yes, dad … I’ll let you know.” Stiles said.

He heard his father sigh into the phone, “okay then you better get to bed, I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

“Okay, night dad, love you,” Stiles said.

“Love you too son, goodnight,” his father told him and the line went dead after that, and Stiles took himself to bed.

Friday morning was weird, at least that’s how Stiles would describe it, he broke his usual routine and made no attempts at getting ready early so he could get to school early. He took his time and if he were being honest it felt nice not being in a rush; he took a long relaxing shower and took his time getting dressed, and for once he didn’t look like a completely disheveled mess when he saw himself in the mirror.

Stiles drove to school enjoying the outside air and all the new scents he could smell that he couldn’t before. He parked his jeep in its usual spot, the school parking lot was semi-full when he got there, people stared as he got out of his Jeep but he paid them no mind.

He walked into school with a new kind of confidence, he assumed that it was largely in part to his Omega side and he was grateful for that. People stared as he made his way through the halls, he heard everything everyone was saying, “He doesn’t look like he almost OD’d?” “He smells fucking amazing! What kind of drugs is he taking?!” “Is it me or is he kind of cute?” “What the fuck happened to Stilinski?” “That can’t be the little freak … he always smelled funny maybe it’s just someone that looks like him.” It seemed like everyone had something to say about him but he didn’t care.

As Stiles made his way to Mr. Harris’s class he stopped in the middle of the hallway and adjusted his backpack over his shoulder, it was kind of heavy. Ever since the middle of his Freshman year, he stopped using his locker because Lydia’s locker was close to his and Jackson and his friends would sometimes mess around and put things in his locker. One time he opened it up and was immediately sprayed with a bunch of shaving cream and another time after that a bunch of crickets jumped out at him. Ever since then he stopped using his locker and carried his stuff everywhere he went, regardless of how heavy it was. But now he wanted a change and he wanted to use his locker again, and at the beginning of the year he was assigned the same locker and he still knew the combination to unlock it.

He walked towards the corridor where his locker was, Lydia and Jackson were nowhere to be found and he was somewhat relieved at that. He put in the combination to his lock and opened it up, his locker was clean. He sighed in relief and dropped his bag and began taking a few things out placing it neatly in his locker, a few students whose lockers were near his had begun to gather around him. He heard a few of them question why he smelled so good and just as he did everyone else he paid them no mind. It wasn’t until he heard a familiar voice greeting people that he turned around, Scott had come down the hall hand in hand with Alison. Both of them were saying hi to people they knew; they looked like the ideal popular couple. When they got closer to where Stiles was they must have noticed everyone looking intently at Stiles and that caused Scott to notice Stiles.

“Stiles … dude, how are you?! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” Scott asked a little giddy.

Stiles rolled his eyes, of course, Scott wouldn’t notice that he had been absent for a few days, “fine before you showed up,” he said bitterly. He wasn’t sure where that came from but he wasn’t complaining.

Scott flinched at the response, “Woah dude is something wrong? Hey-hey I heard that you got like taken away by the ambulance a few days ago? Hey, wait …” Scott leaned in and sniffed at Stiles, “why do you smell so good?” he asked.

'So Scott did know that he had been taken to the hospital and he didn’t bother checking up on him, go figure.' Stiles thought. He wasn’t surprised by that at this point nothing could really surprise him anymore when it came to Scott. Scott was no longer his best friend, Scott wasn't even his friend anymore, he was nothing to him and as much as it hurt Stiles to admit that, he needed to and he was okay with it as it was a long time coming. Stiles was done making up excuses to justify his ex-best friends actions at the expense of hurting himself, it wasn’t worth it. If Scott couldn’t see the value in having Stiles as a friend then they didn’t need to be friends at all.

Stiles is valuable, Stiles is invaluable, Stiles is rare, Stiles is one of a kind, Stiles can now see value in himself and no one could take that away from him. He is an Omega and for the most part, he is a good person and he knows he can be a damn good friend and an even better best friend. If Scott couldn’t see that then he wasn’t worth his time. “Fuck you, Scott,” Stiles said slamming his locker shut and grabbing his bag that now felt light as a feather. He pushed passed the onlookers and made his way down the hall towards Mr. Harris’s class, reveling in the fact that he now saw value in himself.

Chapter Text

Stiles POV

Stiles didn’t look back after his run-in with Scott, he wouldn’t allow himself to; he wasn’t going to apologize and he wasn’t going to beg for forgiveness, it just wasn’t worth it. The fact that he now saw value in himself was worth more than anything anyone could ever offer and he wasn’t willing to let that go for anyone. The halls were full of people, students and teachers alike all stared in his direction as he made his way down the hall. As he got closer to Mr. Harris’s class he noticed Jackson and Lydia posted next to the door; any other day Stiles would have high tailed it in the other direction and waited until the last minute to run into class. But today was a new day, today was the day Stiles felt like nothing could tear him down.

He walked over to Harris’s classroom with his head held high, ignoring everyone that had something to say about him. The minute he was about to walk in the door, Jackson stood in his way. “What’s going on Stilinski? You smell nice, what’s the occasion?” he asked, sneering at Stiles.

Stiles shuddered but stood firm, and said, “I don’t know you tell me …”

Jackson cocked his head to the side and scrutinized Stiles, Lydia simply rolled her eyes and walked into class. Jackson turned back looking on after Lydia and seemed upset by that, “look what you did Stilinski now she’s mad at me …" he turned back around towards Stiles with a dark look on his face, "now I gotta hurt you.” Jackson said inching closer. “What’s it gonna be? Should I go with two hits to the ribs or should I knock you down and see how many times I can kick you before you scream?”

Stiles wasn’t sure what to do, part of him wanted to push past Jackson and run into class while another part was telling him to stay where he was; Stiles looked around and saw that a few people around him were anticipating seeing what Jackson would do to him, but no one was coming to his defense as usual. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know what to do, he felt like he was trapped in a corner. He stood fast anticipating the first blow but it never came, “Mr. Whittemore, I wasn’t aware you would be attending my class today?” Mr. Harris said from behind Jackson.

Jackson spun around quickly, “no-no sir … I was-I was just telling Stilinski here that it’s good that he’s … that he’s back!” Jackson said patting Stiles roughly on the shoulder.

Mr. Harris adjusted his glasses, “really? Because from what I heard, it sounded like you were getting ready to assault Mr. Stilinski. What was it you said? Oh right, you were going to knock him down and kick him until he screams?”

Jackson shook his head frantically, “no-no sir, that was just joking between … buddies,” he said and it looked like it physically hurt him to say that.

Mr. Harris took a step forward, if he moved an inch closer he’d probably be invading Jackson’s personal space, “I should write you up right now and have you suspended from school. But seeing as how you haven’t harmed Mr. Stilinski I think I can look past this incident … if you apologize,” Mr. Harris said sternly.

People that were watching the entire confrontation hoping for Jackson to pummel Stiles were now snickering at him; Stiles couldn’t believe what was happening. Hell must have frozen over and good fortune is now pouring onto him in bucket loads, this just didn’t happen to him, ever. Anytime he was seen being chastised by Jackson and his friend’s, teachers would do nothing about it, they’d always pretended nothing ever happened.

Stiles remembered the first time a teacher witnessed Jackson tormenting him, it was only a few months ago, near the end of his freshman year, he had been in the middle of the hallway heading to one of his classes when suddenly Jackson came out of nowhere and shoved him into a locker. “Hey freak I got a little present for you,” Stiles remembered him saying, next thing he knew he was being punched hard in the chest repeatedly. People laughed at him as Jackson let him sink down to the floor writhing in pain, he remembered seeing his History teacher Mr. Bolin come up behind Jackson and tap him on the shoulder, and instead of reprimanding Jackson he made everyone that had crowded around to watch disperse and told Jackson to stay out of trouble because he was needed for the big lacrosse game coming up. He eventually turned to Stiles and said, “get up kid, you’re already making a big enough scene as is and you’re about to be late for class.” He didn’t bother helping Stiles up off the floor after that, he simply walked back over to his classroom, leaving Stiles to fend for himself.

There were a few other instances that held similar results, teachers would witness Stiles being tormented and none would come to his aid, unfortunately, it was something he had gotten used to. So now seeing Mr. Harris, the teacher Stiles was convinced hated him more than anything, come to his defense, threw him for a loop.

“Apologize?” Stiles heard Jackson ask.

Mr. Harris cocked his head to the side, and asked, “do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“You can’t be serious!” Jackson exclaimed. Stiles thought the same thing, Mr. Harris couldn’t be serious, none of this could be real; the day had just started and already it was too good to be true.

“But I am serious Mr. Whittemore, either you apologize or go to the office and enjoy your suspension!” Mr. Harris commanded sternly.

Jackson clenched his fist, at that moment it was as if he could visibly be seen swallowing his pride, “ugh … I’m-I’m …” Jackson stammered. Looking around Stiles could see that now instead of people anticipating Jackson hitting Stiles, they were anxious to hear the apology, “I’m sorry …” Jackson whispered.

Stiles nodded but Mr. Harris held a hand out, and said, “no … I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you, say it again and say it loud enough so I can hear you.” Stiles knew full well Mr. Harris could hear the apology, anyone that had presented would be able to hear it.

Jackson looked to have clenched his fist even tighter, “are you fu- … fine … I’m sorry,” he grumbled out.

Mr. Harris nodded and Jackson marched off down the hall, fuming; students made way for him but laughed as he walked by. “I’m sure all of you have classes you need to go to and unless you want to wind up in detention I suggest you make your way to those classrooms!” Mr. Harris announced. Immediately the students dispersed, and they were gone as quickly as they came.

Stiles nodded to Mr. Harris, he was still in disbelief that that had just happened to him, “thank-thank you,” Stiles stammered out.

Mr. Harris nodded back, and said, “It’s no problem … in the future should you find yourself in trouble please come find me.”

Stiles felt himself smile a little, “yes sir …” he said and attempted to walk into class but Mr. Harris stopped him, at this point the hallways were practically empty and the bell was seconds away from ringing.

“There is something I need to relay to you,” Mr. Harris said quietly.

Stiles gawked, “Oh-Okay …” he wondered what exactly Mr. Harris would have to tell him that he couldn’t tell him inside the classroom.

The bell rang and Mr. Harris turned toward the open door and poked his head into his classroom, Stiles heard him say, “On your desk is lab work that you need to work on right now, you may team up with the person sitting next to you to help finish your assignment; if I come back in and find any of you goofing off I’ll give you a pop quiz!” He quickly shut the door behind him and turned back to Stiles, “alright …” Mr. Harris looked around the hall as if he were making sure no one was around. “I know about your presentation … congratulations … I’m sure that must have been a painful process,” you could say that again, Stiles thought; one thing he didn’t want to remember about his transition into becoming an Omega was the overwhelming amount of pain he went through. “Dr. Deaton called the school today he advised the Principal who then advised me to tell you that you being an Omega is to remain a secret until after your first full moon, for your safety and the safety of other’s.”

“What-what but … but why?” Stiles asked incredulously.

Mr. Harris sighed, “I was instructed to send you to nurse Baldrow before the end of this class period, she will explain everything to you then, okay?”

Stiles nodded, “oh-okay …” he murmured.

He gave Stiles a quick once over, and asked, “do you have any questions?”

Stiles shook his head, “no-no but Mr.-Mr. Harris I uh … I have all my homework and the quiz that you gave me,” he said as he opened up his backpack and pulled out his Chemistry work. “Thank you for letting me take the quiz home.”

Mr. Harris took Stiles homework and nodded at him, “thank you for actually doing your homework. The paper I’ve handed out today wasn’t with your homework but you can do it for extra credit if you want.”

Stiles nodded and Mr. Harris opened the door to the classroom to let him in.

“Welcome back … freak.” Greenburg greeted, the majority of the class laughed at that, Stiles simply ignored him.

“Congratulations Greenburg you have earned yourself another day in after school detention.” Mr. Harris announced and that made the entire class laugh.

Greenburg sat up in his seat, “but sir-“

Mr. Harris glared at him, “argue with me and I’ll make it a week in detention.”

Greenburg hung his head low and sat back in his seat looking absolutely defeated, Stiles smirked and shook his head at him and walked back to his chair. “Alright class get back to work, these assignments are due at the end of the period.” Mr. Harris announced. Each student scrambled and got back to working on their work, Stiles sat and looked at the paper before him, it would take him a while to finish but he could do it; he was supposed to have a partner helping him finish his work, but there was an odd number of students in class and Stiles was left to work on his own. People had the opportunity to sit next to him and work with him but everyone decided against it, Stiles also had the option of joining another group but when Mr. Harris presented the idea and asked the class who would be willing to work with him no one volunteered.

So Mr. Harris surprisingly allowed Stiles to work on his own but made sure to remind him that he would need to finish all of his work at the same pace as everyone else. At the time Stiles thought that might have been a little cruel as some of the work they’ve had to finish was difficult to complete on his own; he had hoped Harris would be a little lenient and give him some leeway when it came to completing in-class assignments. Eventually he was grateful to be alone working at his own pace at least then he could be sure that his work was actually correct; the idea of partnering up with anyone in the class had grown unappealing to Stiles even it was Lydia.

Before he could actually start working on his work, Stiles noticed someone walked into the room, “can I help you?” he heard Mr. Harris ask.

“I just got transferred into your class …” the girl said handing Mr. Harris a piece of paper. The girl looked quite appealing Stiles couldn’t say he’s ever seen her around, she had long dark hair and visually her appearance was striking but something about her demeanor seemed cold.

Mr. Harris adjusted his glasses and looked over the paper she handed him, “Ah yes … I did receive a call before class started that I would be receiving a transfer … you’re from Ms. Carter’s chemistry class correct?” The girl nodded in response, “okay well … let’s see, your name is Cora … just so you know I will not tolerate any disruptiveness in my class …” Mr. Harris looked up from the paper and around the room, his eyes landed on the empty seat next to Stiles, “I’m going to seat you in the back next to Mr. Stilinski, he will be your lab partner for the rest of the year.” Mr. Harris announced.

Great, go figure just when he had become accustomed to working alone he would get stuck with a lab partner he no longer wanted. The girl, Cora, nodded and headed towards the back, everyone seemed visibly disturbed by her presence, some looked shaken as she passed by them, but she paid none of them any mind. When she finally made it to the back she gave Stiles a long cold glare before seating herself next to him, she sat her backpack on the table and pulled out a notebook and pencil, slid her bag onto the floor and turned to look at Stiles, “hi … I’m Cora …”

Stiles nodded, if he were being honest he personally felt intimidated just by her looking at him, “I’m … I’m Stiles.”

She didn’t seem too impressed by that, “yeah whatever … so what are we supposed to be doing?”

Stiles scrambled for the paper he was about to work on, “we-well we have to go over some formulas and figure out whether or not these bonds are covalent or noncovalent bonds …”

Cora swiped under her nose and looked Stiles over, “okay … hold on …” she sniffed in his direction, “why do you smell so good?”

Stiles felt himself freeze up, he couldn’t exactly tell her he was an Omega, not yet at least, “I … I got this new cologne and-“

“That’s definitely not cologne I smell.” Cora interrupted.

“It-It’s nothing … we should really get started on this.” Stiles stammered.

Cora scrutinized Stiles but eventually conceded, “Fine you’re right … how do you want to do this?”

The question as simple as it was baffled Stiles, “what do you mean?”

Cora rolled her eyes, “do you want to do half and I do half or do you want to work on the entire paper together … or do you just want to do it alone?”

Alone would be nice Stiles thought to himself, but he had to consider the fact that he probably wasn’t going to be in class until the end of the period since he had to visit Nurse Baldrow, “we can do it together … if you want.”

Cora shrugged, “doesn’t matter to me, so long as we get it done I’m fine.”

Stiles liked the way Cora thought, he nodded “okay” and the two of them began working on their assignment.

Stiles was surprised to say that they finished it relatively fast, Cora happened to be pretty savvy at chemistry in every aspect. The most surprising thing that came out of the whole experience was that Cora didn’t try and ditch Stiles halfway through working on their assignment. It’s happened before and Stiles wouldn’t put it by anyone to try it again; Stiles checked over their answers once more, “do you want me to turn that in?” Cora asked.

Stiles looked up from the paper, “uh yeah … sure if you want … I can always take it myself.”

Cora stuck her hand out, “I got it …”

Stiles handed over the paper and Cora brought it to the front of the class, again Stiles noticed people shift around uncomfortably as she passed them by, he wondered what that was about. He checked the clock that hung over the blackboard at the front of the room, there was about twenty minutes left in class. As Cora made it to the front and handed Mr. Harris their paper he noticed Harris signal for him, he shot up from his seat and made his way to the front, ignoring the teetering he heard coming from people as he walked by. “I see you’ve finished your work quite fast …” Mr. Harris said as Stiles walked up to his desk.

Stiles nodded, “ye-yeah … um … Cora was definitely a big help.”

Mr. Harris nodded at that and looked to Cora, “well Cora you should find something to keep yourself busy for the rest of class …” he turned to look at Stiles, “Stiles you’re wanted in the nurse’s office.”

Stiles heard someone coming up behind him and instinctively moved out of the way, Lydia strode up to Mr. Harris’s desk with her paper in hand, “here you go Mr. Harris …”

Mr. Harris took the paper from Lydia, “thank you Ms. Martin, you and your partner can find something to do to keep yourselves busy for the rest of class.”

Lydia nodded and spun around to face Cora, “Cora, hey it’s good to see you …”

At first Stiles assumed that Cora and Lydia were somewhat acquainted based off the fact Lydia acknowledged her existence but when he looked to Cora and saw that she rolled her eyes as Lydia turned away from her, he thought otherwise.

Before striding back to her desk Lydia paused and looked around, “what smells so good?”

“New air freshener, go back to your seat Ms. Martin.” Mr. Harris said quickly.

Lydia looked to Stiles, scrutinizing him; the knowing look on Lydia’s face told Stiles that she knew the scent was coming from him, she wasn’t stupid, Stiles knew that much. She shrugged, “hmph whatever,” and went back to her seat.

Stiles sighed, “Okay well … I’m going to get my stuff and go …”

Mr. Harris nodded to him, “right … good work, both of you.”

Cora and Stiles nodded simultaneously and headed back to their table, Stiles started to gather his things, “So … so um yeah … thanks for the help … it was … it was …”

Cora rolled her eyes, “Shut up Stiles.”

Stiles nodded, “yeah sorry … Im gonna go now, thanks for your help.” Stiles stammered as he backed away from the table and headed towards the front of the class. Stiles noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lydia was watching him as he walked to the front, her partner followed her gaze and gave him a nasty look causing Stiles to look away and hurry towards the door, “thanks again.” Stiles threw over his shoulder to Mr. Harris before leaving.

The day was already proving to be a strange one, Stiles couldn’t necessarily say that it was bad but he wouldn’t exactly classify it as good either, not yet at least. He did make sure to keep in mind that the day still wasn’t over and he still had a ways to go before school was out. He began to wonder why Harris decided to start being decent to him. From what he could remember just last week Harris looked like he enjoyed scolding Stiles and giving him detention, what caused the sudden turn around?

Stiles was pulled from his thoughts when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, he pulled it out to see who had contacted him and it was none other than Scott, “Dude, can I maybe talk to you after class?” The message read.

Stiles had begun to respond “yeah,” but thought against it; Stiles knew that if he met up with Scott he would probably give him a half assed apology and tell him how sorry he was and go right back to treating him like he didn’t exist. Stiles didn’t deserve that, he deserved better and he didn’t see the point in putting effort into a friendship that has long since been dead, so he decided not to respond and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

He made his way further down the hall and rounded the corner entering the main corridor and felt another buzz from his phone, he quickly pulled it out again and saw that he had another message from Scott, “Please dude I just wanna talk L”

The time for talking had come and gone and there was nothing that needed to be said; the one thing that was clear in regards to their relationship was that their brotherhood/bromance/soul brothers/best friend bond had come to an unfortunate end. Stiles didn’t respond again and shut his phone off; he strode the rest of the way down the corridor and into Nurse Baldrow office, “Stiles I have been expecting you.” Nurse Baldrow greeted him with a warm smile.

Stiles gave her a small smile back, “um … hi.”

She nodded to him, “hello, last time I saw you in here you looked pretty bad but I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better.”

Stiles scratched the back of his head, “yeah … I really don’t want to go through with that again …”

Nurse Baldrow shrugged, “After seeing how you looked Im sure no one would want to experience that twice. Anyways … Dr. Deaton called the school, your father told him that you were planning on coming back today and he wanted to relay a message to you. I’m hoping that your teacher Mr. Harris told you not to reveal you’re an Omega correct?” Stiles nodded and she continued, “Good, well Dr. Deaton said that you may experience a few things that might seem strange to you, as of right now your pheromones are all over the place, I’m sure you’ve probably noticed a few people stating that you smell good?”

Stiles nodded again, “what’s that about?”

She sighed, “Well according to Dr. Deaton based off of information gathered from other Omegas, you produce a unique scent upon presentation, a scent that is appealing to everything with a nose. He said it’s completely natural and that you may notice that people might be a little different around you until after your first shift. Once that’s complete the scent will dissipate but not completely …”

Maybe his scent was the reason Harris was treating him differently, maybe his scent was the reason Cora stuck around and helped finish their assignment instead of ditching him for someone else; maybe it was the reason his father was even considering listening to him and helping him out. Stiles pushed the negative thoughts away, there was no use dwelling on it now; all he could do was hope that that wasn’t the case and hope that they were doing what they were doing because they wanted to and not because they liked the way he smelled. “So is this like a check-up?” He asked.

Nurse Baldrow placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a once over, “well … Dr. Deaton thought that it’d be best if we keep a close eye on you, he just wants to ensure everything is going smoothly before your first full shift.”

“Ye=yeah … I feel fine now … I mean before I felt a little strange but now everything seems normal.” Stiles said.

“Good that’s really good … I bet you’re wondering about why you can’t reveal your Omega status to anyone yet …” she asked, Stiles nodded anxiously, “well there are a few reasons Dr. Deaton would like to personally like to discuss with you, but from what I can tell you, we mostly want you to keep it a secret so you can avoid a frenzy. If you think about it, what will happen if you were to reveal you were an Omega? People would become interested and want to know more about you, one person will tell another person who will tell another person who will eventually go to the media and then boom you’re all over the place. Now that might seem appealing if you’re looking for attention but you would have to keep in mind that the day of the full moon you’re going to be under a lot of stress physically …”

Stiles breath hitched as he became fearful of having to go through a massive amount of pain again, “why?”

She rubbed his shoulder in a soothing manner hoping to calm him down, “It’s okay Stiles, this is something that everyone goes through Alphas, Betas and Omegas. All weres go through it, it’s the first time our bodies shift into their full were form, obviously for people that aren’t used to the process it can prove to be extremely tiring on the body but it’s only temporary and the pain is minimal at best. Take it from me I was one that didn’t handle pain well when I was younger and I made it through no problem and I have a feeling that this pain won’t compare to what you went through when you presented as an Omega.”

Stiles sighed and shook his head, clearly relieved not to have to repeat the process of presenting again, “that’s good to hear but … can I ask you something?”

“Yes of course, anything …” Nurse Baldrow said clasping her hands together.

“I just … I don’t know … I-I think there’s more to why you wouldn’t want me to reveal I’m an Omega, I can’t imagine media coverage and people going into a frenzy is the only reason …” Stiles pressed.

It was obvious that the topic made Nurse Baldrow uncomfortable and it was clear to Stiles that she was holding something important back, “Deaton wanted to tell you this himself and your father needs to be present when he does tell you. I believe you should wait until you speak with Deaton again and ask him about it … just please do not tell anyone that you are an Omega. No one can know, Principal Thomas, Mr. Harris and your other teachers as well as myself have sworn to secrecy, Dr. Deaton and the paramedics who handled you included.” She explained quickly.

Was it dangerous to be what he was? Why did they need to swear to secrecy, why did he need to keep what he was a secret? Did they talk to Derek and Boyd too? “Wha-what about Derek and-and Boyd? I know they were here … I know they saw what-“

“Don’t worry about that, Principal Thomas talked to them the day after you went to the hospital he is certain they will keep their mouths shut about this,” She assured and leaned forward, “Right now I just need to make sure that you understand that you can’t tell anyone …”

Stiles nodded, “I-I guess …” that was a lie and he knew that Nurse Baldrow knew he was lying, Stiles dad told him when he was younger that when he presents he will be able to hear people’s heartbeats and when someone lies there’s a hitch in the rhythm of their heartbeat. Nurse Baldrow obviously heard that hitch, the truth was he didn’t understand anything. What exactly does she know that she can’t tell him?

Nurse Baldrow sighed, “Stiles please you cannot speak of this to anyone … please I need to know that you will not say anything.”

Stiles scrubbed his face, “al-alright … I understand … I don’t really have friends to tell anyway.”

Nurse Baldrow looked away trying to hide her pity towards him but Stiles saw it, “anyways … so … I understand that you’re feeling fine, that’s great but there was one other thing I needed to tell.”

Stiles shrugged, “okay what?”

Nurse Baldrow smiled, “as you now understand it is important that you keep what you are a secret … Deaton expressed that you won’t have control over your shifting not until after you fully shift … right now you can probably trigger a partial shift in a traumatic situation but we want to avoid that … so do your best to avoid any situations that may prove to be traumatic or cause intense emotional distress.”

Great, she was asking for the impossible; Stiles entire high school experience has been traumatic, hell he just dealt with Jackson not too long ago and that could have turned into a traumatic experience if Mr. Harris didn’t step in. But never the less he knew how to avoid getting into situations like that he just needed to make sure he followed the plan he made for himself to get through school, “I kind of wish Deaton told me this was going to be a problem, if I had of known I wouldn’t have come back to school.”

“I understand and Deaton wanted to apologize profusely for not warning you beforehand.” Nurse Baldrow assured.

Stiles sighed, “yeah … right, so is there anything else I need to know?”

Nurse Baldrow shook her head, “that’s it unless you have something to tell me, you’re free to go … the bell should be ringing any second now.”

Stiles nodded and made his way towards the door he turned around and said, “Thanks …” and Nurse Baldrow smiles and nodded at him and eventually waved him off.

He exited the nurse’s office with one thought in mind, what the hell was she hiding that she couldn’t tell him? He’ll be damned if he waited until seeing Deaton to ask him about it, he was going to get answers when he got home, he has a right to know especially if it could potentially put him in danger.

Go figure the universe would throw another obstacle at him, just when he had gotten comfortable with being an Omega, shit.

Derek's POV

Weight training went by in a flash, working out was one of Derek’s favorite pass times and it helped him get his mind off of the world and the shitty situation he was in. “Good job today man … you seem really focused these past few days.” Boyd told him as they exited the locker room.

Derek huffed, “don’t pretend like you don’t know my situation Boyd …”

Boyd nodded, “yeah I know your situation … I also know that you ditched me and Erica this morning and ran off somewhere, what the hell was that about?”

Derek sighed and whispered, “I needed to make sure the freak had his mark covered up and he wasn’t going around telling everyone that we were soulmates.”

Boyd grunted, “you know you two are probably the weirdest soulmates in existence … like who would have guessed you and-“

“Shut the fuck up Boyd, I don’t want anyone finding AT ALL!” Derek cut in.

Boyd shrugged, “chill out man I wasn’t going to say anything I just like getting you worked up” he said as he playfully punched Derek in the arm.

Derek returned the punch but just a little harder, “Fuck you man that’s not funny.”

Boyd couldn’t hold back his laughter, “actually it is …” he lowered his voice before saying, “listen, you know I have French with Stilinski right now, I’ll make sure he knows not to show his mark, okay?”

Derek sighed, “Yeah, thanks man … I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I tell myself the same thing every day.” Erica said as she strode up to them.

“Hey babe,” Boyd greeted her wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a light peck on the lips.

“Hey …” she said gazing into Boyd’s eyes, Derek longed for someone to look at him like that, like he was the most important thing in the world. He thought he had that at one point, he thought he’d found his soulmate as she was the one person that made Derek feel like he meant something but that went South.

“Hey … Derek, where did you go this morning?” Erica asked pulling Derek from his thoughts.

Derek shook his head, “I … I just had something I needed to take care of …”

She looked Skeptical at that, “Are you hooking up with someone?”

Derek growled, “No Erica I’m not hooking up with anyone …”

Erica shrugged, “well you know I know more than a few people that will drop their drawers for you in a heartbeat …”

“Hey babe, come on … leave him alone …” Boyd said nudging her.

Erica pouted, “What I’m just trying to help him out …”

Derek rolled his eyes, “thanks Erica but you know I don’t need your help with any of that.”

Erica shrugged again and sighed, “okay … hey did you guys hear that little weird Stilinski kid is back? I knew I saw his Jeep in the parking lot earlier.”

Derek tensed up, “who gives a fuck about that freak?”

Erica raised her eyebrows, “obviously you two do, he’s your favorite rag doll isn’t he?”

“Erica!” Derek heard Allison call from down the hall.

Erica waved at her excitedly and Allison ran towards them; when she got closer Erica pulled away from Boyd’s grasp and gave Allison a hug, “hey, what’s up?”

Allison smiled, “nothing .. Um hey guys … have you seen Scott? I was texting him in class but he never responded and I tried to meet him at his class but he was already gone; I’m kind of worried about him.”

“Why?” Boyd and Erica asked simultaneously, Derek already knew the reason though.

Allison sighed, “Well … you know that one boy Stiles, I-I guess he and Scott are friends … or were friends and Scott tried saying hi to him before class started and asked what was going on and he sort of told Scott to fuck off.”

Erica looked disturbed by that, “what?!”

Boyd looked to Derek, “you don’t seem surprised by that.”

Derek shrugged, “I saw a little bit of it and I can’t say I wasn’t surprised.”

Allison looked to Derek, “Derek you saw Scott after that … I’ve never seen him look so upset. I tried talking to him about it but he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

Derek did see the way Scott looked after Stiles left him in the hallway, it was the first time he had ever seen him look visibly upset. Of all the times they hung out recently Derek never saw Scott look so defeated and hurt even when they’d joke around and things went a little too far Scott never let anything get to him, he was always carefree and happy, “Don’t worry … he’ll be fine, it’s better this way anyway he doesn’t need to be around that freak, he’s bad company.”

Allison breathed a sigh of relief, “are you sure … because I remember Scott said that they used to be really close and over the past year they kind of grew apart but they were still good friends.”

“Allison!” Derek heard Lydia call from the same place Allison had been, Jackson was with her hand in hand. They both walked up to them greeting everyone, Lydia giving each of the girls’ hugs and nodding to the boys while Jackson high fived the boys and nodded to the girls. “Hey we’ve been looking for you guys …” Lydia said.

“Sorry we got caught up talking about Stilinski …” Erica stated.

“Stilinski?! Why the fuck are you talking about that loser? Which speaking of, that little fucker has a date with my fist coming.” Jackson said clearly aggravated.

Derek wondered why Jackson was so heated, not that it surprised him, every time they talked about Stiles Jackson would go off on a tangent about how much he hated him and how it made him sick that he used to be so fixated on Lydia.

“Woah Jackson calm down … did something happen?” Boyd asked.

Lydia rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Jackson sort of got in trouble this morning for messing with him, Mr. Harris made him apologize to Stiles in front of a few people.”

“A few people?” Jackson asked bewildered, “That hallway was crowded Lydia and you said your entire class heard everything!”

Lydia shrugged, “so what, nobody cares now so get over it. Anyway speaking of Stilinski I don’t know if anyone else has run into him yet but if you have, have you noticed his scent … he still smells a little funny but he mostly smells really good now.” Lydia said, Derek could tell she was watching their reactions carefully.

“I still think he smells like shit,” Jackson chimed, Lydia swatted him in the back of the head.

Allison sighed, “Yeah I was wondering what that was about, I told you I finally met him Monday and he blew me off but I remember the way he smelled … it was … it was kind of awful.”

Erica shrugged, “yeah, we just assume that’s a part of his freakish nature …”

Boyd, Derek and Jackson each laughed at that, Allison pressed on, “well when I saw him today in the hallway it was hard to miss the way he smelled … it was like this pleasant aroma clouded the entire hallway. I-I’ve never smelt anything like come from a person before.”

“Maybe it’s some of the drugs he’s taking?” Erica mentioned, “I heard he was on some pretty killer stuff … and some of it helps force a presentation … maybe he’s having some kind of reaction”

Lydia scoffed, “Oh please Erica don’t tell me you believe that garbage, there’s no such thing as a drug that can force presentation; it’s literally impossible. That’s just another baseless rumor someone started about him.”

Allison sighed, “Well whatever is going on with him … it’s not normal … Scott was surprised about his scent too …”

They had spent way too much time talking about Stiles and Derek had gotten fed up, “Well I better get to class … see you guys at lunch.” Derek announced high fiving Jackson and Boyd as he left. Poking fun at Stiles used to be a good pass time but now it just irritated Derek and made him sick. Every time Stiles was mentioned now Derek was reminded of the mark on his left wrist, he still couldn’t believe that Stiles was actually his soulmate. The past few nights he had had dreams of those beautiful emerald green eyes, he assumed it was because his wolf longed to look into them again but Derek wanted none of that.

As he walked down the hall weaving through the many students he noticed a few people were mentioning Stiles, “Have you seen the Stilinski kid … he smells great.” “Is it me or does Stiles look really different like in a good way … who knew drugs could actually have a good effect on you?” “Has anybody figured out who his soulmate is yet?” “I heard a rumor that Stilinski actually presented …” The last one caught Derek’s attention, he remembered coming to school the day after Stiles had presented and getting called to the Principals’ office with Boyd, Principal Thomas was adamant that he and Boyd not speak a word of Stiles presentation. Derek didn’t need to be told twice, as if he would tell anyone … if people found out Derek was present for Stiles presentation they’d want to know why and then they’d question Stiles soul mark and probably link Derek to Stiles. He didn’t want any of that, it was just too much bull shit to deal with.

“Hey Derek wait up!” Erica called running up behind him, “did you forget we’re in the same class? What’s going on?”

Derek shook his head, “no sorry … I just got a lot on my mind right now.”

Erica nodded, “you worried about your big game tonight? It’s our rival school Casanova; you guys have to win so we can have bragging rights when we verse them in the Lacrosse season. So you Mr. All Star Quarterback, need to have your head in the game.” She chuckled, “I still can’t believe you guys are actually playing football this year …”

The big game, to be honest football was the last thing on Derek’s mind right now; he had been badgered into trying out for the team by Boyd and Isaac, they said it would be good off-season practice for Lacrosse and it will help him stay in shape. Of course that prompted Jackson and Scott to try out as well and go figure they all made the varsity team no problem, partially because coach gave them an automatic in. The major reason was because Derek was pretty great at playing quarterback, Scott and Isaac excelled at playing the receiver position, Boyd was the perfect Linebacker and Jackson was an all-star running back “Yeah … gotta be ready …” Derek said.

“Derek, what’s up man I was looking everywhere for you.” Isaac said as he ran up to him.

Derek smiled and high fived him, “you obviously weren’t looking hard enough, we were all down the hall by the weight room.”

Erica punched Isaac in the shoulder, “spill it who were you going after?”

Isaac rubbed his arm, “no one you know …”

Derek wondered how Erica always knew when someone was potentially getting together with someone else, Erica raised an eyebrow at that, “oh really?”

“Yeah really …” Isaac said childishly, “hey Derek … have you seen Laura around?”

“I don’t know she’s somewhere around here ... you know our classes aren’t close to each other anymore so I barely see her when we’re in school.” Derek said.

“She’s in Ms. Peter’s Calculus class right now … I doubt you’ll make it to see her though, we only have two minutes until the bell rings and there’s no way you’ll make it upstairs and all the way across school and back before the bell rings.” Erica chimed.

Isaac punched the air, “shit man, I need her to help me with my English homework …”

Erica sighed, “Isaac you idiot, we have English right now and why do you need her help? The homework wasn’t even hard you just had to read the short story and answer the questions ugh here …” Erica pulled out her homework, “hurry up and copy this.” She withdrew her paper the minute he reached for it, “but you owe me big time for this!”

“I’ll let you borrow my history homework because I know you didn’t do it …” Isaac said.

“Actually I did I-“ Erica quickly looked through her bag and pulled out her paper, “mother fucker you were supposed to call me and remind me to do it! Ugh Fine here …” she said handing over her English homework while Isaac handed her his history homework.

“You guys are a nuisance,” Derek said leaving them behind and walking off to class with the two of them tailing him.

Stiles POV

Stiles had a plan it was the perfect plan to avoid everyone and make it to class early and not suffer any run ins. But Stiles plans never really work out when he needs them to, the universe doesn’t like to work with him, ever. Stiles had been walking down the main corridor getting ready to turn into the hallway where his next class was located when the bell had suddenly rung, “shit,” he whispered to himself.

He started speed walking towards his class until he was suddenly yanked in the middle of the hallway, “Stiles wait!”

He spun around quickly to see who had grabbed him, he was surprised to see that it was Scott, “what-what are you doing here?”

Scott sighed, “you passed by my class right when the bell rang I called you but you just kept walking away.”

Stiles fixed the sleeve of his hoodie luckily Scott didn’t grab his right arm and pull off his ace bandage that covered his mark. “What do you want Scott?”

“You-you didn’t answer any of my messages I sent you …” Scott stated.

Stiles huffed, “obviously I don’t really want to talk to you Scott …” he turned to walk away but Scott grabbed hold of his shoulder and spun him around.

“Stiles what the hell is going on with you? Why are you acting like this?” Stiles couldn’t believe Scott had just asked him that, as if the answer wasn’t blatantly obvious.

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know … are you being serious right now?”

“Yes I’m being serious right now! What the fuck is your problem?! You blew Allison off on Monday when she tried introducing herself to you, I tried finding you to ask you about that but you were nowhere to be found. Then I heard rumors that you went to the hospital? Is that true? Because I’m pretty sure you weren’t here Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and now today you’re back and you’re treating me like shit. What’s going on?” Scott asked frantically.

“If you knew I went to the hospital … why didn’t you try to call or text me?” Stiles asked, the question had been lingering in the back of his mind and he wanted an answer.

“I … I,” Scott was obviously taken by surprise, “I’ve been really busy … and … I thought they were just rumors.”

Stiles scratched the back of his head, “even if they were rumors you still didn’t check to see if I was okay … I mean obviously if you were hearing I got taken to the hospital and you couldn’t find me anywhere chances are those weren’t just rumors and they were probably true … but … you still didn’t check up on me.”

Stiles could see the truth of his words sink in as Scott looked to him woefully, “I … I”

Stiles sighed, “You didn’t care …”

Stiles could see the panic settle onto Scott’s face, “I did … I-I did …”

Clearly Scott didn’t care and Stiles knew that now, and he knew that he needed to end this conversation and with it their friendship. Stiles would have to be blunt, he needed to make sure he made his point clear, it was the only way Scott would let him leave and it’s probably the only way Scott will leave him alone. “You were supposed to be my best friend-“

“I am!” Scott cut in.

“NO YOU’RE NOT!” Stiles said trying to keep his voice down to avoid causing a scene, “You stopped giving a damn about me halfway through last year, anyone with eyes could see that, I was just too stupid to admit that to myself because I didn’t want to believe that I actually lost you. I always told myself that you couldn’t help the way you were acting because you had a hopeless crush and I never wanted to get in the way of that especially after you found out that your crush was your soulmate. I thought that you had no control over what you were doing because I thought it was only natural that you’d want to spend all your time with her which is why I didn’t care that you bailed on me all the time to hang out with her. I excused all of the times you left me hanging, it didn’t matter … I just wanted you to be happy by any means necessary; but then I realized that you weren’t just hanging out with her you were hanging with other people … other people who happen to hate me … people from the lacrosse team, people you knew were messing with me … but what did you do when I told you they were?”

Scott was stunned his mouth was agape as he struggled to respond, Stiles didn’t care as he continued on, “You told me not to take it seriously and just go along with it, you knew they were doing things to me and you did nothing … you knew how Jackson treated me before you guys got all buddy-buddy, he used to do it to you too. But you probably don’t care about that now … since it’s all in the past right? You obviously didn’t care that Jackson and your other friends were giving me hell, why would you care I mean they were only talking about me right? You looked past it so much you didn’t realize that they actually started physically hurting me … but you know for some strange reason I kind of think you knew that and you can’t even pretend like you don’t because you hang around them all the time now; I’m sure one of them has mentioned it … but … you don’t care. It’s kind of funny how you can always make time to hang out with them but you’re always busy when it comes to me. I get it you don’t want to associate yourself with the school’s freak anymore, which speaking of, we can’t forget about how most of the school treats me and all the crazy rumors going around about me. I’m sure you know what most of the school says about me, I know you’ve heard some of the rumors and you know what … now that I think about it I’ve actually heard that you joke about it from time to time and that you’re behind some of the rumors …” Scott’s eyes widened in horror, Stiles knew that look, Scott would always give his mother that look when she caught him doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.

On the first day of his sophomore year Stiles had heard a particularly nasty rumor about himself apparently every New Year’s Day he liked to go to the cemetary and dig up his mother’s grave and play around with her remains. Why someone would go around saying something so horrible baffled Stiles; the rumor didn’t last long but it still hurt Stiles to his core that someone would actually believe he would defame his mother’s gravesite and disrespect her resting place. The one thing that he couldn’t get over was how the person who spread the rumor knew when he visited the cemetery to see his mom, there were only a few people who knew the date his mother died and he only went to school with one of them.

Stiles looked around, none of the other students had crowded around them, they all walked by them clearly unaware of the conversation going on between them and Stiles was appreciative of that. He looked back to Scott and kept his voice low, “You don’t care about me Scott … not anymore and that’s fine. You got really popular and got a beautiful soulmate, most guys in school want what you have, what more could you need right? Obviously you didn’t need me and that’s fine … it doesn’t matter … I was your best friend since second grade and you were practically my brother and you threw me away like garbage.”

Stiles noticed a stray tear make its way down Scott’s cheek, “we barely talk … we don’t hang out and you’re obviously talking about me behind my back; would you consider that a best friend?” Scott wiped his cheek and swiped under his nose, he was clearly trying to hold back tears but wasn’t doing a good job at it. When he didn’t answer, Stiles pressed on, “I wouldn’t … there’s no point in this … there’s no point in us pretending to be friends, you’ve clearly moved on already and I .. I don’t really care … I don’t really care. I think I’ve been hurting so much lately that this … this just doesn’t really mean much to me … I think it’s because I’ve been expecting it and I’ve finally accepted it. But I also think it’s because I just realized …” Stiles leaned in and whispered, “you’re actually a piece of shit … and I hate you.”

Stiles knew Scott didn’t need to listen to his heartbeat to know he was telling the truth. Hate was a strong word but it was a good word to help get his point across, he needed Scott to understand that the friendship between them has long since been dead, and feigning ignorance and bogus apologies were not going to mend an already broken situation. This was it, this was the end of them, no more brother’s in arms, no more dynamic duo, they were done, finished, over, their ending was tragic. Maybe in time they could possibly be friends again but that wasn’t something Stiles could see happening anytime soon.

Scott’s breath wavered, he looked like he was caving under the weight of the world, in the past Stiles would have given in and apologized for everything he had said just to avoid seeing his best friend cry but now he didn’t care. This was something Scott needed to reflect on, an ugly truth he obviously did not want to see but now Stiles was basically holding up a mirror and forcing him to look at the person he became and the damage he’s caused. A few more tears had begun to spill out onto Scott’s cheeks and he finally found his voice, “Stiles … Stiles I-“

“Stay away from me Scott …” Stiles cut in not wanting to hear any excuses, “don’t call me, don’t text me, delete my number. Don’t come by my house anymore and when we’re here … at school, pass me by in the hallways and pretend I’m not there … that at least shouldn’t be too hard for you since you’ve pretty much already started doing that. I … I really hope you actually heard me and I hope you learned something from this …” the minute bell rang signifying there wasn’t much time left to get to class, “goodbye Scott.”

The last thing Stiles saw before he turned away was Scott’s outreached hand; Stiles heard Scott pleading for him to wait but he ignored him and walked to class without a second glance.

Derek's POV

Derek swore that if he ever had a class with Erica and Isaac again he would switch out of it immediately to save himself a massive headache. The two of them would not stop talking the entire class and leave it to them to distract Derek from taking good notes, for a test they had on Monday. But luckily Derek is Derek and he was easily able to sweet talk someone into letting him borrow their notes before class ended, luckily there wasn’t much to copy down. “Sweet talking isn’t always going to get you what you want Derek.” Erica chimed.

Derek huffed, “yeah well it worked now, didn’t it?”

Erica shrugged, “Maybe … it’s probably because you guys always look extra hunky in your letterman jackets, which speaking of, why are you wearing your letterman jacket? It hasn’t rained since Monday and it’s not cold outside, seeing as how it’s the middle of September.”

Isaac leaned back in his chair and looked over to Erica with a cheeky grin, “you just want to see him strip.”

Erica nodded, “well I’m not exactly opposed to it, you wanna join in on it and give a girl a good show?”

“Ms. Reyes, Mr. Hale and Mr. Lahey there is ten minutes left in class if you cannot keep your mouths shut for those ten minutes I will hold you back and give a special homework assignment that consist of you writing no less than ten thousand words explaining why you felt the need to interrupt my class repeatedly and fail to follow instruction.” Ms. Karagan said standing next to the blackboard.

Isaac sat up in his seat and sighed, Erica sat up straight as well, Derek continued looking down at his notebook to copy the notes, “yes Ms. Karagan.” The three of them said.

If it was any other student she would have kicked them out of the class a long time ago, being a star athlete in school had its perks and Derek was fond of taking advantage of them.

He finished copying everything he had missed and handed the notebook over to Erica so she could copy them next, Isaac threw a paper ball at his head and mouthed the words ‘what the fuck?’ To which Derek responded by whispering, “ladies first.”

Erica finished copying down the notes quickly as did Isaac, he somehow managed to finish before the bell rung; as soon as Isaac was handing the notebook back to Derek the bell rung and the girl Derek borrowed the notebook from shot up from her seat and spun around cheerfully gazing at Derek with a small smile, “you all done?” she asked as she made her way to his desk.

“Yeah Breaden thanks,” Derek said offering her a wide grin as he stood up and handed her back her notebook.

Breaden lingered, “so hey … I heard Jackson might be throwing a party if you guys win tonight, am I going to see you there?”

Derek nodded, “definitely.”

“Well I guess I’ll see you later then …” she winked at him before spinning around and leaving class.

“Dude you gotta teach me how you do that …” Isaac chimed.

Derek huffed, “like you need help.”

“I guess I’ll see you later then,” Erica mocked, “that was such crap, she should have went full on and just said ‘hey let’s fuck at the party.’”

“LANGUAGE MS. REYES,” Ms. Karagan called from the front of the room.

Derek, Isaac and Erica made their way to the front, “sorry Ms. Karagan …” Erica said before the three of them left the room, “ugh thank God it’s finally lunch time if I spent another minute in that damn class I was going to rip my hair out.”

“Isaac!” someone called, Derek could recognize the voice anywhere it was his older sister Laura.

Isaac spun around grinning like a mad dog, “well if it isn’t my favorite Hale.” Isaac said as he scooped her up into a hug.

Derek punched him in the shoulder and he dropped her immediately, Laura smiled mischievously at Derek “don’t be jealous Derek I can’t help it if I’m everyone’s favorite.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “shut up Laura.”

Erica walked up to Laura and gave her a quick hug and greeted her cheerfully, “Hello future Ms. Homecoming queen “

Laura swatted at Erica, “Stop, they haven’t even started voting for that yet.”

“Yeah but everybody knows you’re gonna win.” Isaac said and he was right, Laura had won the title of Homecoming Princess/Duchess by a landslide in her freshman, sophomore and junior year and she was a shoe in to win the homecoming Queen Title for her senior year. Derek was no different as he had won the title of Homecoming Prince/Duke in his freshman and sophomore year and he was probably going to win it again in his junior year.

Laura scoffed, “Whatever, hey have you guys seen Cora around? I need to find her … apparently she got switched out of her old chemistry class because she almost got into a fight with someone.”

Erica sighed, “Why am I not surprised?”

Isaac huffed, “dude what’s the deal with your sister? She’s like the opposite of both of you and she’s kind of violent … you guys know she has a pretty bad rep right? A lot of people are scared of her ….”

Isaac wasn’t wrong, Cora was basically the opposite of Derek and Laura, where they were social butterflies she was introverted and extremely standoffish. Derek and Laura had a natural charm to them that drew people in, Cora always seemed to drive people away. That was one major thing that worried Derek about his little sister and he hoped that maybe one day she could grow out of it and mingle with people without wanting to punch them in the face. He couldn’t really say anything about her knocking people around, he understood, sometimes a person pisses you off so much that you want nothing more than to see them hurt. Laura didn’t agree with that sentiment though, she was absolutely against fighting, the one thing she strived to make sure of was that Cora didn’t turn into some kind of school bully and Derek did not want to find out what she might do to him if she found out about how he treats Stilinski. Even his friends know to keep their mouth shut when she’s around unless they want to wind up getting an ear full.

“She’s working on it she just needs a little time, she’s not bad at all at least not to us …” Laura frowned, Derek could imagine that it hurt her a lot to hear that Cora was getting into trouble again; “alright well, I’m gonna go try and find her, I’ll see you guys around.” She waved as she walked off.

“Seriously Derek, what is it with your sister? The three of you are super close and by my understanding you always have been, I mean look at you, you’re basically the male version of Laura just a lot more athletic. You grew up with each other … you learned from each other … you were raised by the same parents … the three of you are Alpha’s … so why isn’t Cora more like you and Laura?” Erica asked.

Derek turned and started heading towards the cafeteria, Isaac and Erica following waiting patiently for him to answer, “She’s just different, she’s always been like that … we tried getting her to talk to people but she always got fed up with them really fast so we just sort of let her do her own thing.”

Erica shrugged, “I guess that makes sense …”

Isaac opened the door to the cafeteria, Derek wasn’t expecting to hear a bunch of students cheer for him when he walked in. One thing Derek noticed that was different about playing football rather than lacrosse, people were much more amped up for football games than lacrosse games especially when the team was off to a 3-0 start. “This is a little much wouldn’t you say?” Isaac asked as they waved to the students and made their way to the lunch line.

Derek leaned in and whispered, “I personally like lacrosse better, people are pretty mellow when it comes to our games.”

Erica pinched Derek’s arm, “I have to disagree with you there, you guys know during your freshman year it was pretty crazy towards the end of the season but not as crazy as last year’s season, you know this place was a madhouse especially right before you guys went to the conference championships, every time I think about it I just think it’s crazy how riled up everyone was.”

Derek looked to Isaac and they both nodded to one another, Erica was right last year things were pretty crazy before and after they won the conference championship. It was pretty crazy during his freshman year too Derek remembered the team had been good but they got knocked out right before making it to the championships. Last year with the addition of Scott and Jackson they were good enough to win it all. Derek could only imagine how good they would be this year, especially given that now all the boys were relatively experienced in the game, the possibility of going for back to back titles wasn’t out of the question.

But the lacrosse season didn’t start until beginning of next year, right now it was football season and they had a really good team going for them. Plenty of people already seem to think that they may be able to win the division championship under Derek’s leadership. All he needed to do was keep his head in the game and not focus on any distractions e.g. his situation with Stiles. Derek sighed keeping his mind off of his soulmate situation was proving more challenging as the days went by. Derek noticed Jackson waving to them out of the corner of his eye, he was sitting accompanied by Lydia and Allison at their usual table. Isaac and Derek nodded, Erica waved back obnoxiously; Boyd had come out of nowhere and scooped her up and the two shared a very showy kiss which gained them a few admirers. Isaac scoffed and pretended he was going to puke, Boyd punched him in the shoulder and Erica told him, “Don’t be jealous.”

As they finally got to the lunch line all the students that stood in front of them were nice enough to let them cut to the front of the line. That gave Derek an idea, he should focus on all the good things that happen to him daily to keep his mind off of his situation with Stiles, if he did that then he’d hardly ever think about him. They got their food and walked over to their table to join Jackson, Lydia and Allison, “Where’s Scott?” Derek wondered as he sat himself down, noticing the sad look on Allison’s face.

Allison shrugged, “I don’t know … he texted me and said he wasn’t feeling too good and said he needed to be alone … I don’t where he is.”

Lydia rolled her eyes, “he’s probably in one of the boys’ bathrooms he’ll be here eventually; you know he can’t stay away from you even if he tried.”

Allison looked down, “yeah …”

“Hey guys!” Someone said walking up to their table, when Derek turned to see who it was it was none other than Breaden she had walked over accompanied by a bunch of the cheerleaders. “We just wanted to do a little cheer for our boys to help them get fired up for the game tonight!” She announced and everyone in the cafeteria cheered. “So … if our varsity football team can all stand up …” she motioned for all of the varsity team to stand, which they did, from what Derek could see they were scattered throughout the cafeteria. She grinned and said, “And everybody else, join us in saying HEY HO BH BOBCATS LET’S GO!” Everyone in the cafeteria started cheering along with Breaden and the rest of the cheerleaders.

Derek felt himself grinning like a maniac as he felt an overwhelming sense of pride at the sight before him, Breaden had taken the opportunity to step closer to Derek into his personal space. Derek didn’t mind though, Breaden was a beautiful girl and after her proposal earlier he’d already planned to fool around with her later should they win the game tonight. Derek could feel his wolf was not in agreeance to their proximity but he ignored that; she wrapped her arms around his neck and started leaning in to which he attempted to hold onto her waist and close the distance between them but the second he touched her waist he felt an immeasurable amount of pain coming from his left wrist. The area where his soul mark was, was burning wildly and the feeling spread up his arm until it coursed through his entire body and engulfed him in a feeling of pure pain and torment, the pain was so intense Derek thought it was making him delirious as he could have sworn he saw the image of glowing emerald green eyes flash before him.

Derek flinched and staggered back out of Breaden’s hold, everyone around them had gone deathly silent, surprisingly the pain slowly but surely dissipated and Derek tried reigning himself in, “woah there big boy, you okay?” Breaden asked.

“Derek you feeling okay?” Erica said from behind him.

What the fuck was that, Derek wondered, why the hell did that happen? He could figure that out later right now he needed to salvage the situation quickly before it turned into a big deal; fixing his expression Derek calmed down and said, “I’m fine … but I can’t claim my prize until after we KICK CASANOVA’S BUTTS TONIGHT!” He announced and everyone went wild, Breaden even bought into it. Derek looked around the cafeteria as everyone cheered, his friends looked excited although Lydia looked at him a little suspiciously she was still cheering along. Derek noticed Laura at the far end of the cafeteria as she walked in, from what he could tell she didn’t exactly look happy, “GO BOBCATS!” he yelled before leaving his table to meet Laura, everyone cheered even more at that.

Laura noticed him stride up to her amongst the cheering students, “hey I see you got them all riled up for the game tonight …” she said.

Derek could scent the worry that was rolling off of her in waves, “yeah … is something wrong?” he asked.

Laura ran her hand through her hair, “it’s not really a big deal … I just … I can’t find Cora anywhere … I checked all the usual places she goes to eat lunch but she’s nowhere to be found … so I thought I might check in here. I don’t know I thought maybe she might have come in here and found someone to eat with.”

Derek smirked at that, “yeah if only … she’s obviously still here somewhere, you know if she left mom or dad would have texted us and let us know she went home. Besides you’ll see her when we get home anyway … so come on, get some food and come over and sit with us.”

“Okay …” she sighed and nodded, “alright … I’ll be right there.”

Derek smiled and held her shoulder reassuringly before he ran back to his table to rejoin his friends.

Stiles POV

Stiles hadn’t been too excited to go to French class, not because he didn’t like it but because he shared the class with Boyd. Stiles couldn’t really say Boyd was all that bad, at least not as bad as his friends Jackson, Derek and Isaac, the only wrong thing he’s ever really done to Stiles besides shove him out of the way, was not do anything about what his friends were doing to him. But for the most part Boyd usually left Stiles alone, most of the time, but today was different; before class Boyd had been waiting outside of Ms. Morrell’s room, Stiles tried to rush into the class but Boyd stood in his way. He was massive he easily had at least a good 4 or 5 inches on Stiles not to mention he was built like a brick house. He easily moved Stiles to the side away from the classroom and spoke low, “Derek says don’t go around flaunting your mark he doesn’t want anyone to know you’re his soulmate, you’re only going to embarrass yourself and him and if that happens you’re gonna piss him off and if you piss him off you piss me off and if I’m pissed off something bad might happen to you. So keep that damn thing covered … and make sure you keep quiet about what you are, I don’t wanna get in trouble for anything.”

To be honest Stiles was more surprised than he was scared, that was the first time he had ever heard Boyd talk so much. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, “you act like I’m proud of this whole situation.”

Boyd jabbed Stiles with his index finger, “just keep your mouth shut Stilinski.”

“Boys, is there a problem?” Ms. Morrell said as she came out of her classroom.

Boyd stood up straight and faced her, “no mam none at all.” He said before walking into her class.

Stiles sighed and attempted to walk into class, Ms. Morrell stopped him, “Stiles a moment …” she said gesturing for him to step to the side, “I know your situation and while that is quite amazing aside from that I’ve noticed other situations regarding you that are much more concerning and I want to extend my apologies for not reaching out to you sooner and asking you if you were okay. As you know I am the French teacher but I am also the school’s guidance counselor and you should be able to come to me for anything. And I do stress that I do like to allow students to come to me before I approach them, but I fear I might have waited too long with you. I know that you are not treated well in school, I know people say horrible things about you and I can see that has made you really self-conscious.”

She sighed before continuing, “And I can also see now that seating you in the front of the class is probably not the best thing for you since you always manage to lose focus on what I’m teaching and pay more attention to what’s being said behind you; and due to that your grade has obviously slipped a little. So because of that … and your new situation, I’ve decided to move you to the back; at least then I’ll know that you’ll be more focused on what’s going on in front of you rather than what’s going on behind you,” she leaned in and whispered, “and I don’t really need you and your new scent distracting the rest of the class.” She smiled as she pulled away.

Stiles was at a loss for words, yet another good thing was happening to him and he didn’t have to beg and plead every deity known to man just to get it. It was true that Stiles got distracted a lot of the time by things people said about him and sometimes he missed out on things that he needed to be paying attention to and that eventually caused some of his grades to suffer especially when they had quizzes on what they learned for the day/week. “Thank-thank you …” he stammered.

Ms. Morrell nodded, “of course although this is probably something I should have done during the second week of school rather than wait until we were already a month in. But Stiles if you ever need to speak with someone about the problems you’re dealing feel free to come to my office. I am there whenever you need me, okay?”

Stiles nodded, “okay.”

“Well alright time to start class,” she said as she led him into her classroom.

The change of seats was perfect for him, now he didn’t feel like he was surrounded and about to be ambushed by a bunch of people that wanted to wring his neck. For the first time since school started he was able to focus all the way through his French class but he did notice a few students kept staring at him with quizzical expressions and he also noticed Boyd shooting him a few quick nasty glances but Stiles easily ignored that and paid attention to what Ms. Morrell had to say. Surprisingly class went by fast when he wasn’t focused on what his classmates had to say about him. The bell for lunch rang and all the students shot up and raced for the door to go to the cafeteria, Boyd lagged behind eyeing Stiles as he gathered his things together.

As he made his way towards the front of the room and was about to walk out of the door Ms. Morrell told him, “remember what I said Stiles, if you ever need to talk you can come see me in my office.” He nodded his assurance and walked out of the door, he needed to stop by his locker and switch out some books for his next set of classes and he figured he’d do that before lunch rather than after lunch at least then he wouldn’t be dealing with a crowded hallway of students. As he rounded the corner Boyd startled him and said, “remember what I said Stilinski, keep quiet.”

Stiles held onto his chest after he felt like his heart might burst from it, “Jesus! I’m no proud of it either …” Boyd grunted at that and marched off towards the cafeteria. Stiles walked in the opposite direction towards his locker, when he made it, he switched out everything and grabbed what he needed for his next two classes and closed his locker and eventually headed towards the cafeteria. Usually at lunch time Stiles always found a place to sit until near the end of lunch; once lunch was almost over Stiles would make his way into the lunchroom to get a snack before his next class. He only started doing that because at the start of the school year during the first week, whenever he’d get lunch and somehow find a place to sit someone would always come along and either mess with his food, knock his food to the floor so he couldn’t eat it or they would bully him away from a table because he was “taking up space that could be used for people that are actually useful.”

So because of that Stiles would either spend his time sitting in the library reading a book or he’d go sit in his Jeep. Today Stiles felt like sitting in the library for no other reason other than books were a good resource to pass the time by, he strode over and walked in greeting the Liberian Mrs. Cooper, thankfully the school library was pretty big so he could grab a book and find an aisle to sit in to avoid being out in the open. He went down the aisles and grabbed the last book he was reading “The Rule of 3,” then he moved to a more secluded area and sat his bag down on the floor and took a seat next to it and began reading. Sometime while he was reading someone had come and sat near him, he only noticed them because he nearly dropped his book when he was turning the page and he happened to look up only to see them sitting a few feet away from him. It was a girl and Stiles knew this girl she was giving off the same cold demeanor she had when she first walked into Mr. Harris’s class. “Co-Cora?” He hesitated.

She looked up from the book she was reading and glared at him, “what?”

Stiles startled a little, “I-I’m sorry … I-I can leave if you want.” Stiles said as he started to get up.

“No wait! Its fine … you don’t have to go … I just … I just … I don’t know … I’m trying to avoid someone … and I thought this would be a good place to sit.” She said.

Stiles nodded and sat back down, “Oh … okay …” Stiles started reading his book again, as an awkward silence fell upon them.

Cora sighed obviously annoyed, “Stiles … can I ask you something?”

Stiles looked up from his book, “ye-yeah sure …”

“Why are in here … are you hiding from someone?” She asked cautiously.

Stiles shrugged, “not really … I just … I just come here because … I don’t know, I don’t really have any friends … so I just sit in here … I guess.”

Cora nodded, Stiles was surprised to see that she actually didn’t pity him, “that makes sense … I’m not really a people person myself.”

“I …” Stiles sighed, “I tried … I tried getting along with people but … I guess I’m just not really a likable person.”

Cora nodded but didn’t say anything for a minute, it was like she was trying to see if Stiles was telling the truth or not. “Or maybe it’s because people are shallow and they don’t realize that some of the people they turn away are actually good people.” She said quietly.

Stiles looked down at that, “maybe …”

Cora closed the book she was reading, “I … I don’t really have friends either, people just irritate me too fast by saying the dumbest things … I don’t know maybe it’s just me. I can barely hold conversations with people that aren’t family, I just don’t like a lot of people.” She said.

Stiles smiled, “well you’re holding a conversation with me … that’s progress.”

Cora chuckled, “yeah … I guess it is … so do you eat you lunch in here or what?”

Stiles shook his head, “no, I usually just wait until before lunch is over to grab something … it’s the only way I can avoid running into a lot of people.”

Cora nodded and reached for her bag, “I usually don’t eat lunch in the cafeteria either I just find somewhere around school to sit and eat but I brought my lunch and a few snacks … if you want to share?”

Stiles was delighted that she offered to share her lunch with him but he was nervous at the same time, “no-no I don’t want to take your food away you should eat it, you-you have to be hungry-“

“Stiles I packed enough stuff in here to feed a family trust me I have more than enough to share.” She cut in.

Stiles gasped, “are-are you sure?”

Cora rolled her eyes and nodded, “yeah … do you want any or not … say something before I change my mind.”

“Ye-yeah sure …” he couldn’t believe that underneath the cold demeanor was a nice and decent person, she really lived up to the meaning of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’

“Well scoot over here … I don’t really want to throw food at you.” She said pulling out her lunch bag from her backpack. Stiles complied and moved his stuff over near her and sat next to her, “okay let’s see … I got three sandwiches all roast beef, two bags of BBQ chips and 4 fruit roll-ups, what do you want?”

Stiles couldn’t believe the amount of food she brought for lunch, “Uh … I uh … I mean … I don’t-“

Cora scoffed, “ugh here … take a sandwich and a bag of chips and a fruit roll-up and your set …” she said placing each item in his lap.

Stiles looked down at everything she had given him, the kind gesture took him by surprise, it was proving to be a completely overwhelming experience, so much so that he hadn’t realized that while looking down at the food she gave him he had begun to cry, “Thank-thank you.”

Cora was about to bite into one of her sandwiches when she noticed Stiles crying, “Woah hey … are you okay?”

Stiles wiped away the tears on his cheeks and gathered himself together, “yeah I’m fine … sorry, I’m just not used to people being nice to me.”

“Oh …” she said looking away from Stiles, she smiled suddenly and patted the back of Stiles head, “well you know … I’m not usually nice to people …”

Stiles chuckled, “but you’re being nice to me …”

Cora looked to him knowingly and they both said, “That’s progress!” and shared a hearty laugh. Cora swatted Stiles arm, “okay pull it together and eat and stop crying over your food,” she said.

Stiles thought about the reason Cora stuck around and finished their assignment in Chemistry, maybe it was because she lacked companionship and was desperate for a friend or maybe it was because she knew that Stiles was one of the rare people that she could actually tolerate, either way, Stiles wasn’t complaining.

Stiles nodded and began digging into his food and they spent the rest of lunch reading their books and enjoying each others company.

Chapter Text

Stiles POV

Lunch ended quicker than Stiles wanted it to, he had to admit Cora’s presence was refreshing and her potential companionship excited him beyond words. Stiles would have never guessed that in his greatest time of need he would find someone going through a similar situation that he could bond with. “So … so thank you … for lunch and-and-“

“You’re welcome …” Cora cut him off as she packed her things up.

Stiles had begun to do the same and he cleaned up the little mess he made from eating, “um … so …”

Cora scoffed, “you really need to stop being so nervous and just say what you want to say or you’re going to irritate me.”

Stiles looked down at that, “sorry … I just … I don’t really know what to say …”

Cora sighed and pulled out her cell phone, “what’s your number?”

Stiles gawked, “wh-what?!”

Cora rolled her eyes, “What. Is. Your. Number?”

Stiles fumbled around and righted himself, “ye-yeah here … it’s uh let me just check my phone … I don’t really give my number out often.” Stiles checked his contacts it wasn’t hard finding his number he only had 7 contacts including his number. “Here just copy it down …” Stiles said handing his phone to Cora.

Cora quickly inputted his number into her phone and handed his cell phone back to him; she quickly typed something up on her phone and seconds later Stiles phone buzzed, “there now you have my number …”

Stiles checked his phone and sure enough he had one new message, ‘Meet back here tomorrow?’ the message read. Stiles smiled and nodded, “yeah.” He looked up from his phone and caught Cora smiling at him.

“Okay good … we better get going then.” She said as she stood up and placed the book she was reading back on the shelf.

Stiles nodded and stood up behind her, “yeah I just need to put this back, one second.” Stiles ran back to the aisle that he retrieved his book from and placed it back where he had gotten it and then headed for the exit to the library alongside Cora.

“So what class do you have now?” she asked.

Stiles shrugged and sighed, “AP Government and History with Mr. Peters … what about you?”

Cora held the door open for Stiles as they walked out of the library, “Geometry … with Ms. Kempton …”

The bell rang signifying the end of lunch and Stiles was thankful that he and Cora had gotten a head start toward their classes, “Geometry huh? … Are you good at math?”

Cora shrugged, “I guess … I never really had a problem with it … I just have a problem with how long it takes to solve one problem.”

They both shared a laugh at that, Stiles was about to say how much he hated math all together but a familiar face distracted him from his train of thought. Scott had just come out of the boys restroom looking an absolute mess, it was clear to Stiles that he had been crying; a week ago Stiles would have immediately ran over to the boy he once called his best friend and comforted him, now all he can do is look at him and feel nothing but disgust. It didn’t take long for Scott to notice Stiles and Cora passing by as they were the only students walking down the corridor; Scott’s eyes locked with Stiles, pleading for him but Stiles wasn’t having any of it, he looked away and looked straight ahead and continued on towards his class alongside Cora.

“Stiles … please …” Scott called.

Stiles didn’t acknowledge him, if Scott couldn’t do him the courtesy of pretending like he didn’t exist then Stiles could pretend like he didn’t exist and simply ignore him. Cora had looked back to Scott, “Stiles I think-“

“Don’t worry about it … he’s no one.” Stiles cut in.

Cora looked back to Stiles and nodded, “what was that about?”

Stiles shrugged their situation was still new and Stiles wasn’t relatively comfortable talking about it just yet, “it’s a long story … I’ll tell some other time.”

Cora nodded and Stiles was grateful that she did not press for more information; as they headed further down the corridor Stiles could hear Scott’s whimpering less and less, he would have figured tuning him out would have been an impossible feat but it proved to be easier than he thought. Cora looked back a few times but Stiles looked straight ahead refusing to look back on the person he left in his past. “Alright … well I guess this is where we part ways … for now.” Cora said as they came to an intersection in the corridor.

Stiles nodded, “yeah … I’ll … I’ll text you later or something?”

Cora smiled and nodded, “yeah … whatever.” With that she headed off towards her class and Stiles continued on towards his making sure to stay ahead of the heavy flow of students that were now racing down the halls towards their next class.

Stiles wasn’t particularly in a hurry to get to Mr. Peters classroom, he didn’t really care for the class or the teacher. He sighed, ‘hopefully this goes better than I expect it to,’ Stiles thought to himself.

“YO STILINSKI!” Someone yelled down the corridor. Stiles recognized the voice and by the sound of it the person was not happy at all in fact Stiles could swear that if he didn’t put a move on it and book it out of there now he was probably going to get pummeled. “Stilinski get your ass over here we need to talk!” Jackson growled as he ran down the corridor after Stiles. Stiles could swear Jackson was seething at the mouth; with each stride he made he grunted his eyes were glowing a brilliant blue and his fist were balled at his sides; the sheer look of determination on his face made him appear overly intimidating.

Stiles turned the other way and began to high tail it to Mr. Peters classroom, “DON’T YOU RUN FROM ME!” he heard Jackson scream from behind him. Although running in the other direction may seem cowardly fighting was not Stiles forte and he wasn’t looking for a reason to get suspended. He quickly made his way down the hall with Jackson on his tail, “GET BACK HERE!” he yelled.

Stiles turned a corner and then another and from where he was he now had a straight shot to Mr. Peters classroom, he booked it and was only a few feet from reaching his classroom when he was swept up and slammed against the wall; Boyd had come out of nowhere and snatched him up before he knew it. “What the fuck did you do to Scott?” Boyd demanded as he gripped onto Stiles shoulders and held him against the wall.

Stiles struggled against Boyd’s hold, “let me go-let me go!!!”

Jackson had run up next to Boyd, “little fucker is fast …” Jackson said trying to catch his breath, next thing Stiles knew he felt Jackson punching him hard in the side, knocking the wind out of him, “that was for earlier.” He whispered.

Stiles struggled harder against Boyd’s hold, “let me go!!!”

Boyd’s grip only got tighter, “what the hell did you do to Scott? ANSWER ME!”

Jackson looked like he was ready to slug Stiles again, “answer him before I beat it out of you.”

Stiles struggled even harder and in that moment he wasn’t sure how but he managed to grab hold of one of Boyd’s arms and he gripped it hard causing Boyd to scream out in pain; the eerie sound of Bones cracking filled the hall, Boyd’s grip loosened and Stiles took the opportunity to push Boyd off of him he figured Boyd wouldn’t budge much considering he was so massive but he somehow wound up pushing Boyd into the wall across the hall. Jackson looked back at Boyd stunned but turned back to Stiles and charged at him, “no!” Stiles screamed and shoved Jackson to the side sending him flying across the hall landing next to Boyd.

Jackson scrambled up, “wha-what the fuck?!”

What the fuck was the correct question to ask, how Stiles had managed to throw them clear across the hall baffled him. He knew that Omegas were strong, the amount of strength they gained rivaled Betas but the amount of strength he just demonstrated showed that he had more than any mere Beta. Maybe only female Omegas gained as much strength as Betas and males were different, he had no real way of knowing and he would need to talk to Deaton about it later.

Boyd sat up and grimaced in pain as he leaned against the wall holding onto his arm looking at Stiles dumbfounded like he couldn’t believe what just happened, “leave … leave Scott alone.” He stammered.

‘Was Boyd serious?’ Stiles wondered he really wanted Stiles to leave Scott alone when in actuality Stiles wanted Scott to leave him alone. “I’m not even-“

“What is going on out here!!?” Mr. Peters interjected as he walked out of his classroom. He looked down towards Boyd and Jackson on the floor and then back to Stiles, “Mr. Stilinski would you care to explain what exactly you are doing?”

“I-I was trying to get to class and they-they jumped me and-“

Mr. Peters held up his hand, “enough Mr. Stilinski I don’t want to hear any more of your lies. Do you take me for a fool? Because from what I can see you’re standing up perfectly fine and it looks like you’re bullying two of our star athletes and I won’t tolerate that.”

Of course Mr. Peters wouldn’t hear anything Stiles had to tell him, he was one of the many teachers that happened to cater to the star athletes of the school. He also happened to be the offensive coach for the football team and seeing as how Stiles literally just laid out two of his star players there was no hope for Stiles getting out of this; it wouldn’t matter what excuse Stiles came up with Mr. Peters would still blame him and let Boyd and Jackson off without any repercussions. “You … you had to have heard us, I-I know you heard what happened … there’s no way I was-“

“Enough Mr. Stilinski, I don’t want to hear it … don’t bother coming to class, I’m sending you to the front office and I’ll be sure to write you a referral before the end of the period ...” Mr. Peters said dismissing Stiles, he then looked to Boyd and Jackson who were still on the floor.

There was no point arguing with the man, he was only going to get into more trouble than he already was in. Stiles sighed and turned around and walked back down the hallway, “Mr. Stilinski!” Mr. Peters called before he rounded the corner. Stiles turned around and looked between Mr. Peters, Jackson and Boyd, “before you leave, I think you should apologize to these two fine gentlemen for the inconvenience you have caused them.”

If he asked Stiles to apologize a week ago it would have happened without question no matter how pathetic it made Stiles look and feel; he would have wound up running back down the hall and falling to his knees apologizing to Jackson and Boyd, begging them for forgiveness with a false sense of hope that that would change Mr. Peters mind in sending him to the front office. But Stiles doesn’t feel pathetic anymore and Stiles knows he wasn’t in the wrong and if Mr. Peters didn’t want to hear him out surely he could speak with the principal about it, “yeah right” Stiles whispered as he turned around and continued on down the hallway.

“Mr. Stilinski … Stiles … STILES GET BACK HERE!” Mr. Peters shouted but Stiles did not listen, he continued walking down the hall into the oncoming crowd of students holding his head up high defiantly.

Derek's POV

Laura looked a little down all throughout lunch, Derek had tried doing anything and everything to cheer her up but his efforts were all in vein. “Laura … you know we’ll see her at home.” Derek mentioned.

Laura looked up from her food and sighed, “I know you said that … it’s just … I really wanted to talk to her before we got home. I’m just worried that’s all …”

Derek sighed, “It’s going to be fine Laura it’s not really that serious …”

Laura scoffed, “Derek, it is serious … I heard she tried to claw some girl’s eyes out.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “people say a lot of things that aren’t true Laura … just get over it.”

“I think it actually is true,” Isaac said quietly.

Derek threw one of his tater tots at Isaac, “shut up Isaac.”

“Boys please let’s not insight a massive food fight, you may get away with most things you do but I’m pretty sure the principal will find a way to punish you if you wreck the cafeteria.” Erica chimed.

“And if my hair and clothes are ruined because of your stupid little fight somebody is going to pay for it.” Lydia threatened.

Boyd and Jackson laughed at that, Erica joined in with them, Derek simply scoffed and rolled his eyes; Allison had took the time to get her things together and stood up and said, “I’m gonna go try and find Scott … I’m really worried about him.”

Lydia looked up at Allison, “ye-yeah okay … did you want us to come with you?”

Allison shook her head anxiously, “no-no it’s fine, you guys stay here and finish your lunch, I’m gonna go try and track him down … I’ll text you if I find him.”

Laura had begun getting her things together and stood up before Allison left, “yeah I’m gonna go too, I really want to find Cora …”

Derek sighed, “Alright … see you guys later then …”

Both Allison and Laura nodded and left the table, “anybody got any idea what’s going on with Scott?” Jackson asked.

Boyd and Derek shrugged, “nope …” Boyd said.

“I tried texting him before lunch but he hasn’t responded …” Isaac mentioned.

Jackson sighed, “Do you think it has anything to do with Stilinski?”

The mention of Stiles name annoyed Derek to no end, “why would it have anything to do with Stilinski?”

Lydia leaned forward, “Well earlier you and Allison said that he told Scott to ‘fuck off’ and that he looked upset after it happened …”

Derek sighed, he remembered how down Scott looked after Stiles had walked off on him, “yeah he looked a little upset but I wouldn’t say he was devastated or anything.”

Lydia scrutinized Derek, “Allison said that Scott was trying to say hi to Stilinski maybe Scott still considers him a friend … maybe he still cares about him.”

Derek frowned, unwilling to accept that what Lydia was saying could possibly be true if that was the case Scott probably wouldn’t be too fond of Derek or any of his other friends, “Every time he’s with us and we talk shit about Stilinski he doesn’t really do anything except laugh … wouldn’t you assume he doesn’t necessarily care about him?”

Lydia scoffed, “Derek … he was probably only laughing to fit in …”

Isaac shrugged, “I’m not so sure about that … if he really cared about Stilinski then he would have done something about us … you know … pushing him around …”

‘Pushing around’ was a light term for the things Stiles endeared from them, Derek can remember a few times listening to Jackson ramble about how he had given Stiles a good ‘one, two, punch to the gut.’ Derek wasn’t exactly innocent himself, yeah he had pushed Stiles around from time to time and there was one time he may have slugged him in the back or the side for no particular reason other than to say ‘hello’ but he was never really as bad as Jackson. Isaac definitely has had more than a few tussles with Stiles, he wasn’t as bad as Jackson but it was clear he enjoyed messing with him. Out of the group of boys besides Scott, Boyd was probably the only one that never really bothered going out of his way to mess with him.

Lydia rolled her eyes, “again he was probably putting on a front to fit in …”

What Lydia was trying to say sounded horrible, ‘how could anyone let someone they cared about be treated so badly and not do anything about it?’ Derek shook off the question before saying, “it doesn’t matter … at least he’s not hanging around the freak anymore.”

Erica looked to Lydia and then back to Derek, “maybe it does matter to him though … I mean you guys remember when we first started hanging out with Scott he always used to say that Stilinski was like his brother …”

Jackson shrugged, “people grow apart …”

Isaac nodded, “and clearly they did …”

“Maybe not as much as we’d like to think …” Boyd chimed in looking at Derek.

Derek sighed obnoxiously loud and slammed his fist on the table, “fuck fine … let’s just go try and find Scott and figure out what his deal is and we’ll go from there.” Derek didn’t bother finishing his food as he gathered his things together and got up to leave the table; he noticed Lydia out of the corner of his eye scrutinizing him but he ignored it. Boyd, Isaac and Jackson got up and followed Derek, Lydia and Erica took their time to get their things together to leave.

They eventually made their way out of the cafeteria, “alright … we’re going to split up and search the school and try and find Scott before the bell rings. Erica and Lydia … text Allison and figure out where she is and help her try and find Scott … Isaac, Boyd and Jackson you come with me.” Derek instructed.

Each of them nodded and dispersed into their groups, Lydia and Erica went one way, Derek and the rest went the other. “How are we going to find him before class? We have less than ten minutes left until lunch is over …” Isaac chimed.

Derek stopped and looked around, “Boyd what time do you have?”

Boyd took out his cell phone and checked the time, “12:21”

Derek huffed, “The bell is gonna ring in about 9 minutes and we have 5 minutes to get to class after the bell rings that means we have about 14 minutes before class, we can cover the entire school if we split up … make sure you check the bathrooms. Boyd and Jackson you two cover upstairs, Isaac and I will check down here, call or text when you find Scott … and keep an eye out for Cora.”

Boyd and Jackson nodded and sprinted away, Isaac sighed, “So you wanna explain to me why we can’t just wait for Scott by his next class?” He asked as they had begun to sprint away searching around for Scott.

“If we wait for him who says he doesn’t take forever to get there? If he takes forever then we’re going to be late for class … and I can’t be late again unless I want Coach Finstock to grill me in front of the entire class. Not to mention he promised that if I was late again he was going to make me do one hundred suicides.” Derek said.

“Yeah okay I gotchya,” Isaac sighed.

They rounded a corner and ran into one of the bathrooms, “Scott you in here?” Derek called as they checked all the stalls and found that they were empty. They ran out of the bathroom when they deduced Scott wasn’t in there and made their way through the halls in search of him.

Finding Scott proved to be a lot more difficult than Derek thought, fourteen minutes wasn’t enough time to cover the entire school. Boyd and Jackson had given up on finding him upstairs and were coming back down to rejoin Derek and Isaac in their search. As they entered the main corridor Derek caught wind of Stiles potent scent, he wasn’t far away wherever he was, Isaac stopped and sniffed the air, “woah what’s that awesome smell?”

Derek huffed, “that would be Stilinski …”

Isaac eyes widened in horror, “wha-what? How … he doesn’t smell that good …”

Derek ignored him and looked around, after a moment an idea came into his head, “hey … if Scott is upset that Stilinski is upset with him maybe Scott is with Stilinski?”

Isaac took a second to think that over and then nodded frantically, “yeah maybe you’re right.”

Derek pulled out his phone and texted Boyd informing him that they were following Stilinski’s scent in hopes to find Scott. Right after he sent the message he had gotten a message from Lydia, she sent out a group text informing the boys that they had found Scott in the main corridor and he wasn’t doing so good. Derek looked around and noticed that he and Isaac were near the main corridor, ‘so Scott was with Stiles,’ he thought. Isaac looked up from his phone and nodded to Derek and they made their way over to where the girls’ had found Scott.

By the time they had gotten to him the bell had rang signifying the end of lunch, Scott was sat on the floor held up by Allison and he was sobbing. He looked terrible; Derek never thought that Scott, the carefree happy individual that never let anything faze him would ever look so defeated and hopeless. Derek recognized the scent of sorrow and guilt pouring off of Scott, Allison tried whispering sweet words into his ear but that didn’t help any. Derek looked to Erica and Lydia and asked, “What happened?”

Lydia sighed and shrugged, her face plagued with worry, “I-I don’t know … when we found him he was … he kept saying ‘Stiles please’ over and over again and then he just lost it.”

Erica ran a hand through her hair, “what the fuck did he do to him.”

Boyd and Jackson had finally caught up with them and looked Scott over, “what the fuck happened?” Jackson asked after catching a glimpse of Scott.

“We don’t know,” Isaac said.

Derek kneeled down in front of Scott and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Scott what happened?”

Scott gasped, “I’m so stupid …”

Allison kissed the side of his head and rubbed his back, “no you’re not Scott … tell us what happened.”

“Guys we need to move him somewhere else unless we want to be stampeded by our fellow peers.” Lydia said gesturing behind her. Derek looked up at her and then behind her and saw that there was a mass of students heading their way, ‘shit’.

“Alright come on … Boyd help me get him up.” Derek said as he slung one of Scotts arms over his shoulders, Allison moved out of the way and Boyd took the other and they moved him to one of the side hallways. They stood him next to a wall when they were sure he would stand on his own without falling to the floor Derek and Boyd dropped his arms and stood in front of him, Allison was at his side in an instant, she patted his head and said, “Scott tell us what happened.”

Scott sniffled and wiped his face, “I’m so stupid …” knocking his head back against the wall, “I made bad decisions and now my best friend hates me.”

“Wait hold on, are you talking about that freak Stilinski? Is he the reason you’re like this?” Jackson asked stepping forward.

Scott shrugged, “I’m the reason I’m like this …”

Jackson shook his head furiously, “no … no it’s that freak Stilinski … I’ll take care of this.” Jackson said and motioned for Boyd to follow him.

Scott reached out to stop them, “NO!”

Derek stood in his way blocking him from leaving, “let them go …”

Isaac stood next to Derek and crossed his arms, “tell us what Stilinski did.”

Allison held one of Scott’s hands and waited for him to answer, “It doesn’t matter.” Scott said looking at every one of them, “it doesn’t matter …” he let go of Allison’s hand and attempted to walk away but Isaac and Derek didn’t move.

“Scott what’s going on?! What is the deal with this Stiles kid? I know you told me that he was your best friend at one point but you said the two of you grew apart b-but you were still friends … but from what I can tell he’s pissed at you for reasons I don’t know and now he has you acting like this … so what’s really going on?” Allison asked.

Allison had never really been aware of the situation between Stiles and everyone else, when Lydia had started bringing her around last year it was clear from the start that she wasn’t really into treating people badly. She has always been a kind and caring person and would go out of her way for the people she cares about and Derek, Scott and the other’s thought it would be best to keep her out of the loop when it came to Stiles so that they didn’t make her feel alienated.

“We were best friends …” Scott started.

Erica scoffed, “they were best friends and then Scott realized like everyone else in school that Stilinski is a freak and then he started hanging out with us.”

“Wh-what?” Allison stammered.

“Erica …” Derek said her name in warning.

Erica huffed, “no this is stupid clearly she’s upset because she doesn’t know what’s going on and we’ve been dancing around her for too long and she has a right to know …” Erica said to Derek before turning to Allison; “listen Stiles is just a rag doll and a freak who thinks he can steal someone’s soulmate away and break their soul bond even though everyone knows it’s impossible. Last year he had a crush on Lydia and even after finding out that Jackson was her soulmate he still pursued her, so the boys knocked him around a little bit until he got the idea in his head that he meant nothing to her. But-but Scott wasn’t involved in any of that …”

Allison looked between Isaac and Derek, “you knocked him around?”

“Yeah they beat him up a little eventually he got the hint and … I guess he stopped crushing on Lydia. It’s nothing too serious, we should have told you before …” Erica finished.

Allison looked at Erica like she lost her mind, “nothing serious? Was he really trying to steal Lydia away? Do you guys even know if he was actually trying to break the bond between Jackson and Lydia or is that an assumption?”

Lydia sighed, “it’s an assumption and it’s a stupid one … I told Jackson that it was common knowledge that you can’t break a soul bond and that I wasn’t going to leave him for anyone but he didn’t care …”

Allison huffed, “hold on … so then you guys don’t actually know if he was trying to steal Lydia away and that he got the idea in his head that he could break her soul bond?”

Isaac stepped forward, “well he tried out for the lacrosse team last year and Jackson said the only reason he was doing it was because he was trying to impress Lydia …”

Scott huffed, “no he wasn’t … he tried out because I asked him to come with me … he probably didn’t even know Lydia would be watching the try outs …”

Isaac flinched, “but … but, then why did he try out?”

Derek could tell Allison was becoming increasingly agitated about the situation, “is it illegal to try out for a school sport Isaac?!” Allison asked angrily.

Isaac startled a little, “no-no but …”

Allison held her hand up and shushed him, “just stop talking …” Allison looked between Derek and Erica, “So then why exactly do you guys hate him.”

Erica shrugged, “because he’s … he’s Stilinski … he’s weird.”

Allison stepped back from Erica, “but you don’t even know him … Oh my God …” Allison said as if she had just come to a sudden realization.

Lydia stepped closer to her and asked, “What?”

“I’m so stupid,” Allison said to Lydia before looking between Erica, Isaac and Derek, “ You guys didn’t just beat him up a little did you? You’ve been tormenting and bullying him … I know about some of the things you’ve done to him … I’ve overheard you guys talking about it. Like the time we went camping over summer, Jackson said that he gave Stiles a ‘one, two punch to the gut’ before we went on vacation as a gift to remember him by and you guys laughed about it … I thought it was probably an inside joke or something but I’m guessing it wasn’t …” she turned to look at Scott then, “Scott … you … you heard what they said, I even asked you if it bothered you that they were talking about your friend like that and you told me ‘they were just messing around.’ Did you know that they weren’t messing around?” Scott didn’t answer her quick enough, “Scott did you know that they weren’t messing around?!” she asked again.

Scott hung his head low, “yes … I-I knew … Stiles had told me that they were bothering him and I … I-I told him not to take it seriously because they didn’t mean anything by it.“

Derek saw the look of disbelief on Allison’s face and to be honest he couldn’t believe it himself; Scott claimed Stiles was his best friend but he knew mostly everything that Jackson, Derek and his friends had been doing to Stiles and he never looked bothered by any of it which is why they all thought he wasn’t really serious about it. Derek knows that if anyone was messing with Boyd that way he would make an effort to beat them into a coma, “you’re unbelievable … I can’t believe you have the nerve to call him your best friend. I-I can’t believe you let him get bullied by-“

Isaac held out his hand, “we don’t bully him.”

Allison scoffed, “are you kidding me? You don’t bully him? What do you call chasing someone down, ganging up on them and roughing them up? What do you call insulting someone repeatedly for no reason?! Those are two of the things I heard you guys talk about, who knows what else you’ve done to him …”

Derek needed to defuse the situation and quick before it got out of hand, “Allison it’s not like that, we just-“

“Shut up Derek,” Allison said without hesitation.

Isaac scratched the back of his neck and said, “I-I don’t see why you’re so upset about this?”

“I’m upset because I don’t want to be associated with people like you! You’re terrible, all of you … you have no legitimate reason to hate Stiles other than some ridiculous idea that he was trying to break a soul bond but you know practically everyone knows that’s impossible. You don’t even know if he actually had that idea in his head you were all just saying that based off of assumptions! Now all of you are beating on him and talking about him and just as a reminder that’s something a bully does …”

Erica held her hands up, “hey wait I’ve never done anything to him personally … and I’m pretty sure Lydia hasn’t either.”

Allison turned to Lydia and Erica, “even if you haven’t done anything to him the fact that you knew about it and did nothing makes you just as bad! And yeah I know … I’m no better because I had some idea of what you guys were doing … and I did nothing the fact that I thought you guys were joking doesn’t matter ...” She turned to Scott, “and you Scott … you’re the worst out of all of us … how do you consider him your best friend … how do you even consider him a friend when you let him go through that without even trying to defend him?” Allison looked like she was on the brink of tears.

Scott looked taken aback by the question and moved towards Allison only for her to back away from him, “Allison please listen, I wanted to-“

“It doesn’t matter Scott … not now … it’s too late … I don’t even know everything that’s gone on and I’m so upset with you,” she then motioned towards Erica, Lydia, Isaac and finally Derek, “and all of you, that I can barely stand to look at any of you. God, Scott I can’t believe you right now …” she turned to walk away from him.

Lydia reached out for Allison, “wait Allison …”

Allison backed away from Lydia, “no Lydia … I really don’t …“ Allison cut herself off, something had gotten her attention. Erica and Lydia were the first to look to see what had distracted her and both of their eyes widened in surprise, Isaac and Scott looked to see what had gotten their attention; Isaac huffed, Scott managed to look even guiltier than he already was. Derek finally turned around to see what they were all starring at and there amongst the diminishing crowd of students walking down the main corridor was none other than Stiles.

Scott had maneuvered his way around Isaac and Derek and called out to him, “Stiles!” Derek knew Stiles heard Scott call for him but it was obvious that he was making an effort to ignore him entirely. “Stiles wait!” Scott tried again with the same result, Stiles had continued down the main corridor without a care in the world. “Stiles …” Scott whispered as he watched Stiles retreating down the hall

“I’m out of here,” Allison announced and everyone turned back to look at her, “I would appreciate it very much if you’d all stay away from me.”

Scott managed to run in front of her before she could leave, “wait-wait … Allison listen I-“

Allison backed away from Scott and sighed, “That includes you Scott … stay away from me.”

Scott tried to grab ahold of her hand but she moved it out of the way, “Allison I’m sorry I-“

Allison shook her head and cut him off, “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to … just leave me alone, please … it’s the least you can do; I just … I just can’t be around any of you right now.”

“Allison …” Lydia called as Allison turned around and walked away without even acknowledging her. Derek could see the hurt in Lydia’s eyes as Allison left without another word.

Scott slouched as the scent of guilt and shame poured off of him in waves, he held himself up against the wall, wrapping an arm around his center and asked himself in a hushed voice, “What did I do?”

Lydia turned to Erica then and said, “Good job you really know how to drop a bomb and ruin everything.”

Erica shrugged, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t think it would be that bad I-I just-“

Lydia scoffed, “just shut up Erica.”

Scott punched the wall, “FUCK!” He yelled as he turned around and pushed past Derek and Isaac without saying a word to them as he walked away.

Just as soon as Scott walked off Boyd and Jackson had come back to rejoin them, Derek noticed Boyd was grabbing onto his arm like it ailed him. “Did something happen?” Derek asked.

“Stilinski …” was all Boyd said.

Erica was at his side in an instant looking his arm over, “what-what happened?”

“You said Stilinski?” Isaac wondered.

“Yeah Stilinski … I don’t know what the little freak is on but it’s gotta be something new … and it’s having some weird side effects on him.” Jackson chimed.

“What do you mean, “ Lydia asked annoyed.

Jackson sighed, “I mean he is crazy strong, he threw me and Boyd against the wall like it was nothing.”

Isaac huffed, “are you being serious?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?!” Jackson said stepping up to Isaac.

Boyd withdrew his arm from Erica’s grasp and looked around, “where’s Scott and Allison?”

Derek couldn’t find it in himself to explain what happened and by the looks and sounds of it neither could Isaac, Erica and Lydia. “They … they um …” Isaac stammered.

Erica scratched the side of her head and looked down at the floor, “they left … I think they went to class …”

“So is Scott okay or is he still … moping?” Jackson asked

Lydia scoffed and held the bridge of her nose, “whatever it doesn’t matter … this whole thing was stupid, I’m out of here.”

“Wait babe, what the hell?” Jackson asked and followed Lydia as she marched off down the hallway.

The minute bell had rang as soon as they left, “did something happen?” Boyd asked looking to Derek.

Erica sighed, “I’ll tell you on the way to class …”

Derek looked between Isaac, Erica and Boyd, “I’ll see you guys later …” Derek said offering each of them a nod before he started jogging for his next class. Along the way he mulled over the events that had just occurred, Allison was pissed, Scott is pretty much dejected, Lydia is most likely pissed and Stiles is apparently super strong. Derek couldn’t imagine someone as puny as Stiles being able to throw Jackson or Boyd into a wall it just didn’t seem possible. Derek could only assume that Boyd and Jackson were exaggerating a little and Stiles probably pushed them back and they slipped and fell on the floor that was the only feasible explanation that Derek was willing to believe.

Derek weaved through the halls and managed to make it to class just before the bell rang, “you’re cutting it close Hale! Remember if you’re late to my class again you will do 100 suicides before and after the next practice.” Coach Finstock said as Derek walked into the room.

Derek sighed, “that means I’m doing 200 suicides coach.”

Coach Finstock smirked, “Exactly.”

Derek scoffed and sat himself down at his desk if he didn’t know any better he might assume that Coach Finstock personally had it out for him but Derek knew it was just tough love. The girl that sat behind him tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention; Derek recognized her as one of the girls’ on the cheer squad, “hey um … Breaden says that she has a present for you later on … and she said you better win the game or you probably won’t get it.” The girl had begun to shuffle through her bag and she pulled something out and slid it towards Derek being careful to keep it covered, “this should be a good idea as to what it is … and if you don’t feel like using it with her … you can always use it with me.” The girl winked and lifted her hand a little to reveal a condom.

Derek had to admit he was surprised by the bold approach but he wasn’t complaining in fact he was looking forward to it. Derek’s never actually had penetrative sex before he’s always remained adamant about saving himself for ‘the one.’ That doesn’t mean that he hasn’t come close to doing it and that definitely doesn’t mean that he hasn’t done anything at all. But things change, Stiles is apparently ‘the one’ and Derek doesn’t want to have shit to do with him and because of that he’s now willing to go to the next level in his sex life. At that moment Derek had come to the conclusion, since he would never get with Stiles in this life or the next, from now on whenever he’s given the opportunity to hook up with someone he wasn’t going to hold back he would go all the way. He’s held himself back countless times from enjoying himself and that all ends tonight, he swiped the condom off of the girls desk and turned forward placing the condom in his pocket he definitely planned on putting it to good use later on.

Stiles POV

Stiles entered the front office and sighed before walking over to speak with the woman behind the front desk, “um … um hi I’m here to see Principal Thomas …”

The woman looked up at him and smiled, “okay what for?”

Stiles fidgeted with his bag straps, “my teacher told me to come up here, Mr. Peters …”

The woman nodded, “oh right … Principal Thomas is actually meeting with your father right now so if you want you can follow me back to his office …”

Stiles flinched at that, “my dad’s here?”

The woman nodded and stood up motioning Stiles to follow her towards Principal Thomas’s office. As they made their way to the back and got closer to the office Stiles could hear his father conversing with Principal Thomas, the woman knocked on his door, “come in!” Stiles heard Principal Thomas say. She opened the door, “Shelly is something wrong?”

The woman who Stiles now knew as Shelly shook her head, “no sir … I just have Mr. Stilinski here to see you, his teacher called and said he was sending him up because he was pushing a few students around.”

Stiles huffed at that, “send him in …” Principal Thomas said and Shelly stepped out of the way and allowed Stiles to enter the office, she closed the door behind him.

His father was seated across from Principal Thomas still dressed in his police uniform, looking to him expectantly, “hey dad …” Stiles said his father nodded to him.

“Would you like to explain why you’re here?” Principal Thomas asked.

Stiles sighed and sat down in the chair next to his father, “depends on what you’re willing to believe.”

Principal Thomas clasped his hands together, “well Shelly says your teacher said that you were pushing a few students around so why don’t you explain to me what happened and we’ll go from there.”

His father sat up in his seat and leaned towards him, “was someone messing with you Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged, “I was walking to class minding my own business and next thing I know I’m being chased down by someone and then I got caught and …”

“Who was chasing you?” His father pressed.

Principal Thomas adjusted his glasses, “Stiles you need to tell us everything.”

Stiles sighed, “fine … I was walking class and then Jackson Whittemore started chasing after me, I tried to make it to class but Boyd got a hold of me then Jackson caught up and hit me and Boyd wouldn’t let me go and … and I don’t know what happened … but I managed to fight them off.”

Principal Thomas sighed and rubbed his forehead, “so you’re saying you were just defending yourself?”

Stiles nodded, “ye-yes … all I did was push them and then Mr. Peters came out of his class and saw them on the floor and assumed that I was messing with them but I know he heard everything that happened because we were right outside of his classroom. Anyway he didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say so he sent me here and said he was going to write me up …”

Stiles noticed his dad gripping the arm of the chair tightly, so tight in fact that his knuckles had gone white, “this is part of the reason why I wanted to meet with you next week …”

Principal Thomas nodded, “I understand Sherriff-“

“No I don’t think you do understand Mr. Thomas, my son is not only being treated unfairly by his peers but also his mentors … YOUR STAFF!! And apparently no one is doing anything about it!” Stiles father cut in.

Principal Thomas held a hand out to Stiles father pleadingly, “Sherriff please, let’s remain calm please-“

Stiles heard a cracking sound come from the arm of the chair his father was gripping, “people are messing with my son …”

“I understand Sherriff, I do and I promise you we will take all the necessary steps to see that this doesn’t happen anymore but right now you need to remember why you’re here.” Principal Thomas pleaded.

Stiles dad sighed and stayed silent for a moment before nodding, “you’re right …” he said looking to Stiles, “I expect my son won’t be facing any punishment because of this incident?” It was meant to be a question but it sounded more like a command.

Principal Thomas nodded, “of course not … I’ll throw the referral out the minute it comes to my office.”

Stiles saw his father nod, “good … we’ll continue this conversation Tuesday morning. Stiles we’re leaving …” Stiles watched his father stand up and head for the door.

Stiles fumbled around with his backpack, “oh-oh okay … but I still haven’t gotten all of my work turned in …”

Principal Thomas held out his hand, “leave it with me … I’ll see that it gets turned in.”

Stiles nodded and pulled the rest of his homework out from his bag and gave it to Principal Thomas, “thank you …”

Principal Thomas nodded to him and Stiles turned around and followed his dad out of the office. As they made their way towards the front of the school and out to the school parking lot Stiles contemplated on what to say to his father, he was clearly upset and still disturbed by the issue Stiles was dealing with. As bad as it may sound Stiles felt happy about that, it showed him that his father was serious about helping him, “da-dad?” Stiles stammered.

His father looked over his shoulder at him and then back ahead, “yes son?”

Stiles hesitated, “I-I thought you weren’t going to be back today … you didn’t say anything about coming back …“

Stiles father huffed, “I called Deaton early this morning and let him know you were returning to school … he wasn’t too fond of the idea and said that it was important that I come back and take you to see him immediately. He said there were things that he hadn’t mentioned that we needed to know …”

Stiles thought about the conversation he had with Nurse Baldrow earlier, “I talked to the nurse earlier … she said that Deaton had to explain something to us, she wouldn’t tell me what it was about though … she said you needed to be present.”

His father groaned, “then it’s probably not good …” he stopped suddenly and looked around the school parking lot, “you don’t happen to know what kind of car Jackson and Boyd drive do you?”

“Jackson drives a red Porsche I’m not sure about Boyd though …” Stiles said absent mindedly.

His father began looking around the parking lot for something “hold on …” he said as he dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone and dialed a number, “Jeff, hi it’s the Sherriff I need you to do me a favor how soon can you get to Beacon Hills High? I have a car I need towed … yes … yes … it’s a red Porsche …” his father had begun walking over to said vehicle.

“Oh-Oh my God dad no,” Stiles said chasing his father and trying to grab the phone away from him but his dad managed to hold him off easily.

“Yes Jeff the license plate number is J … A … X … S … 0 … N … yes … yes it is the Whittemore kid … good how long? 5 minutes is perfect, see you in a bit.” His father said before hanging up the phone.

Stiles scrambled around, “dad what are you doing?!”

His father shrugged, “getting a little payback … if you honestly think I’m going to let that little shit get off with hurting you, you have another thing coming.”

Stiles looked around the parking lot frantically, “but … but-“

“NO BUT’S STILES! Are you sure you don’t know what kind of car this Boyd kid drives?” His father asked.

Stiles shook his head, “no … I swear I don’t know but … dad do you really have to tow it?”

His father nodded, “it’s fifty bucks to get the car out of the tow yard … and a two hundred dollar parking ticket that I’m sure his father will have thrown away immediately.”

Stiles sighed, “Do you really think this is the best idea? I mean what if he gets mad and comes after me again?”

His father shrugged, “I’ll charge him for assault.”

Stiles gawked, “dad … what …”

His father stepped closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I told you I was going to help you out and that I would be there for you when you needed me. I’m here now and I don’t like what I see so I’m handling it …”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at his father, “by causing more problems?”

His dad huffed, “listen Stiles … clearly these kids don’t know who your father is and it’s best I remind them … it may help you in the long run; and speaking of kids I still expect you to give me a full run down on everything you’ve been dealing with on your own and I mean a full run down, I want to know everything, do you understand me?”

Stiles scrubbed a hand over his face, “okay … alright fine …”

Just as soon as he agreed a tow truck had entered the school parking lot and Stiles father waved down the man driving it, “Jeff, good to see you”

The tow truck driver, Jeff, tipped his hat as he parked his truck in front of Jackson’s car, “good to see you too John, hello Stiles I’ve heard many good things about you.” Jeff said waving to Stiles.

Stiles nodded and was slightly embarrassed by that, “ha-Hi …”

Jeff smiled back at him and looked to his dad, “I gotta say when you called about towing the Whittemore kid’s vehicle I got a little excited.”

Apparently Jackson wasn’t the tow man’s favorite person, Stiles could assume Jackson probably wasn’t a lot of people’s favorite person, “kids nowadays don’t seem to be taught the value of respect …” his father said.

Jeff laughed as he exited his tow truck, “ain’t that the truth, so what are we taking him in for?”

His dad shrugged, “I decided I’m gonna go easy on him and just pick him up for a parking ticket.”

Jeff smirked, “that’ll do …” he walked around the back of the truck and began hooking Jackson’s car up to the tow truck.

“But-but dad … he’s not parked illegally … you can’t do this …” Stiles stammered.

His dad had begun to write the ticket up, “son if you figure out what kind of car Boyd drives please let me know.” He said completely ignoring what Stiles said.

Stiles nodded, not that he would, he still wasn’t sure about him doing this but it was already too late to do anything about it, the tow truck driver had just finished hooking Jackson’s car up to his truck, “alright John I just need you to fill out the normal paperwork and we’ll be on our way.” Jeff said handing Stiles dad a clipboard.

Stiles watched as his father started copying down all the necessary information, a small sense of dread came over him as he thought about Jackson’s initial reaction to finding out his car had been towed away; what would he think? What would he say? What would he do? What if he finds out that Stiles technically had something to do with it being towed away? “Da-dad … you-you sure you want to do this.” Stiles stammered.

His dad looked over the clipboard at him and sighed, “Absolutely ...” he said as he continued to write all the information down. “If you’re worried about that kid giving you trouble because of this, stop. There’s no one around to witness this happening; you’ll be fine …”

That was enough to qualm Stiles fears, his father was right Jackson would have no way of knowing that Stiles had anything to do with his car being towed and there was no one around to tell him, “well okay …”

His father handed the clipboard back to Jeff, “alright Jeff you can take her away … make sure to keep me updated when he comes to pick up his car.”

Jeff nodded, “you got it Sherriff … you two have a nice day now.” He said tipping his hat to them and climbing back into his truck. Before they knew it he was driving away with Jackson’s car in tow.

Stiles dad clapped him on his back twice, “alright kid go get your jeep and follow me to the hospital.”

As he watched the tow truck drive away he couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t be around to see Jackson’s face when he realized his car was gone, “Yeah okay …” Stiles said frowning and walking over to his jeep while his father went and got in his cruiser. Stiles threw his bag in the passenger seat and hopped in his jeep, Jackson was probably going to flip and Stiles had to admit that would be something worth watching.

His father pulled up behind him and honked his horn at him, “let’s get going son!”

Stiles waved him off and started up his jeep and followed his father out of the school parking lot and to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital Stiles thought about Cora, he hoped that she wouldn’t look for him anywhere around school between the remainder of the class periods only to be disappointed that she couldn’t find him. He had to admit even though it was new, he feared losing their newfound companionship; luckily he had her number, so he pulled out his cell phone and shot her a quick text letting her know that he left school early and that he would see her tomorrow. He was happy when he felt his phone buzz and saw that she had responded, “Okay :).”

Stiles got out of his jeep and followed his dad into the hospital, his dad informed the woman working at the front desk that they had an appointment with Dr. Deaton and they were directed to the third floor where Deaton’s office was. “God I hate hospitals …” his dad said out of the blue.

Stiles looked to his dad and understood why he said it, “yeah … me too.” Every time they ever entered a hospital Stiles was immediately reminded of his mother in her final days. It was not something he liked to think about and he couldn’t imagine how it made his dad feel. The painful reminder of how his soulmate and mother to his child suffered and was stolen from him due to severe wolfs bane poisoning, it must have been unbearable.

Fate must like to mess around with Stiles because as soon as the elevator doors opened Stiles was face to face with none other than Melissa McCall. “St-Stiles … wow I-I haven’t seen you in ages …” she said offering to give him a hug and he gladly accepted the offer.

“Hey Ms. McCall …” Stiles said as he embraced her.

“John …” Melissa said greeting Stiles father with a nod as she pulled away from Stiles.

“Melissa,” he said back.

Melissa sighed, “God this is awkward … okay so … Stiles where have you been? Why haven’t I seen you around?”

Stiles looked to his dad and then back to Melissa, “you might want to ask Scott about that …”

Melissa nodded, “okay … but right now I’m asking you.”

Stiles thought about what to say, he wasn’t sure how to tell Melissa that he and Scott were no longer friends, “Scott and I … Scott …”

Melissa scratched the side of her head, “alright how about I go first … I’ll be honest I have asked Scott about you plenty of times, especially when he brings his new friends over. He always gives me the same excuse and says that you’re either too busy to hang out or that you’re hanging out with other people but I know my son and I know when he’s lying to me … so Stiles I want you to tell me why you and Scott haven’t been hanging around one another.”

Of course Scott would lie to his mom about Stiles whereabouts and to top it off he used the exact reasoning he would never hang out with Stiles. Stiles huffed, “that’s funny … I don’t really have any friends to hang out with ... in fact the reason why you haven’t seen me around is because Scott made a bunch of new friends and forgot about me and every time I tried to hang out with him he always told me that he was too busy.”

Melissa nodded, “so you’re telling me it’s the other way around then? Why would Scott forget about you, you’re his best friend.“

Stiles smirked at that, “I was his best friend … but … he wasn’t mine … he didn’t have my back and he wasn’t looking out for my best interest.”

Melissa sighed, “I-I don’t understand … John do you know anything?”

Stiles noticed his dad shrug, “This is all new to me … I’m still in the process of finding out a few things he’s been going through at school.”

“Scott …” Stiles hesitated, “Scott’s new friends are … they’re bad people …”

Melissa cocked an eyebrow, “how so?”

Stiles breath hitched, “they … they do things to me.”

Stiles felt his dad place a hand on his shoulder, “Stiles?”

Stiles knew he was going to crack at any minute and the truth would spill out like lava erupting from a volcano, “They’re the reason my entire high school experience thus far has been crap, they push me around, make fun of me, hit me and plenty of other things. Scott knew about it and he didn’t do anything to prevent it, matter of fact he went ahead and joined in on it a little and spread a rumor around school that every New Year’s day I go to the cemetery and dig up my mom’s grave and play with her remains because I’m some kind of psycho …” Melissa’s expression went from bleak to grim as Stiles pressed on. “As of today Scott and I aren’t speaking … at all … I don’t want to have anything to do with him.”

Melissa looked stunned as she stepped back holding a hand over her mouth, “Stiles … I … I …” Melissa looked to John then, “John I-I didn’t know … I …”

John sighed, “I didn’t know either …” he said massaging Stiles shoulder hoping to calm him down, “but I do now …” Stiles could hear the underlying anger in his voice, “tell your son to stay away from my son and if he comes anywhere near my house I won’t hesitate to shoot him and then arrest him for trespassing.”

“John … John please wait …” Melissa pleaded.

Stiles watched as his father got within inches of Melissa’s face he could feel the rage radiating off of him, “your son made claims that my son is desecrating my wife’s gravesite for God knows what reason, if you think for a second that I’m going to let that slide you’re sorely mistaken. Now I want this conversation to remain civil and because I have the upmost amount of respect for you I’m going to tell you to have a nice day and keep your mutt away from my house. Do you understand me?”

Melissa looked visibly shaken by that but she nodded, “ye-yes … John I’m so sorry … I-“

Stiles watched as his dad walked past Melissa, “you should be apologizing to Stiles not me …” he looked over his shoulder and Stiles was stunned to see that his eyes had shifted, gleaming crimson red; his expression looked grim and absolutely menacing, “Stiles we have an appointment to get to,” he said before turning to walk away.

Melissa looked back to Stiles on the verge of tears, “Stiles I am so sorry I didn’t know, I didn’t know anything …”

Stiles scrubbed a hand over his face, “it’s not your fault you don’t have to apologize … but I do have to go … I’ll see you around Ms. McCall.” Stiles said walking past her, she looked like she wanted to say something else but held it back; as he walked away Stiles could hear Melissa sniveling behind him.

Stiles wanted to reach out and stop his father and ask him if he was okay but he figured that wasn’t the best idea. As they made their way down the hall nurses made an effort to move out of their way, Stiles didn’t miss their fearful expressions as he and his father passed by, “dad …” Stiles tried but his father continued along. “Dad …” Stiles tried again still no response, Stiles reached ahead and grabbed his father’s shoulder, “dad!”

His father spun around quickly his eyes still shifted, “what is it?”

“Dad … dad you have to calm down … you’re scaring people.” Stiles said.

His father looked around and down the hall he noticed a few nurses and other staff members crowded against the walls; in that moment Stiles watched as his eyes went back to their natural color, “son … why didn’t you tell me about the rumor …”

“Because … because …” Stiles stammered, “because I didn’t want you to get upset … and I only just found out today that Scott was the one that started it.” He wanted to tell him that ‘at the time he wasn’t sure if he would do anything about it’ but he kept it to himself.

His father grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Stiles later, when we talk, I want you to tell me everything that’s gone on at that school regardless of how it makes me feel, do you understand?”

Stiles nodded frantically, “okay …”

His father nodded back to him and they continued until they made it to the waiting area outside of doctor Deaton’s office. Stiles took a seat while his dad informed the woman at the desk that they were there to see Deaton. Deaton came out before his dad could sit down, “Stiles, Sherriff so nice to see you, if you’ll please follow me back to my office.”

“That was quick …” Stiles dad said off handedly.

Stiles shot up out of his seat and followed Deaton back to his office with his father in tow. “Okay gentlemen please have a seat we have some things to discuss that is extremely important.” Deaton said as they stepped into his office.

Stiles and his dad made themselves comfortable in their chairs before anyone spoke, “so Deaton why did you need to see us today … why couldn’t it wait until the appointment next week?” Stiles dad asked.

Deaton sighed, “well Sherriff … before we begin I would like to extend my apologies to both you and Stiles for not informing you of this sooner …”

Stiles licked his lips and righted himself in his seat anticipating what Deaton was going to tell them, “Okay what is it?”

Deaton looked to Stiles dad then as if he was seeking approval to say whatever it is he had to say, Stiles noticed his dad nodded back to him and Deaton turned his attention completely on Stiles, “I’m sure you’re wondering why you were asked to keep you being an Omega a secret.”

Stiles nodded, “yes … I tried asking Nurse Baldrow but she wouldn’t tell me anything.”

Deaton sighed, “Good … Sherriff …”

“Please call me John …” Stiles dad corrected.

Deaton nodded, “okay … John … do you remember when the first male Omega presented about fifteen years ago?”

Hi dad nodded, “yes how could I forget … the media coverage around that was insane, it was somewhere down in Africa right?”

Deaton smiled, “yes you’re correct the boy presented in a small village off of the border of Tanzania and Kenya. They say the villagers were so marveled by his presence they built him a small temple to worship him.”

Stiles sat back in his seat feeling slightly disappointed, “what’s so bad about that?”

Deaton clasped his hands together, “nothing … nothing at all … but … Stiles how old are you?”

“I’ll be 16 in a little less than two months.” Stiles said.

Deaton nodded, “right … then I’m sure you remember when the second male Omega presented nearly 8 years ago?”

“I remember that too, the media coverage was just as crazy as it was for the first.” His dad chimed.

Stiles thought about it for a minute, he did remember some news reports on the Omega but he never kept his eyes on the TV for more than five minutes to actually know any details about it, “I sort of remember …” he said.

“Well this Omega presented in India somewhere in Karnataka the villagers there did something similar to the villagers in Africa and they cherished the Omega greatly and treated him like royalty” Deaton said.

Stiles frowned, “are you trying to say that if I reveal I’m an Omega people will worship me?”

Deaton shook his head, “not necessarily, I’m thinking people will fawn over you more than worship you. You will be the new story America will obsess over and you will most likely be followed everywhere you go and your private life will cease to exist and I’m sure that’s not something you want, correct?”

Stiles didn’t really have enough time to think about it, he had only just became comfortable with the idea of being an Omega he never thought of the broader aspects of it. He knew he was rare but he didn’t take into account how the world would respond to that, clearly he had two examples before him and being in the spotlight at all times was not something Stiles wanted at all, “ye-yeah you’re right …”

John scratched his chin and sighed, “But there’s something else … something you wouldn’t tell me over the phone but wouldn’t… what is it?”

Deaton nodded, “there is something I wanted to tell you … when is the last time you saw any news reports on the two male Omegas?”

John took a minute to think about, “it’s been … it’s been a few months … maybe even a year …”

Stiles took some time to think about it himself, there used to be a news report on the male Omegas every other day up until last year, then it became every other month and then there were none at all, he can’t say it alarmed him because he was never interested in Omegas but now he felt a chill run up his spine, “what happened to them?”

“Stiles?” his father turned and looked at him bewildered by the question.

“What-what happened to them? Where are they?” Stiles asked frantically.

Deaton sighed, “We don’t know …”

John sat up in his seat, “what do you mean you don’t know?”

Deaton placed his glasses on the top of his head and rubbed his eyes and sighed out his frustration, “I mean we don’t know where they are, how they got away … and … and … who took them …”

Stiles gasped, “Who took them? Somebody took them?”

Deaton nodded, “yes … the two male Omegas have been missing for more than 9 months now.”

“No that’s impossible! If that were true then there would be some kind of story on it … it would be all over the news! Everyone would know about it …” John said incredulous.

“Sherriff I’m going to have to ask you to calm down I cannot afford to have you lose control … not here.” Deaton threatened.

Stiles was doing everything he could not to freak out and start hyperventilating, the only thing keeping him sane and in check was the anticipation to hearing the answer to his question, “who took them?”

His father settled back into his seat and looked to him before looking back to Deaton, “are they dangerous and do they mean Stiles any harm?”

Deaton took a moment before answering, “Yes … they are extremely dangerous and we believe that they do mean to harm Stiles if they find out he is an Omega.”

His dad gripped the bridge of his nose and scoffed, “why would they want to hurt him?”

“Because … they feel that he is an anomaly … unnatural in their eyes … an abnormality that needs to be fixed and dealt with. To them Omegas … male Omegas especially, shouldn’t exist, the feel that they mess up the balance of nature … I think that’s how they put it.” Deaton answered hesitantly.

Stiles still didn’t have an answer to his question and it was driving him insane, “who took them?!” Stiles asked with a little more authority.

“We-we just know the group’s name … ‘Aucune Anomalie.’ When they first made themselves known about a year ago we thought they were only targeting the male Omegas but now it’s been discovered that female Omegas all across Europe have gone missing. We don’t know who exactly is leading the group … and we don’t know what they hope to accomplish by kidnapping all of the Omegas.” Deaton said.

“Then how do you know the group means to harm the Omegas?” His dad pressed.

Deaton sighed, “Because when they kidnap the Omegas they take them by any means necessary … even if it means hurting them … severely.”

There was a reason Stiles feared presenting as an Omega, of course it wasn’t because he knew there was a hate group out to get all of them; but now that he knew that, it was exactly the reason why he feared being what he was. Stiles held his breath for a moment and closed his eyes and imagined a world where he didn’t have to go through the daily struggles of his life and he was free to do as he pleased and go wherever he wanted. He longed for a life like that and in that moment it was as if he could reach out and grab it; but the image slipped away and instead of seeing an easy going carefree life all he saw was the extreme amount of hurt and torment he’s gone through and the words ‘Aucune Anomalie’ rung through his ears. He sighed and opened his eyes, “are they … are the other Omegas alive?”

Deaton nodded, “yes we believe so-“

“Who is we?” Stiles cut in.

Deaton looked around his office, “we being myself and other government officials.”

His dad sat up in his seat, “the government knows about this?”

Deaton nodded, “of course, each time an Omega presents the heads of government are informed and the Omega is appointed a personal government official for a set amount of time … these officials who are better known as agents, monitor the Omega and protect it if necessary.”

Stiles watched as his father stood up and began pacing around the room, “you would think this was information you would have informed us about before we left the hospital the first time.”

“John I apologize again for not informing you of this … but I needed approval before I could speak of any of this with you.” Deaton said.

Stiles watched as his father spun around flabbergasted, “you needed approval? What if something happened? What if someone found out about Stiles being an Omega during the time-“

Deaton held up his hand and silenced the Sherriff, “no one would have found out I can assure you of that.”

The Sherriff grunted, “How can you assure that? What if he shifted? What then? What about the people who already know what he is? What if they told someone else?”

Deaton stood up out of his chair, “right now his ability to shift is EXTREMELY limited and by that I mean he can probably shift his eyes in extreme circumstances. As for the people who already know, most of them were informed that should they speak of Stiles situation to anyone else they would be arrested and tried in the court of law and most likely serve a prison sentence of no less than five years. The minors who were present for Stiles presentation were informed by the school’s Principal that if they spoke of Stiles presentation to anyone they would be expelled. Trust me when I say that we have this situation handled and have taken the necessary steps to ensure your son’s safety.”

‘So was there some kind of well-established system already in place to watch over Omegas and ensure their safety? Why was this never told to anyone?’ Stiles wondered, he made sure to remind himself to ask Deaton about it.

His dad grimaced at the response, “fine … then what about this government official or agent whatever the hell you want to call them; when will he or she be here?”

“I would appreciate it greatly if you sat back down in your seat before I proceed to tell you anything more.” Deaton suggested.

It was a wonder to Stiles that he wasn’t the one pacing around the room freaking out, it was an even bigger wonder that he did not cave into his emotions and succumb to a possible panic attack. In a situation like this usually his father would be the one to always remain calm and keep his emotions in check and he always made sure Stiles was okay and calmed him down if necessary; they’ve dealt with some tense situations before, usually it’s criminals threatening to off both of them if their demands weren’t met. Each time Stiles father acted as his anchor but now it was Stiles turn to be the anchor, Stiles thought it was kind of funny given the situation, “dad please sit down …”

The Sherriff huffed, “I don’t understand how you’re so calm about this …”

Stiles shrugged unable to give him an answer but his father eventually complied and sat back down, Deaton sighed and sat back behind his desk, “now then where were we?” Deaton asked.

Stiles huffed, “the government official or agent person whatever … who is it?”

Deaton smiled, “someone I’m sure both of you are familiar with …”

His dad snorted, “I don’t know any government officials.”

“On the contrary John-“

“You can call me Sherriff.” His dad cut in clearly miffed by the situation.

Deaton sighed, “On the contrary Sherriff you do happen to know two government officials myself and your deputy, Jordan Parrish.”

John looked to Deaton incredulously, “Now hold on just a damn minute there is no way my deputy is a government official … I would know and since when are you a government official?”

“For a while now Sherriff and I can assure you that Mr. Parrish is an agent.” Deaton said,

“How long have you worked for the government?” Stiles asked.

Deaton leaned forward, “Not long, I was recruited almost a year ago.”

Stiles sighed, “Are there other doctor’s like you around the country? “

Deaton smirked, “yes … why?”

Stiles fiddled with his fingers, “I don’t know just a hunch …” Stiles looked up at Deaton, “you preside over all of the weres that present right? You’re the only doctor in town that people go to for presentation purposes.”

“What gives you that idea?” Deaton asked.

“Well you said you have to report in when an Omega presents, so I’m assuming that you would need to overlook all the presentations that happen here in order to report it to the head honchos right? Considering the fact that this isn’t really a big town and this is the only major hospital we have and given the fact presentations don’t exactly happen on a daily basis here, I figure it wouldn’t be too hard to handle overseeing all the presentations on your own,” Stiles mumbled.

Deaton nodded, “go on.”

“So I’m still going based off assumption here but I assume that where there is a doctor who’s a government official there’s also another official hiding in plain sight? … I guess … what I’m getting at is you guys have a system in place that you haven’t told the public about … right? A system to protect the Omegas?” Stiles finished.

Deaton smiled, “that is very perceptive of you Stiles; I must admit I’m surprised you were able to deduce that given the little information you have.”

“How exactly did you come up with that?” his father asked intrigued.

Stiles shrugged, “it’s kind of obvious I guess … Doc said that the Omegas are all assigned an official to protect them I’m thinking this happened after they realized that the Omegas were being taken. They then created a system to ensure any new Omegas who presented would be watched over and protected from danger.”

Deaton nodded, “exactly … good job.”

Stiles wanted desperately to stand up and fist pump for being right about what the government was up to but he held firm and remained calm and simply smiled at his accomplishment. His father sighed in the seat next to him, “that’s great and all but what about the group, do you know if Stiles is in any immediate danger from them? Are they targeting certain Omegas or all of them?”

“Well from what we can tell they prioritize the male Omegas over the females they were the first two that were taken and shortly after the females started to disappear which is why it is imperative that Stiles keep his presented identity to himself for the time being until this group is subdued.” Deaton warned.

Stiles huffed and sat up in his seat, “but that could take years …”

Deaton shook his head and waved Stiles off, “actually it may only take a few weeks … from what I understand a major cell of the group has been taken out in Europe a few of the recently captured Omegas were freed but there were some still missing … as of right now we are unaware if they are still alive or dead. Regardless some of the members of the group were captured and interrogated, they gave up key details about other cells of the group that are scattered around the world and it’s only a matter of time before we wipe them all out and figure out what happened to the Omegas they’ve kidnapped.”

“Damn it …” Stiles father said rubbing his forehead, “kid … you really know how to attract trouble.”

Stiles scoffed, “dad … it’s not my fault that I’m like this …”

His father held up his hand to halt him, “I know son … I know … just poking a little fun at you that’s all …” he sighed, “so Parrish is going to be around to help keep my son safe?”

Deaton nodded, “yes he will be close by and ready if needed …”

The Sherriff nodded, “good … it’s nice to know I’ll have back-up if any of those whack job groupies wind up on my porch.”

“Sherriff I would implore you to let Parrish take the lead … should anything happen, he is highly trained in combat situations and is more than capable of keeping Stiles safe on his own.” Deaton warned.

Stiles dad smirked, “Deaton this is my son we’re talking about and I’m the person who is always in charge of ensuring his safety. Aside from that I am the Sherriff of this town and I don’t care what you say or who you work for, if someone comes into my town for unlawful reasons I’m going to handle them.”

Deaton sighed, “Sherriff-“

“Please call me John,” his dad said fixing Deaton with a smirk.

Stiles looked at his dad like he was crazy, he was so all over the place and Stiles was willing to assume he might be bipolar. Deaton must have felt the same way as he looked at the Sherriff skeptically, “John … this group is dangerous you have no idea what to expect from them … please let Parrish handle Stiles safety.

Stiles had started to become a little anxious, he understood that his father felt the need to protect him but he was not okay with him putting his life on the line to make sure he was safe. He’s already lost one parent, to lose the other would absolutely crush him, “dad maybe you should-“

“No Stiles …” his father said as he cocked an eyebrow at Deaton, “tell me something Deaton, when was the last time an Omega was taken?”

Deaton sighed, “Less than a month ago, it was just before we were able dismantle the European cell of the group.”

His father nodded, “and I’m correct in assuming that Omega had an agent guarding them?”

Deaton sighed, “Yes …”

His father appeared smug at that, “and I’m assuming you would say that that agent was just as capable as Parrish to keep that Omega safe right?” His dad had just made his case and won, there was no way Deaton could challenge what his father had said.

Deaton held up his hands in defeat “fine okay … clearly you’ve made up your point … just … be careful” he said clasping his hand back together. “So let’s move onto other issues, Stiles we need to talk about your first shift and the changes you will experience over the next year.”

Stiles sat up straight, “changes?”

Deaton nodded, “yes changes … but first let’s talk about your shift, as you know Monday is the full moon and you will go through your first full shift. Afterwards you will be able to control your shifting at will just like an Alpha … during your first full shift you may seem a little delirious and that is because it is the first time that you fully give into your wolf and you’re driven by your wolf’s instincts.”

Stiles became alarmed at that, “but-“

Deaton held up a hand and silenced him, “don’t be alarmed remember what we talked about in the room after your father left, control is not an issue for you, remember you and your wolf are of one mind.”

“He won’t lose control to his wolf? Isn’t … Isn’t it normal to lose some sort of control during the first shift?” His father asked.

Deaton nodded, “of course … for Alphas and Betas, Omegas have no problem with control.”

His father sat back in his seat awestruck, “Omegas have more control than an Alpha?”

Deaton nodded again, “precisely …”

“Well I’ll be damned …” his dad said.

“It’s an ability all Omegas share and speaking of abilities I do need to inform you Stiles about the special abilities you are bound to develop.” Deaton said

That piqued Stiles interest, “special abilities?”

His father groaned next to him, “great I feel like this is only going to give me more reasons to worry …”

“As you know Omega weres are the fastest living creatures in the world but unnatural speed is not the only ability granted to some Omegas and I believe you have already demonstrated one of them based on the many different accounts I have heard about your presentation …” Deaton said.

Stiles was baffled by that, “what?”

“When you were in the nurse’s office before you came to the hospital the day you presented … do you remember waking up?” Deaton asked.

Of course he remembered, he would never forget that moment, everyone had been staring at him as he glanced around the room and when his eyes landed on Derek that was when he found out that he was an Omega, Stiles nodded, “yes.”

“Do you remember how everyone acted upon seeing you?” Deaton pressed.

Stiles shrugged, “they all sort of just stared at me and then I passed out.”

Deaton nodded, “they weren’t simply staring they were under a trance …”

“A trance?” Stiles and his father asked simultaneously.

Deaton nodded, “indeed, your eyes … or rather your Omega eyes are special.” Deaton said looking between Stiles and his father, “its common knowledge that the major way we classify what we are is through the color of our shifted eyes, Alphas always have red eyes, Betas always have blue eyes, for Omegas however it’s a little different. Not many people know that an Omega can have either purple or Green eyes; purple is the most common color for an Omega, Green on the other hand is rare. Of the few Omegas that have presented around the world the vast majority of them have purple eyes, from what I know based on the data that we have on presented Omegas … out of the 163 Omegas that have presented worldwide there are only 4 with green eyes.”

Stiles shrugged, “I feel like I should be shocked by that … but I’m not really seeing the shock factor in what you’re saying. What’s special about having green eyes? Is it like a deformity or something? Can Omegas with purple eyes put people in a trance?”

Deaton shook his head, “no not a deformity …” he said before saying “Green eyed Omegas are the only Omegas that can develop special abilities and they are the only ones capable of putting people in a trance with just the flash of their eyes, why that is we are uncertain. As far as what these abilities are, it varies and there’s no way of knowing which abilities you will inherit.”

Stiles nodded, “okay one question … are these abilities dangerous? And is super strength one of the abilities?”

Deaton shook his head, “that depends on the abilities that you develop … and what do you mean by super strength?”

Stiles sighed, “earlier a Beta had me pinned against a wall … I grabbed his arm and I swear I heard his bones crunching and next thing I know I pushed him against the wall on the other side of the hallway … same thing happened to another Beta that tried charging at me … I pushed him against the wall too.”

Deaton nodded, “you were told to avoid stressful situations weren’t you?”

Stiles huffed, “I’m lucky if I can go a day without dealing with a stressful situation …”

Deaton shrugged, “that’s high school for you I guess … anyway about your strength you are stronger than the average Omega we have found that green eyed Omegas are a little stronger than purple eyed Omegas. So with that being said you are stronger than a Beta but you do not possess the strength of an Alpha.” Deaton said and Stiles nodded satisfied with his explanation.

His father jumped in with a question of his own, “what kind of abilities can he develop and how dangerous are they?”

“Well there are a few abilities that the current green eyed Omegas have showcased, from what I know one has the ability to camouflage itself and blend in with any setting it’s placed in. Another has the ability to shape shift, now that may not seem all too impressive as we are all naturally shape shifters but for her it’s different. We can only turn into our were counterpart that being wolves; before her ability presented itself she could only turn into a fox now she can change into anything.” Deaton explained.

“Wow … that’s incredible.” His father said.

“But what about the other two?” Stiles pressed.

“Ah … well this is where the danger comes in … the other two presented abilities that could be harmful to many people one has the ability of screeching so loud that the vibrations from her voice can cause minor tremors or mini earthquakes. The last one and the oldest of the green eyed Omegas can create sonic booms just by clapping her hands.”

Stiles gasped, his dad was quick to follow up with another question, “What causes these abilities to present themselves?”

“We’re not certain … but the abilities usually showcase themselves a little more than a year after the Omega presents so right now Stiles … your abilities are not our greatest concern but when the time comes we will address it as needed …” Deaton said.

Stiles was stunned at the information that was presented to him but something didn’t seem right, if the green eyed Omegas were so special why weren’t they just as popular as the male Omegas? “Wait … how come no one really knows about green eyed Omegas, I mean obviously people know about them … but people don’t actually know what they’re capable of.”

“We monitor them regularly, two of them live in Russia, one lives in Japan but will soon be moving here to America and the other is just outside of Texas in a small town. They have all agreed to keep their abilities secret so that they don’t alarm anyone; it’s just another precaution that we have taken to ensure their safety. But aside from all of that we need to move on to the next topic and discuss your heats …” Deaton said cautiously.

Stiles gasped, “My heat … my heats …” that was the one thing he managed to forget about.

“Heats … no … hold on … how will he-how is he going to deal with those?” His father asked frantically.

“Calm down John, it is not well-known to the public but we do have heat suppressants for Omegas. These suppressants are designed to block an Omegas heat …” Deaton looked to Stiles and said “you should know that when you go into heat that means your body is ready to carry offspring.” Deaton said calmly.

Stiles heart felt like it jumped into his throat and he was seconds away from choking on it, his father groaned next to him, “my son can get pregnant …” he said in disbelief. He started to laugh but stopped himself and looked at Stiles, “no boyfriends … or girlfriends … none of that happens until you’re out of high school.”

Stiles gawked at his father, sure he wasn’t particularly interested in dating at the moment but that could change at any time, Deaton cleared his throat, “uh … Sherriff-“

His father held his hand out, “Deaton please call me John …”

Deaton lips went into a thin line, “John … aren’t you forgetting about something?” he asked inclining his head towards Stiles.

Stiles assumed that given the current situation his father must have forgotten that his soul mark had appeared and he would prefer to keep it that way, “what am I missing?” his father asked.

Stiles knew Deaton was trying to remind his father of his mark and that was the last thing he wanted his father worrying about. He widened his eyes and shook his head frantically hoping the doctor wouldn’t say anything about it. Deaton must have gotten the hint as he nodded to Stiles, “it’s nothing … anyway back to your heats, so as I said when your heats begin your body is ready to carry children. Heats are very similar to females mensuration or more commonly known as periods, only heats happen once every three months to where periods happen once a month. Heats are also much more extreme than a regular period, during heats you will experience what feels like an unbearable amount of pain and you will feel like you’re on fire, it’s very similar to the pain you went through when presenting just not as bad and it will last for a week. You can temporarily alleviate the symptoms of heat by taking an Alpha’s knot or having multiple climaxes’. The symptoms will only subside when the heat has ended; the only way you can avoid going into heat is either by you being pregnant or you are taking the suppressants.”

Stiles felt himself tensing up at each word Deaton said he had to admit that he was not looking forward to feeling like he did the day he presented on a regular basis. His father buried his face in his hands groaning loudly, “Oh my God … we … we haven’t even had the sex talk yet.”

Deaton ignored Stiles dad and continued, “Now usually for Omegas their heats begin within three to four months of their presentation but that only applies to female Omegas the males are different. Females are born with the ability to carry children so if and when they present as an Omega their bodies only change to physically allow the female to go into heat. It’s different for you, when you presented you of course felt a weird feeling coming from your stomach area; that was caused due to the fact that your body was basically forming organs that are mainly found in females. With that being said upon a successful presentation you should now have a set of underdeveloped ovaries and an underdeveloped uterus.”

“How long does it take for them to fully develop?” Stiles asked.

“You’re still a teenager, your body has not fully developed yet; as you grow and go through puberty your ovaries and uterus will develop, once they’re finished your menstrual cycle will begin and you will immediately go into menstruation or what we like to describe as going into heat. From what we know of male Omegas it will take about a year for your new organs to develop once they have you will go into your first heat.” Deaton said.

Stiles frowned as the fear of going through the excruciating pain of presenting overwhelmed him “do I have to go into heat? Can’t I take the suppressants … you said you had suppressants.”

Deaton nodded, “yes you can take the suppressants you will need to see me two weeks before your heat begins so we can get you started on them. You will know when you’re about to go into heat, your body will start feeling a little off, this usually happens two weeks before your actual heat begins.”

“Do these suppressants have any lasting side effects I should know about?” His dad asked.

Deaton shook his head, “none that I know of Sherri- … John …”

“Wait … wait hold on … before we go any further I have a question ... how do you know so much about male Omegas? Did you get all of this information from the first two or is there something I’m missing? Because the last time I checked there was little to no information on male Omegas …” Stiles wondered.

Deaton opened a drawer to his desk and pulled out a book, “actually there’s plenty of information on them, this book has been translated from the ancient Greek language you will be surprised to know there is a plethora of information on your kind in this book. I will have you know that this information was only recently discovered about 3 years ago by my understanding this book was translated only 2 years ago and the first two male Omegas validated much of the information this book provides on your kind.”

Stiles looked at the book and then to Deaton, “can I … can I read it?”

Deaton nodded, “of course I would actually prefer you keep this copy, there are multiple copies of the translated version of this book, I can easily get my hands on another …” he began to hand the book to Stiles but retracted it before Stiles could grab it, “but you cannot show the contents of this book to anyone outside of this room.”

Stiles nodded frantically, “okay …”

Deaton sighed and handed the book to Stiles, “in that book it describes in great detail the change you will go through over the next year, I’m sure you have many questions about yourself and most of those questions can be answered by reading that book.”

Stiles examined the book it wasn’t too thick he estimated that it was probably around 200 pages long, “will it tell me more about the abilities you were talking about?”

Deaton nodded, “yes … and speaking of your abilities when they present themselves to you I would appreciate it greatly if you would inform me of what they are so we can compare the information to the information given in that book.”

“Excuse me …” Stiles dad said, “but what about his first shift? With that crazy group out there we can’t exactly have Stiles go out and about only to be discovered by someone who might run their mouth and spread news of an Omega being in town, what am I supposed to do when it comes time for him to shift?”

“Easy … you let him out.” Deaton said.

His dad groaned at the answer, “but you said that there’s a group out there searching for Omegas … males especially,” Stiles said.

Deaton nodded, “yes I did but your first shift is important and unavoidable, it will be your first time experiencing your body as a fully transformed werewolf and you need to become accustomed to it. I would suggest that your father have you chained up for the night but that can be very uncomfortable and seeing as how we know you won’t lose control over yourself I trust that you can handle yourself on a run but you must remain on your territory, it is the best way to avoid running into people. Parrish will be accompanying you on your run and I have no doubts your father will be there as well, they can act as cover should you run into anyone; but you need to make sure no one finds out that there’s a resident Omega in town … not yet …”

Both Stiles and his dad nodded in unison, Deaton put his glasses back on, “As I said before after your first shift you will be able to freely shift when you please … you can read up on all of the information in the book I gave you. Now other than that I have nothing more to share with you at the time and I do have other appointments I need to attend to.”

Stiles heard his father sigh next to him, “so everything he needs to know is in that book? We shouldn’t expect any more surprises right?”

Deaton shook his head, “No, no more surprises I will have Parrish inform you if the situation with the group changes …”

Stiles dad nodded and stood up, “that’s good … now if you’ll excuse me I need to go home and crack open a beer and eat a nice unhealthy dinner to process everything I just heard.”

Stiles looked up at his father and frowned, “dad just because I’m going through something doesn’t give you a free card to eat unhealthily …”

“Stiles son … I’m going through it by association I deserve a drink to calm my nerves and a nice juicy burger for staying sane through all of this” His dad said

Stiles sighed and stood up from his seat clutching the book Deaton gave him in his hand, “thanks Doc …” he said.

Deaton stood and walked over to the door opening it for both of them, “it is my pleasure both of you have a nice day … oh and before you go, Stiles I expect to see you back here on Tuesday.”

Stiles nodded and his dad clapped him on the back, “we’ll be here,” his dad said.

With that both of them walked out of Deaton’s office and towards the elevator’s, they exited the hospital without running into Melissa again. In the parking lot Stiles dad told him he had to report in at the station and that he would be home a little later with either take out or something from the diner, he refused Stiles multiple requests to eat something healthy. Stiles got in his jeep placing the book Deaton gave him in front of him on his steering wheel curious towards the contents inside of the book; he opened up his backpack and placed the book inside, started up his jeep and left the hospital parking lot driving a little faster than normal to get home to read the book.

Derek's POV

The rest of school passed by like a blur, Derek found himself sitting in his last class of the day with only five minutes left in school. Jackson had been texting Derek like a madman giving him updates on everything Scott was doing, Jackson and Scott shared their final class period together and Derek instructed Jackson to keep them updated on Scott’s behavior. What he could gather from the string of text messages Jackson had sent him was that Scott was pissed at the world but mostly himself. Jackson stated that Scott smelled like anger and sadness, two scents that were highly unfamiliar coming from Scott. Derek tried to get some info on how Allison was doing but she wasn’t responding to anyone’s messages, Lydia said that she tried talking to her after their last class period but Allison completely blew her off and ran off to her next class. Stilinski really managed to fuck things up in a short amount of time and that pissed Derek off more than anything.

That morning everything had been normal, his group of friends were tight and their bond seemingly unbreakable but now everything was pretty much in shambles. ‘Shit.’

“Alright class you all have a great weekend make sure you finish your homework and before you all go let’s wish our football team the best of luck in the game tonight!” Ms. Miller said from the front of the class.

Everyone cheered snapping Derek out of his thoughts, there were only three members of the football team in class right now including Derek. Everyone who wasn’t on the team was probing them to stand up at their desk to which they all did, “HEY HO BH BOBCATS LET’S GO!” the class cheered.

The bell rang shortly after and with that school was over, the minute Derek walked outside he ran into Boyd who was waiting next to the door, “hey man we need to talk about something …”

“What’s up?” Derek asked as they made their way down the hall.

“It’s about Stilinski …” he muttered.

Derek sighed, “I really don’t want to talk about him right now ... I honestly don’t even want to think about him.”

Boyd hesitated, “I know … I know … but there’s something weird about him …”

Derek snorted, “What isn’t weird about him Boyd, he’s a freak.”

Boyd snickered, “yeah I know that but … you know what never mind … I’m probably thinking too much about it anyway.”

“Thinking about Stilinski can do weird things to your mind, that’s a side effect of thinking about freaks.” Derek joked.

Boyd snickered at that, “yeah you’re probably right.”

Derek felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out, he noticed Boyd did the same thing, when he checked his phone he had one new message from Jackson, ‘MY FUCKING CAR IS GONE!!!!!’ the text read. “Are you seeing this?” Boyd asked Derek.

Derek looked up from his phone at Boyd, “yeah what the hell is this about?”

Boyd jerked his head, “let’s go find out …”

Derek nodded and they ran down the hall and made their way through school towards the student parking lot. Along the way they ran into Erica, “hey guys did you get Jackson’s text?”

“Yeah come on we’re going out to the parking lot to see what’s up …” Derek said, it didn’t take them long to get to the parking lot, they found Jackson throwing a fit by an empty car space where his car was supposed to be. “Jackson what’s up? What the hell happened?” Derek asked.

“My fucking car is gone … my dad is going to kill me! FUCK, WHO THE FUCK WOULD STEAL MY FUCKING CAR!” Jackson said.

“Shut up Jackson … it didn’t get stolen … it got towed.” Lydia said.

“WHAT?!” Jackson screamed.

Lydia rolled her eyes, “I just called the tow truck company and asked them if they have a red Porsche in their lot and the guy said that one was dropped off not too long ago. He said something about it being picked up for a parking violation … I don’t know, you can find out when you get there.”

Jackson groaned, “I was parked in the student parking lot, this spot is perfectly legal to park in! THIS IS BULL SHIT!”

“What’s going on?” Isaac asked as he ran up and joined them.

“Jackson’s car got towed for parking violation …” Derek said.

“Shit I need a ride home then …” Isaac said.

Derek nodded, “I’ll give you a ride it’s on the way to my house anyway …”

Jackson was punching the air manically screaming ‘fuck’ repeatedly, if Derek was being honest the whole scene was kind of funny and the crowd that Jackson was drawing seemed to think so as well. Lydia sneered at Jackson she didn’t seem too fond of him making a fool of himself, she spun around and walked over to Boyd, “Boyd do you think you can give me a ride home and take Jackson to the tow yard? If not can you just give us a ride to my house and I’ll have my mom take him to the tow yard, if that’s okay?” She asked.

Boyd nodded, “alright … you know we have to be back here in like two hours right?”

Lydia rolled her eyes at him, “obviously … I know you guys have your short practice before the game, don’t worry we’ll be back before that.”

Derek snorted, “you better be … coach will probably kill them if they’re late.”

“Are there any updates on Scott and Allison?” Isaac asked.

Derek looked to Boyd who looked back at him with the same look of concern etched on his face, “Jackson said that Scott looked pretty bad in class … he said he smelled like anger and sadness, I don’t know, that’s all I know …”

“Allison um … Allison I think might be serious about wanting to avoid us …” Erica chimed.

Lydia stepped closer to her, “why do you say that?”

Erica ran a hand through her hair and sighed, “Because … I saw her in the hall before I met up with Derek and Boyd … she didn’t say anything to me even after I called for her, she wouldn’t even look at me. Maybe she just needs a little time …”

Lydia huffed, “yeah right … but I doubt it …” she said as Jackson continued to belt out a few choice words behind her. She turned around and sneered at Jackson before marching over to him, when she was close enough she snatched one of his arms forcing him to face her, “Jackson shut up and stop making a fool of yourself.” Derek heard her say quietly.

“They took my fucking car Lydia they-“ he tried saying until Lydia covered his mouth with her hand.

“I don’t care Jackson, we can get your car back we know where it so please shut up, okay?” she asked and Jackson nodded. She then took her hand off of his mouth and said, “Okay … now come over here and tell us what you know about Scott so we can leave and get your car.”

Jackson nodded again and followed Lydia over to join the rest of the group, Derek didn’t miss the way he hung his head in shame, “what do you know about Scott?” Isaac asked.

Jackson shrugged, “I don’t know man … I tried talking to him a few times he didn’t really say much of anything … I asked him if he wanted a ride home he said he would walk … I … I’m kinda worried about him.”

“We all are,” Boyd chimed. “So is there anything else we should know?”

Jackson shook his head, “no that’s it I-I couldn’t really get much out of him … he was really pissed.”

“You think he’ll play tonight?” Isaac asked.

“I’ll be surprised if he does …” Jackson said.

Boyd sighed, “Hopefully he does because we need him …”

“Speaking of the game we should get going …” Derek said and turned to face Isaac, “Isaac how about on the way we stop by Scott’s house and see how he is?”

Isaac nodded frantically, “yeah sounds good let’s go.”

“See you guys later.” Derek said waving them off and walking towards his car with Isaac following closely behind him.

“See you tonight!” Boyd yelled at them as they retreated away to Derek’s Camaro.

“Derek!” someone yelled from not too far away, Derek turned to see his younger sister running towards him, “Derek … hey I need you to give me a ride home.” Cora panted.

Derek grunted, “Why can’t you hitch a ride with Laura?”

“Because I don’t want to talk to her right now, I know she knows about me having to switch my Chemistry classes and all she’s going to do is nag me for what happened.” Cora said.

“You know you didn’t have to go so hard on the girl …” Isaac said.

Cora looked to him sharply, “I’m sorry Isaac I wasn’t aware you were in the room when it happened …”

Isaac shrugged, “I didn’t need to be in the room to know what happened … a lot of people know what you did to her and you went too far.”

Cora crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Isaac, “Really? Why don’t you tell me what I did and we’ll go from there.”

“You …” Isaac hesitated, “you beat the girl up and almost clawed her eyes out …” Isaac blurted out.

Derek didn’t exactly believe Cora would claw anyone’s eyes out but then again if she’s driven to the point where she’s uncontrollably angry who knows what she would do .“Tell me that’s not true Cora …”

Cora huffed and rolled her eyes, “of course that didn’t happen that’s just another fabricated story going around school.” Cora said to Derek before turning to Isaac and saying, “That just goes to show what you know Isaac, nothing; so why don’t you do me a favor and keep your nose out of my business, kay?”

Isaac grunted and rolled his eyes, “fine whatever …”

Derek snickered, “Aw come on Isaac don’t be mad …” Derek said patting him on the back. “Alright fine Cora you can hitch a ride with me but you have to talk to Laura the minute we get home … I bet you anything she’s looking for you right now and freaking out because she can’t find you.”

Cora shrugged, “So what? She’ll eventually figure out that I made it home okay …”

Derek pulled out his phone and started texting Laura, “and she’ll be happy to know that I’m taking you home and she can just meet you there when we get there.”

“Ugh Derek, why do you have to be such an ass hole?” Cora whined.

Derek shrugged, “I could ask you the same thing …”

“Okay can you guys save this for later or something we sort of need to leave … like right now.” Isaac chimed.

Derek nodded, “yeah you’re right …” he said before looking to Cora, “Cora we’re stopping by Scott’s before we head home okay?”

Cora shrugged, “whatever I don’t care.”

Derek nodded and made his way to his Camaro with Isaac and Cora in tow.

“How did you manage to get you parents to buy you this car again??” Isaac asked as they drove out of the school parking lot.

“He pestered them every day for a year until they finally caved and bought it for him.” Cora said from the backseat.

Derek huffed and looked at her in his review mirror, “that’s not exactly how it happened, Cora.”

Cora cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked, “you sure about that? Because if I remember correctly you once printed out over a hundred pictures of this car and placed the pictures all around the house so mom and dad knew what to get you for your birthday. You also threw a fit when mom said that this car was too much for you to handle especially because it was your first car … I’m pretty sure you shed more than a few tears because of that.”

Derek growled gripping his steering wheel tightly, “Cora I can always pull over and text Laura where we are so she can come pick you up.”

“Ugh you make me sick,” Cora said as she sat back in her seat crossing her arms.

“Did you really print out over a hundred pictures?” Isaac asked next to him.

Derek smirked, “I really wanted this car …”

Isaac howled, “Dude that’s great …”

They didn’t wind up driving all the way to Scott’s house, Isaac spotted him walking along the side of the road on their way there and from what Derek could see his fist were balled up which told him he was still very much pissed off about the events that happened that day. Derek pulled over and Isaac bolted out of the car and raced after Scott, Derek put the car in park and turned around to face Cora, “wait here we’ll be right back …”

Cora rolled her eyes refusing to look at him, “like I’m going to go anywhere else.”

Derek huffed, “smart ass …” he got out of the car and raced over to where Isaac and Scott were.

“Scott dude it’s going to be fine Allison will come around she probably just needs today to think about; you know you guys can’t stay apart … remember when you went on your short vacation to see your family this past summer? Allison was going crazy without you here and clearly you were crazy without her … it’s going to be fine.” Derek heard Isaac say as he ran up to them.

Scott grunted and didn’t say anything back, Derek attempted to try and offer some words of comfort himself, “Scott … we can talk to Allison this weekend and-“

“ALLISON ISN’T THE ONLY PERSON I’M WORRIED ABOUT … even if she somehow stops being angry with me it still wouldn’t make a difference … my best friend would still hate me regardless.” Scott interjected.

“Scott …” Isaac murmured.

Derek sighed, “Scott maybe this … maybe this is for the best.”

Scott snorted, “What do you know?” he said in a disparaging tone. Isaac tried to reach out for Scott but he swatted his hand away, “just forget about it … there’s nothing you guys can do anyway.”

“Scott … we just want to make sure you’re okay …” Isaac said.

“I’m fine …” he said agitated.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment the three of them stood motionless on the side of the road for what felt like an eternity. Derek wanted so desperately to find the root of the problem and squash it but that wouldn’t do him any good and it would probably make Scott even more upset if he were to physically harm Stiles. “Are you going to play tonight,” Derek heard Isaac ask suddenly.

Derek punched Isaac’s arm, “Isaac …” he warned.

Isaac grabbed his arm and backed away from Derek, “Ow what the hell I was just asking him if he was going to play tonight?”

Derek huffed, “you think now’s the time for that?” Derek asked.

“Yeah …” Scott said.

Both Isaac and Derek looked to Scott incredulously, “what?” they said simultaneously.

Scott sighed, “I said yeah … I’m going to play tonight.”

Isaac frowned, “Are-are you sure … you know if you need to sit this one out it’s fine I’m sure coach will give you a free-“

“I said I’m playing Isaac.” Scott cut in.

“Why?” Derek asked. If he were going through the same thing Scott was going through he wouldn’t hesitate to take the night off and to be left alone with his thoughts. He couldn’t imagine the turmoil Scott must be going through what with his soulmate being mad at him.

“Because …” Scott said balling his fist up again, “because I don’t want to be home right now … and I’m angry … I’m angry at everything and I need something else to focus on besides everything that’s going on.”

Derek understood that perfectly, diversions are always the best way to avoid dealing with your problems; “fine … then I’m giving you a ride to your house and then I’ll come pick you up for the game, okay?”

“Whatever,” was all Scott said before walking back to Derek’s Camaro.

Isaac walked up next to Derek, “you think he’s going to be okay.”

Derek shrugged, “maybe … it depends …”

“On?” Isaac pressed.

“On Scott …” Derek answered, “come on we gotta go.” Derek said as he followed Scott over to his car.

When they made it back to the Camaro Scott had let himself into the backseat next to Cora, “God you smell awful …” Cora said to Scott.

Scott groaned and simply looked out the window; Derek gave Cora a sharp look, “leave him alone.”

Cora held her hands up and looked out of her window, “ugh whatever.”

Isaac sat himself down in the passenger seat and got buckled up; Derek started up his car and listened as the engine roared to life before pulling back onto the main road and to Scott home. Derek dropped off Scott and soon after got Isaac home and informed both of them they need to be ready within an hour and twenty minutes so they could get back to school in time for pregame practice. After they dropped Isaac off Cora sat in the passenger seat dawning a scowl which told Derek that she was not pleased to be going home. “Cora it’s going to be fine … she probably won’t say much of anything that she already hasn’t told you.” Derek said.

She scoffed, “shut up Derek you know that’s not true …” Cora said folding her arms.

Derek shrugged, “hey you could have gotten this over with earlier if you had of just talked to her at school.”

“You could just shut up …” Cora said.

Derek snickered but he complied and left her alone until he saw her pull out her phone, from what he could tell she was texting someone; “who are you texting?”

“No one, why?” She asked.

Derek sighed, “obviously it isn’t no one Cora if you’re texting them … is it mom or dad … or Uncle Peter?”

Cora huffed, “none of the above, mind your business.”

‘None of the above, that couldn’t be right’ Derek thought, “wait did you actually manage to make a friend?!”

“Ugh shut up Derek …” she said as she put her phone down and opted to look out the window instead.

“Who is it Cora?” Derek pressed.

“No one just shut up and pay attention to the road.” She said.

Derek huffed, “do I know them?”

Cora shrugged, “I don’t know considering you know practically everyone in school.”

Derek smirked at that, he did know quite a few people, “is it a boy or a girl?”

Cora shrugged again, “you tell me …”

Derek gripped the steering wheel tight and growled, “it better not be a boyfriend.”

Cora finished writing out whatever she was texting to the person and put her phone away, “I guess it’s too bad you’ll never know.” Derek hit the gas and sped the rest of the way home, “Derek what are you doing?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know I figure the faster I drive the faster you can get home to talk to Laura.”

“Oh my God Derek you’re so awesome …” Cora said in the most sarcastic tone.

Derek smirked and drove a little faster he had hoped to persuade her into telling him who she was texting but his plan didn’t work; they made it home in less than ten minutes and Cora didn’t budge on telling who she was texting. When they pulled up to their house Laura was outside waiting for them looking the least bit pleased, “I have been worried sick about you all day …” she said walking over to the passenger side of Derek’s car and watching Cora as she got out.

“I don’t know why, obviouslyI was in school …” Cora said dryly.

Laura rolled her eyes and closed Cora’s door for her, “yeah but I was looking for you everywhere and you were nowhere to be found.”

Cora scoffed, “then clearly you weren’t looking hard enough …” Cora said stepping past her and walking towards the front door.

Laura spun around, “Cora wait … what happened in your class that caused you to get forcefully transferred out?”

Cora stopped and turned back to Laura, “nothing … this girl made me mad and was saying stupid things about me and I took care of her …”

“Cora you can’t-“

“Shut up Laura …” she cut in and walked into their house.

Laura looked to Derek astonished, Derek just stood by his car and shrugged, “she probably just needs time or something …”

“No Derek,” Laura said quickly, “what she needs is an attitude adjustment.”

“Maybe,” he said as he got his bag out of his car and closed his door, “when you get the chance, find out who she’s texting …”

Laura walked around to Derek’s side of the car, “did you say she’s texting someone?” she asked anxiously.

Derek nodded, “yep … I tried to get her to tell me who it was but she wouldn’t budge … I think it might be a guy …”

Laura huffed, “a guy … she’s actually talking to someone that isn’t us or mom and dad or anyone in the family?” She asked exasperated, “You’re sure she wasn’t texting anyone in the family right?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know have you ever seen her texting anyone in our family?”

Laura shook her head, “I’ve never really seen her text anyone in general besides mom and dad … or us.”

Derek nodded, “let’s think about it like this … we live with mom, dad, Uncle Peter and Aunt Lynn and soon their kid whenever he decides he wants to be born … who out of that group does Cora text … BESIDES mom and dad?”

Laura shrugged, “well … she’ll text Uncle Peter sometimes …”

Derek scowled at Laura, “for food Laura … or when she desperately wants something mom and dad won’t get her.”

Laura nodded, “okay … maybe you’re right … or wait maybe she’s texting Aunt Lynn … you know she likes to check up on her a lot to see if the baby is okay and ready to be born.”

“I think you’re confusing yourself with Cora …” Derek said.

Laura rolled her eyes, “ugh Derek … this is all beside the point … what we need to be worried about right now is the fact that Cora got switched out of her chemistry class because she got in a fight with another student.”

“A student that she said was picking on her,” Derek added.

“Who cares?” She asked, “Cora said that the girl was saying mean things to her, she never said anything about the girl putting her hands on her. Beside that you know how short tempered Cora is with people, the girl probably didn’t even say anything mean to her at all and was probably just annoying her and Cora decided to take out her frustrations on her. If that’s the case that’s not okay Derek … I just want her to know that; it’s bad enough practically everyone in her grade is scarred of her because they think she’s some kind of evil witch out to kill everyone.”

Derek couldn’t look his sister in the eye after that, he simply nodded his head and said, “yeah whatever … I need to go get changed and get ready for the game tonight.”

“Oh my God the game … I almost forgot all about it.” She said.

Derek started walking towards the front door of their house with Laura following along beside him, “are you coming?”

Laura nodded, “yeah I think so … a few of my friends wanted me to go with them … of course I couldn’t say no so … yeah I’ll be there.”

Derek nodded, “okay …”

“Well if it isn’t my favorite nephew …” Peter said walking out the front door.

“Hey Uncle Peter …” Derek said dryly.

“At least pretend like you’re thrilled to see me.” He said mockingly.

Laura walked over to Peter and gave him a short hug, “hi Uncle Peter … is Aunt Lynn-“

“Lynn is fine Laura she’s not due for another 3 months so you can stop being so concerned about her and the baby I don’t know why I have to keep repeating this to you.” Peter said.

Laura shrugged, “I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Peter smirked, “it will, don’t worry …” he turned to face Derek, “so I hear you have a big game tonight against Casanova … you are going to win right?”

Derek shrugged, “yeah it shouldn’t be too much of a problem … I’m gonna go grab my stuff and get out of here. Are you and Aunt Lynn coming to the game?”

Peter grinned, “of course it’s still a wonder to me that you’re actually playing football … when your dad and I tried talking you into it you wouldn’t budge …”

“Meh … you guys didn’t really have a good approach,” Derek said.

“I-I’m gonna go inside and talk to Cora,” Laura chimed opening the front door.

“She wasn’t texting Lynn by the way.” Peter said suddenly.

Laura stopped and turned to look at him, “what?”

“Cora,” he said, “she wasn’t texting Lynn she’s been asleep for 4 hours and she wasn’t texting me … I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but you two weren’t talking like you wanted to keep any secrets.

Laura shrugged, “doesn’t matter, thanks Uncle Peter.” She said walking inside.

“I’m headed to the store to pick up a few things for Lynn but we will see you at the game later.” Peter said as he walked towards his truck.

Derek waved him off and as soon as Peter was driving away he walked inside of his house. “Derek?!” his mom called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, hi mom!” he called.

Derek spotted her walking out of the kitchen, “you ready for the game tonight?”

Derek nodded, “yeah just home to get some stuff …”

His mother nodded, “alright well your father and I will be at the game he should be getting back from his trip in about an hour.”

Derek grinned, “Great.” He had to admit he was excited to see his dad

His mother returned the smile, “Do me a favor? When you go upstairs can you tell your sister’s to come down … I want to talk to both of them.”

Derek nodded and ran upstairs, “Oh Derek …” his mother called, and he halted halfway up the stairs and turned to look at her.

“I know … I know that you don’t want to talk about your soulmate, I haven’t told your father yet and if you’re not ready to talk about it then I won’t tell him; but you need to make sure you keep that mark covered that way he doesn’t ask you about it.” His mom whispered so that only he would hear her.

Derek gave her a stiff nod, “okay …” he continued up the stairs and made his way towards Cora’s room; the door was shut and he heard Laura giving Cora some exaggerated speech about bullying.

“I’m serious Cora no one likes a bully …” Derek heard Laura say.

“Will you shut up and quit acting like you know everything; I’ve told you repeatedly that that bitch was trashing me. Listen to my heartbeat, you know I’m not lying …” Cora responded.

Even though the door was shut Derek was still able to hear Cora’s heartbeat and there was no hitch in the rhythm of the beat, she was in fact telling the truth. “Fine … I believe you but why didn’t the other girl get in trouble?” Laura asked.

“Because she lied to the teacher and told him that she wasn’t doing anything and I just attacked her to attack her.” Cora said.

Derek heard Laura sigh, “alright … alright I believe you … we can tell mom and have her talk to the principal to get you switched back into the class if you-“

“NO! I-I mean no … I don’t want to go back … I’m fine in the class I’m in now.” Cora cut in.

“Okay …” Laura said slowly, “then I guess just try avoiding getting into fights with people if you can …”

Derek decided now was as good a time as any to step in, “hey guys,” he said opening the door; “mom wants to see both of you downstairs.”

Cora and Laura looked to him, “she’s probably going to grill me for getting in trouble.” Cora said getting up off of her bed and walking past Derek.

Laura watched as she exited the room, “she really didn’t screw up this time …”

“You know maybe she’s just utilizing that trick Uncle Peter taught us and controlling her heartbeat.” Derek said.

Laura shrugged, “I doubt it … I still can’t even do it properly and I know you can’t and every time Cora has tried she always struggles.”

Derek smirked, “why do you think she doesn’t want to switch back into her class?”

Laura cocked an eyebrow, “you were listening? You could have stepped in and helped me out you know.”

Derek nodded, “I know but you I thought you had it handled and besides I’m not good at giving pep talks.”

Laura sighed, “Really? Don’t you give pep talks to your teammates during the games?”

Derek shrugged, “that’s different you’ll be surprised what you say when your adrenaline is pumping and you’re in the heat of the moment.”

Laura rolled her eyes, “Whatever … anyway I’m not sure why she doesn’t want to switch back … maybe she doesn’t want to see that girl again, I don’t know … but you said mom wanted to see both of us right? I better get downstairs and you” Laura said pointing to him, “you better get ready and get out of here and you better make sure you win tonight.”

Derek gave her thumbs up, “I’ll do my best.” He wasn’t joking about doing his best; he had a lot to look forward to if he won the game tonight; an awesome party, a chance to possibly pop a knot with Breaden and maybe the other girl who offered herself up to him earlier and what’s sure to be an unforgettable night spent with his friends. He was definitely going to lead his team to a win, no questions asked.

Derek got ready for the game and grabbed all of his essentials and made sure his mark was perfectly covered so that no one would see it; he then raced out of the house with his mom, his Aunt who had just woken up from her nap and his sister’s wishing him the best of luck. On his way back to school he stopped and picked up Isaac first and sped over to Scott’s house to pick him up; Derek was hoping Scott would have lightened up a little before he got him but when Scott got in the car Derek could scent the anger and sadness coming off of him in waves. None of them spoke as they drove to school, each of them trying to get into the mindset that it was almost game time and they needed to focus to ensure a win. All other issues happening outside of the game no longer mattered at that point, it was always like that whether they were playing Lacrosse or football. They each knew that they had to keep their outside issues away from the game so they didn’t have any distractions.

Derek pulled back into the school parking lot and parked his car and each of them got out and made their way over to the locker room. Along the way they met Boyd and Jackson they got all of their gear locked their stuff up in their locker’s and headed out to the field to prepare for the game. Pregame warm ups were always a bitch, but they were good for getting hyped up before the game. There wasn’t much time left until the game began, from where he was standing on the field Derek could see people filing into the stands. The sun was just on the horizon getting ready to set completely, Casanova’s team had just arrived and was starting to make their way out onto the field.

Derek started to shut out everything that wasn’t on the field and had begun taking deep breaths while jumping up and down and wiggling out his arms and legs, getting a few extra stretches in before the game started. Eventually Casanova’s captains started walking to the middle of the field and the referee made his way out onto the field, Derek, Scott and Boyd made their way out to meet the Casanova captains in the middle of the field; when they met in the middle they each shook hands, “hope you’re ready for your annual ass kicking …” one of the captains said to Derek to which he didn’t respond.

It was time for the coin toss, “alright boys, the rules are as follows since the Casanova Lions are the visiting team they get to make the call for the coin toss. Do the Bobcats agree to this?” the referee asked and Derek, Scott and Boyd each nodded. “This is heads and this is tails …” he said showing both team captains the coin. “Okay if I drop it we will redo the toss do you all understand?” The ref asked and all of them nodded. He then tossed the coin in the air “call it.”

“Heads!” one of the Casanova captains yelled.

The ref caught the coin and revealed that the coin landed on the Tails side. “Beacon Hills Bobcats win the toss what do you choose?”

“We want to differ …“ Derek said.

The ref nodded, “the Bobcats have chosen to differ” he announced. “Which side of the field would you prefer to start on?”

The field was facing north and south, there was a slight breeze coming from the South so Derek opted to go with the wind and start on the South side. “We want to start from the South end.”

The ref nodded and said, “Alright you understand the rules of the game, let’s keep it clean and have a good game.” They each nodded Derek turned back towards their team’s bench and jogged over with Boyd and Scott in tow.

“ALRIGHT BOYS HUDDLE UP!” Coach Finstock commanded. All the boys on the football team complied and they each huddled together around Coach Finstock. “You guys know this game is important not only for us but the entire school, Casanova has comfortably kicked our asses in football for the past 7 years; I believe you are the team that will finally kick their ass and give them a taste of their own medicine!” Finstock said rallying the boys, “I don’t want to see any mistakes,” the crowd that had gathered in the stands were starting to get loud making their anticipation for the game known, “YOU BOYS GET OUT THERE AND YOU PLAY SOME GOOD FOOTBALL! DEREK, KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME AND DON’T SCREW UP! IF YOU THROW AN INTERCEPTION OR FUMBLE THE BALL YOU DO 100 SUICIDES AFTER THE GAME! SAME GOES FOR THE RECIEVERS, TIGHT ENDS AND RUNNING BACKS YOU DROP A PASS OR FUMBLE THE BALL 100 SUICIDES NO QUESTIONS ASKED! O-LINE IF YOU FAIL TO PROTECT DEREK AND HE SUFFERS A SACK 100 SUICIDES AND DON’T THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU DEFENSE YOU MISS A TACKLE OR DROP A POTENTIAL INTERCEPTION 100 SUICIDES! IF WE LOSE 100 SUICIDES AFTER THE GAME AND BEFORE AND AFTER PRACTICE MONDAY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” Finstock yelled.

“YES SIR!” The team yelled in unison.

“ALRIGHT, LET’S GET OUT THERE AND KICK SOME ASS!” Finstock announced raising his hand up, the team rallied around him huddling closer to together raising their hands up to his, “BOBCATS ON THREE, ONE TWO THREE …”

“BOBCATS!” They all yelled and the team dispersed sending their special teams players out onto the field to kick off the game.

The Bobcats defense was able to hold Casanova’s offense to a three and out, Boyd managed to get a sack on a third down forcing Casanova to punt the ball away. Danny was the punt returner, he managed to run the ball back 30 yards before being stopped and it was now all on Derek to lead his team downfield and score. Derek wound up throwing two touchdown passes to Scott and Isaac and Jackson managed to break a few tackles and run one in for another touchdown on their first three drives. Casanova was down 0-21 by halftime; the marching band took to the field as the players ran off and gathered in their locker room. Finstock gave them yet another rallying speech about how they were kicking Casanova’s ass and to keep up the momentum and keep scoring.

Before Derek knew it they were running back onto the field prepared for the second half. On the opening kick Danny ran the ball back for a touchdown, Casanova responded by getting touchdown of their own. Derek managed to throw yet another touchdown to Scott and the defense held Casanova for no points. By the 4^th quarter the score was 7-34, Casanova couldn’t produce any more points, Jackson wound up running in another touchdown extending their lead to 7-41. Finstock eventually pulled all of the first string players off of the field and sent in the second string to finish the game. During this time Derek allowed himself to focus on things outside of the field, he noticed the crowd was going wild as the clock slowly wound down to 0:00. The players all sat on the sidelines were throwing their arms up getting the crowd amped up, some players took the jug of Gatorade sat on the sideline and dumped it on Finstock in celebration.

Derek spotted his family in the stands, his dad was the first one he noticed; he grinned widely and gave his father two thumbs up and his father returned the gesture smiling at him just the same. His mom was standing next to his dad clapping and cheering him on as was his Aunt, Peter was standing next to his Aunt howling with joy. Derek noticed Cora only she wasn’t really paying attention to anything going on she was looking at something, Derek could only guess that it was her phone which was odd considering she usually gets really into any sport Derek plays. Laura was sat a few rows up in the stands with her friends they were all screaming loudly, jumping with joy. The last person Derek noticed was Breaden she had her pompoms held high above her head and she was cheering along with the other cheerleaders. At that moment they made eye contact and she lowered her arms to her chest and gave Derek a seductive wink and mouthed the words ‘good job, I’m all yours.’

Derek smirked and turned around and joined his teammates as they celebrated on the sidelines; Derek felt overjoyed, an intoxicating feeling that always overcame him when they whooped their opponents, especially a rival school. The second string quarterback for the Bobcats gave the final kneel down to end the game and before anyone knew what was going on people were rushing the field cheering with the players. Derek’s mom and dad found him in the crowd and each gave him hugs, Derek held on to his father a little longer and said “missed you dad.”

“Missed you too son; good win I’m proud of you,” his father said.

Laura burst through the crowd of people and hugged her brother, “good job you big idiot.”

Derek howled and said, “Thanks Laura.”

Peter was the next to find him, he placed both of his hands on Derek’s shoulder pads and said, “you didn’t let me down kid I’m proud of you. Your Aunt Lynn would come congratulate you but you know … the baby and all.”

Derek nodded, “I know thanks Uncle Peter …”

“Did you want to go out and celebrate or did you have something else planned?” His mother asked.

“Jackson’s throwing a party since we won is it okay if I go over there tonight?” Derek asked.

His mother gave him a warm smile, “of course we can always go out and celebrate tomorrow. Laura are you going to be joining your brother?”

Laura nodded, “yeah Marisa is going to give me a ride … I’ll make sure I come home with Derek.”

His mom and dad nodded, “okay you two be safe, make good choices and don’t do anything stupid.” Their mother warned.

“Be good kids we’ll see you at home.” Their dad said turning away with their mom and finding their way out of the crowd.

Peter gave Derek another nod and told them to “have fun at the party.”

Laura gave Derek another hug before telling him, “Okay I will see you at the party.”

“Hey wait … where’s Cora?” Derek asked stopping her.

Laura looked around and frowned when she pointed towards her parents walking away with Peter and Aunt Lynn, “there she is … I guess she wanted to stay with Aunt Lynn?”

Derek nodded, “maybe … whatever I’ll see you later.”

Laura nodded and disappeared into the crowd of people, Breaden appeared out of nowhere and gave him a quick hug, “you looked good out there tonight … I noticed you were a lot more focused than you usually are. Looked to me like you were playing for something ….” She said.

Derek smirked knowing what she was getting at, “the prize for winning was something I didn’t want to miss out on so I gave it my all.”

She stepped closer to him gazing into his eyes, “well I’m proud to announce that you’ve won the prize and you can claim it tonight.”

Derek grinned and dropped his voice low, “I plan to.”

Breaden cupped his cheek, “I also wanted to let you know there’s no limit on the amount of times you can claim your prize so don’t worry about this only being a onetime thing.”

Derek nodded, “good.”

She had started to lean in to give him a kiss but that same awful feeling that he felt earlier before he kissed her in the cafeteria started pulsating from his mark; it was just his luck that someone had come up behind him and hit him in the head distracting him from Breaden. Derek spun around quickly and saw Isaac running away from him, “go …” Breaden said, “We’ll have plenty of time for that later. Congrats again on the win …” She said as she backed away from him and rejoined her cheer squad, while Derek went to find his friends.

Derek found Isaac in the crowd and ran over and slugged him in the back to which Isaac turned around and gave him a hug. “Good job tonight man, sorry if I interrupted your little moment,” he said.

“You too,” Derek responded.

Jackson and Lydia found them next, “we kicked ass tonight, NOW IT’S TIME TO PARTY!!!” Jackson yelled.

The players who heard him over the crowd noise all cheered. Danny ran up behind him and slung an arm over his shoulder, “good game tonight guys.”

“You did good out there Danny, “ Isaac said.

Lydia unhooked herself from Jackson and gave both Isaac and Derek a high five, “great job guys.”

“Thanks Lydia,” Derek said he then looked to Jackson and Danny who were messing around with one another, “hey guys good job out there tonight, you did great.” Both of them gave him a thumbs up, Derek then noticed Boyd with Erica and a few of the other football players just a few feet from them; he ran over to them with Isaac in tow and greeted them all letting them know that they played a great game. They each cheered and a few of the players dispersed and made their way back to the locker room.

“Has anybody seen Scott?” Isaac asked.

One of the players who was heading back to the locker room must have overheard Isaac because they told him, “I just saw him headed back to the locker room.”

Isaac looked to Derek and frowned, “you think he’s still upset about earlier?”

“Probably … go keep an eye on him and make sure he’s okay …” Derek ordered, Isaac nodded and ran off towards the locker room.

Derek rejoined the rest of his teammates for a small celebration and eventually all of them made their way back to the locker room.

Boyd walked alongside Derek as did Jackson, Lydia and Erica followed closely behind them, “we really stuck it to them tonight didn’t we?” Boyd said watching the Casanova Lions football team get on their buses.

“I don’t think they were ready for us,” Jackson said and he and Boyd had begun laughing manically.

“To be honest I expected more out of that …” Derek said as he watched the Casanova buses start to leave, “I got the feeling they weren’t really trying to win the game halfway through the 3^rd quarter.” Derek said.

“You think they were holding back?” Jackson asked.

Derek shrugged, “maybe … that game was … it was too easy.”

“Who gives a fuck though right? We won … we’re still undefeated and we’re about to throw a kickass party!” Jackson announced.

Erica and Lydia both cheered at that, “yeah I guess you’re right.” Derek said.

Jackson smiled and hooked his arms around Derek and Boyd’s shoulders and pulled them towards him “Let’s go get changed and head over to my place so we can throw down."

The each smiled ran towards the locker room, while the girl’s waited for them outside. Boyd and Jackson made their way to their lockers and grabbed their things and hopped in the showers; Derek didn’t immediately follow them, instead he sought out Isaac to see if there was any news on Scott. He found Isaac sat down on the bench in front of his locker with his head between his hands; Derek immediately raced over to see if he was okay, “Isaac … Isaac what happened?” Derek asked.

“It’s Scott … I tried talking to him and he just sort of blew up on me …” Isaac said.

Derek was hoping that Scott might have gotten over his situation at least a little bit but considering the circumstances it was understandable why he was probably still really upset, “what did he say?”

“He said …” Isaac hesitated, “he said he doesn’t really want to talk to me or anyone right now … he said he may need some time away from people, to figure things out.”

Derek sighed and began pacing, “shit … is he still here at school or did he leave?”

“He just left not even five minutes ago … I think I’m gonna go try and find him,” Isaac said standing up off of the bench.

Derek stopped pacing and turned to look at Isaac, “are you sure? We can always just head over to his house tomorrow and try and talk to him.”

Isaac shook his head, “no … you know me Derek, if something’s bothering me it’s bound to sour my mood and I know we have the party but I really need to at least try talking to Scott again before I do anything else.”

Derek nodded, “okay … do what you have to do … if it doesn’t work out let us know.”

Isaac nodded and grabbed his things, “I will … I’ll text one of you if I … or hopefully ‘we’ need a ride over.”

Derek nodded again, “you know I’ll be there to pick you up.”

Isaac smirked, “thanks man … good game tonight.” He said before walking past Derek and exiting the locker room.

Derek eventually got all of his gear off and stripped out of his clothing; he grabbed a towel and some soap from his locker and headed over to the showers. Jackson and Boyd were still present in the shower room as well as a few other members of the football team, Derek hung his towel on the towel rack and walked over to one of the open shower heads and started the shower up. The warm water eased the tension that built up in his muscles and allowed him a chance to fully relax; he didn’t allow himself much time to enjoy the relaxing sensation as he quickly grabbed his soap and started to wash himself up. He spent no more than 5 minutes in the shower before finishing up and grabbing his towel to dry himself off only to change into a new pair of clothes he brought with him.

Boyd and Erica were waiting outside of the locker room for him, “Jackson and Lydia left to go get things ready for the party. I’m not sure where Isaac and Scott are …” Boyd said.

Derek sighed, “Scott left … Isaac said he tried talking to him but it didn’t go so well. He said he was gonna try and catch up with him and try talking to him again … he said he can’t enjoy himself unless this gets settled.”

Boyd nodded, “okay makes sense I guess, Isaac’s always been that way” he said and sighed, “well this is it then … you ready to party?”

Erica swatted Boyd’s, “Boyd at least try and sound like you’re excited about this.”

Boyd snickered, “I am.”

Erica looked to Derek with a mischievous grin plastered on her face, “you ready to party?”

Derek grinned, “Hell yeah let’s do this.”

The three of them left and went to their respective vehicles and headed over to Jackson’s house. By the time they got there the party was already in full swing; apparently while trying to get everything set up the party sprung to life. People were crowded inside the house going wild and there were plenty of people outside of the house making just as much of a ruckus. When Derek was spotted people cheered loudly and raised their drinks to him and chanted his name; Derek lifted up his arms and hollered, “PARTY ON!!” And that earned him another loud cheer from the party goers.

Jackson and Lydia were in the kitchen in the middle of a beer pong game when Derek found them. “How did you manage to get all of this together?”

Jackson turned to him and grinned, “The people or the drinks?”

“Both,” Derek answered.

“Well the people came thanks to word spreading about me throwing a party … and Danny sort of helped out and advertised the party all over his Facebook. The drinks weren’t hard to come by, I just paid some random guy desperate for some money and he got us everything here … there’s beer and just about every kind of hard liquor you can think of, all laced with wolfsbane which is sure to fuck you up.” Jackson said.

Derek grinned and gave him a high five and then left him so that he could continue his game of beer pong. Boyd and Erica were nowhere to be found so Derek could only assume that they had gone to fool around in one of Jackson’s many guest bedrooms; Derek spotted Laura and her friends in Jackson’s massive living room amongst a crowd of people, they were all huddled up close together taking shots and looked to be having a good time. Laura happened to look in Derek’s direction and waved him over frantically, Derek made his way through the crowd and found her in the center of it, “come on you have to take a shot with us Mr. Star player.” Laura coaxed.

Her friends all cheered and went to grab another shot from one of the tables set up in the living room. Laura handed him a drink, “what is this?” Derek asked sniffing the small glass.

Laura shrugged, “bourbon I think.”

“Put that bourbon down, I got us some patron shots!” Laura’s friend said coming over with 3 shots in her hand. She handed one to Derek and another to Laura and held up her glass, “HEY HO BH BOBCATS LET’S GO!” she yelled over the crowd to which they all joined in and cheered with her. Everyone held whatever drink they had up in the air and shouted, “HEY HO BH BOB CATS LET’S GO,” and immediately drank their drink afterward. Derek took the shot of patron and marveled over the burn that it provided as he swallowed it down his throat. He still had the shot of bourbon in his hand and looked to Laura who also had hers and they both shrugged silently saying ‘what the hell?’ and took the shot of bourbon too. Laura cheered excitedly and swung her arms around Derek’s neck and gave him a hug that Derek gladly returned, she eventually let go of him and he excused himself to go venture Jackson’s house in search of a certain someone.

Derek was about to make his way into Jackson’s game room when someone grabbed hold of his arm and stopped him, “hey” the girl said.

Derek recognized the girl from earlier, it was the girl who had gave him the condom from Breaden and offered herself up to him, “uh hi …”

“Brittany …” she said, “Have you found Breaden yet?”

Derek shook his head, “I’ve been looking around for her, I sort of just got here not too long ago.”

Brittany shrugged, “okay well I just wanted to tell you that you played great tonight and my offer still stands … so if you don’t find Breaden you can always meet me back here in 10 minutes and we can have our own little party upstairs.”

Derek smirked, “sounds like a plan …” he said; it didn’t really matter to him what happened at this point he was extremely anxious to get laid and finally let loose sexually.

Brittany winked at him, “I guess I’ll probably see you in a bit then …”

Derek smiled at her as she walked away from him, Derek knew he had a big dopey grin on his face and quickly composed himself and went back to his search for Breaden. It didn’t take long to find her, as soon as he entered Jackson’s game room he heard someone say, “Thought you’d never show up.” He turned to see who said it and there standing next to the pool table was none other than Breaden. She walked over to him with a wicked smirk on her face, “I was starting to think the prize was too much for you to handle and that I might have scared you off.” She said.

“Never …” Derek offered.

She grabbed hold of his hand and led him out of the game room, “come on … let’s go find some place a little quieter so we can talk.”

Derek nodded and allowed her to lead him out of the game room and towards the stairs, they slowly started to climb them as they made their way up people posted on the stairs gave Derek a high five or a thumbs up. Derek looked over the railing of the staircase into the crowd below and spotted Brittany looking up at him. Surprisingly she didn’t look upset, she mouthed the words ‘find me later’ and Derek nodded and mouthed the word, ‘okay.’

It didn’t take long for Breaden to find an unoccupied spare bedroom not that that was any surprise to Derek, Jackson had about 6 or 7 spare bedrooms in his massive house; it was a wonder to Derek why Jackson lived in a big household when he only lived with his mom and dad. Breaden led Derek into the room and closed the door behind him and turned on the lights, Derek recognized the room they were in, he had stayed the night in there plenty of times whenever he stayed the night at Jackson’s. He walked over to the window which looked over the side of the house and looked out into the woods by Jackson’s house, “enjoying the view?” Breaden asked from behind him.

Derek turned around and was surprised to see Breaden stripped down to her under clothes, if he wasn’t blushing before he certainly was now, “I do now …”

Breaden smirked, “good … so?”

“So what?” Derek asked.

Breaden shrugged, “are you just going to stand there or are you going to claim what’s yours?”

Derek smirked and stepped forward into Breaden’s space, his wolf howled it’s disapproval at him but he easily silenced it and focused all of his attention on Breaden. From past experience the way Derek usually initiated his sexual encounters was by getting extremely close to his partner without actually doing anything to them to get a feel for them to see if the chemistry was there. With Breaden the chemistry was there and it was obvious, Derek made an attempt to put his hands on her hips but she quickly pushed his hands down to his side. Derek stepped back confused by the action, “you have to tell me you want me if you want to touch me.” She said.

Derek grinned and stepped back into her personal space and whispered, “I want you …”

“Oh really, how bad?” She asked teasingly.

Derek stuck his head in the crook of her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist and said, “Bad. Really, really bad …”

***Breaden pushed his head back, “then let’s get this jacket off of you.” She said pushing his jacket off, Derek didn’t miss the odd look she gave when she noticed the bandage wrapped around his left arm, “what’s this?” she asked taking his left arm in her hands.

Derek quickly snatched his arm back, “it’s nothing don’t worry about it.” He said grabbing her waist again. He was happy that his mark wasn’t generating that same horrible feeling and due to that he was eager to get the show on the road and experience what it was like to claim someone. He hovered close to Breaden’s face starring directly into her eyes before closing the distance between them and claiming her mouth. At first the kiss was sensational, Derek’s hands were everywhere on Breaden feeling her out and marveling over her beautiful physique. Breaden was of the same mindset as she ran her hands over most of his body and gripped Derek’s bulge through his pants. Their kisses had started to become desperate and heated, usually when things got this hot Derek would stop and step back to avoid doing anything he would regret, sometimes he allowed himself to go further and got into oral play but never any further than that.

He started stripping Breaden of her bra as she stripped him of his shirt and unbuckled his belt and attempted to get his pants off. Before she could Derek reclaimed her mouth and she fought to get his pants off, things were getting physical very fast and Derek couldn’t help but feel a bit scared about actually going all the way. Breaden must have caught the scent of fear coming off of him as she smiled into the kiss, “what’s wrong big boy you scarred you won’t impress? Because you’re doing a very good job already and we haven’t even gotten to the really fun stuff yet.” She said in a low sultry voice.

Derek was relieved to know that she didn’t know that he was technically a virgin and he didn’t want her to know so he did his best to reign in his emotions. He shrugged and held on to her face, “I’ll get over it I’m good.”

Breaden smiled and took one of his hands off of her face and pulled it down towards her stomach until she stopped at the lining of her panties which were noticeably wet. “Take these off and get a taste of what’s yours.” She said.

Derek smirked and pulled at her panties slipping them down inch by inch until he got them to her knees and they just slid right off. Derek marveled at the sight of Breaden’s wet pussy and she knew he liked what he saw, “come to bed,” she said running her hands over his biceps. Derek nodded and Breaden lead him over to the nearby bed, she sat down on it and spread her legs and the minute Derek tried to sit over her but she stopped him, “no big boy, you need to be on your knees right now.”

Derek smirked, Breaden was very bossy apparently and Derek did not like that in any given circumstance especially when it came to sexual pleasures as he liked to be the one dominating the situation. But this was his first time going all the way and he wanted to make sure he did everything right so he bowed out and listened to what she said and got down on his knees in front of her. He knew what she wanted him to do, this part of sex was not new to him as he has done it plenty of times with plenty of people and he knew he was good at it; Breaden wrapped her legs around his shoulders and put one hand in his hair and said, “have at it,” before she pushed his head down towards her pussy.

Derek kissed around the edges and teased her gaining a few soft moans from her; he then started licking her opening and tongued his way around her until he found her sweet spot. Derek was so far gone on the experience he wondered why he hadn’t done anything with Breaden before; he figured that she probably offered herself to him during a time when he still didn’t know who is soulmate was but none of that mattered right now. He put all his focus into making her feel good and he was doing a damn good job as her moans became excessively louder and she said his name masked in pure pleasure. Derek attacked her sweet spot licking away at it and watched as she arched her back and struggled to compose herself from the pleasure he was bringing her. Her hand eventually tightened in his hair and he growled a little and continued going at it, he soon realized that he was so focused on her that he hadn’t allowed himself any time to focus on himself and enjoy this experience as a whole.***

He allowed himself to taste her wetness and savor her flavor but when he did he noticed something was off, she tasted sour; so sour Derek was surprised he hadn’t tasted it when he first started going down on her. Something wasn’t right Derek licked at her once more and the same sour taste filled his mouth seconds later the pain Derek felt from his left arm earlier in the cafeteria before he kissed Breaden had come back in full force and shot through his body. He recoiled back and hit the wall and gave a muffled grunt, Breaden shot up off the bed panting heavily, “Derek … Derek what’s wrong?”

Derek held onto his left arm, he took one glance at it and noticed black veins pulsating from underneath the bandage where his mark was. The pain that now coursed through his body was excruciating and almost unbearable Derek was uncertain at what he should do he sought to utilize his werewolf healing hoping that would cure whatever was happening to him but when he tried to console his wolf nothing happened. Instead he was met with his wolf’s rage, he felt it as the shift threatened to take over him, “Derek … Derek you’re scarring me, what’s wrong?” Breaden asked frantically.

Breaden attempted to touch him and he swung his arm at her to ward her back, “don’t … don’t get too close … I-I …” next thing he knew he was having a coughing fit until something black spilled out of his mouth.

“Oh my God, DEREK!” Breaden shrieked in fear.

Derek couldn’t get a handle on himself no matter how hard he tried, his wolf and whatever was happening to him were working against him and they were winning. Next thing he knew he started seeing images of piercing green eyes flashed before him, the same eyes he thought he saw earlier in the day, “why?” he growled.

“Derek we need to get you to the hospital,” Breaden said. Derek noticed she had gotten her under clothes back on. He had another coughing fit and coughed up more of the black stuff, “Derek what is this stuff?” Breaden asked him.

Derek shook his head and tried to speak but couldn’t find his voice, Breaden made another attempt to touch him she placed a hand on his right arm and as soon as she did it felt like his skin was on fire and he lost all control then and took a swipe at her with his claws extended, growling viciously at her. She jumped back and screamed at the top of her lungs, luckily Derek didn’t catch any part of her but he was close, “Derek please you have to calm down …” Breaden pleaded.

There was no calming down though, Derek had lost all control of himself and he was on the verge of blacking out and succumbing to his wolf’s control. With the last ounce of his will Derek mustered up the strength to stand and he immediately darted for the window and thrashed it open and jumped out. He made it over the wall that surrounded Jackson’s house and made a break for the nearby woods; the last thing he remembered before succumbing to his wolf was Breaden calling after him frantically as he ran off and disappeared behind the tree line.

Scott's POV

Scott was miserable; everything had gone from perfect to shit in just a matter of a few hours. Allison wasn’t responding to any of his messages and from what he could tell she might have blocked his phone number from her cell phone as every time he tried to call her, her phone went straight to voicemail. Aside from that he could hardly feel Allison through their soul bond it was as if she almost completely cut him off and the feeling was literally heart breaking. Scott hunched over and gasped as he walked along the side of the road back toward his house, he was exhausted mentally and physically. Allison wasn’t the only cause of his distress; his best friend, the person who knew him better than anyone, the person he grew up with, his brother wanted nothing to do with him, “you’re actually a piece of shit and I hate you,” Stiles words repeated in his head over and over like a broken record.

It was one thing to deal with Allison not wanting to be involved with him, he could at least feel her through their bond but Stiles was not bound to him in anyway; Stiles could walk out of his life and stay out of it if he wanted to, leaving Scott high and dry. The thought pained him, he never expected their relationship would crumble; they were two peas in a pod, always there for one another through anything. But that changed, ‘why had things gone so wrong?’ he wondered to himself. But he knew the answer to that question without needing to think about it, it was because of him, he had done so many off handed things to Stiles that eventually Stiles grew to hate him.

His wolf whined from within at the thought of Stiles, Scott heard a lot about packs after he became an Alpha; generally Alpha’s form their packs after they graduate high school sometimes they do it before without even realizing it, bonds can easily form between two close friends and with that the pack is created. Stiles was his best friend, Stiles was part of his pack, they were probably pack before Scott became an Alpha, pack mates trust each other with their lives and are willing to do anything to see the pack succeed. Stiles did that, he trusted Scott with his life and he was willing to do anything to see that he was happy and Scott knew that and what he did for Stiles in return was turn his back on him. Now the bond between them was gone and given the circumstances it may be impossible to ever rebuild that bond.

‘Why didn’t he do something about Derek and his friends when he found out they were bullying Stiles?’ Because he wanted to seem cool and fit in.

‘Why did he start ignoring Stiles?’ Because Stiles wasn’t liked by his new friends so he put on a front and pretended he didn’t care about him.

‘Why did he tell someone what Stiles does on New Year’s Day, why didn’t he tell them Stiles doesn’t play with his mother’s bones to get some sick satisfaction from doing so?’ Because he didn’t want to seem lame and spoil the fun.

Scott had so many questions for himself that he could easily answer but the one that stood out more than any was ‘When did he become such a shitty person?’ Was it when he started hanging out with Jackson, Derek and his friends or was he always a shitty person?

“Scott!!” Someone called from behind him dragging him from his thoughts. Scott turned to see Isaac running up behind him, he was still dressed in his football uniform excluding the pads.

“What are you doing here? I thought Jackson was throwing a party?” Scott said.

Isaac finally caught up with him and caught his breath before he spoke, “I wanted to check on you and make sure you’re okay …”

Scott huffed, “I told you in the locker room I’m fine, now leave me alone.”

“Scott wait …” Isaac hesitated, “listen … I know you’re upset because of Allison and I just wanted to say … sorry, I know she wasn’t at the game but that doesn’t mean she won’t eventually come around.”

It irritated Scott immensely that Isaac felt the only reason he was upset was because of Allison, “Allison will talk to me eventually … I know that but Stiles … he won’t.”

Isaac visibly deflated and hung his head low, “I … I’m sorry about him too.”

Scott rolled his eyes and scoffed, “no you’re not … if you were sorry you would be telling him that and not me.” He turned and started to walk away from Isaac not wanting to hear a response from him.

He walked for a good ten minutes and was maybe another five minutes from his house when he heard Isaac call, “Scott …”

Scott spun around and glared at him angrily but didn’t bother saying anything to him; he turned back around and continued making his way back to his house. Isaac followed him all the way back to his front porch, he was about to open up his front door when he heard him say his name again from his front lawn, “Scott can we please just talk?” Isaac asked.

Scott turned back and said, “I don’t want to talk Isaac I just want to be left alone.”

Isaac shrugged, “I don’t think being alone is the best thing for you right now especially given everything you’re dealing with.”

“Everything he’s dealing with is the least of his concerns …” his mother said from behind him. He was surprised at her appearance as he hadn’t heard her open the front door, he didn’t even notice her car parked in the driveway.

“Mo-Mom … what-what are you doing here?” he asked.

His mother folded her arms and scowled at him, “I worked the day shift today and you’ll be surprised to know who I ran to at the hospital … you wanna take a guess?”

Scott had no idea who she was referring to so he simply shrugged, “I don’t know …”

“Stiles …” she said gauging his reaction, “you remember him don’t you?”

Scott felt himself clamming up he didn’t need to scent the air to know that his mom was pissed, “ye-yeah …”

His mom flinched in mock surprise, “really … because I heard that you haven’t exactly been trying to keep in touch with him in fact I heard the same excuse you gave me about why he wasn’t coming around anymore; so I’m going to give you the opportunity to come clean to me right now and don’t you dare lie to me.”

Scott froze, so she knew the truth, but that wasn’t what worried Scott it was the fact that Stiles was at the hospital that worried him, “Stiles was at the hospital?”

“Yes not that you care,” she said and Scott had to admit that hurt him more than anything, “now tell me what exactly happened between you and Stiles.”

Scott couldn’t find his voice, he knew everything he had done but he couldn’t voice it to his mother and face her disappointment; “Oh so you don’t want to speak now?” his mother asked when he didn’t respond.

“Mom I-I“ he tried but she held her finger up at him and cut him off.

“No I don’t want to hear it, if you can’t tell me what happened then I’ll say it for you. You turned your back on him!” She said relentlessly, “You allowed him to be harmed by people that you know and you didn’t do anything to stop them!” She walked out past him and then spoke to Isaac, “are you one of them? Did you do something Stiles?” she asked, Scott turned to see Isaac backing away.

“Ms. McCall please this is all a big misunderstanding …” he said frantically.

“So you did do something to him?” She asked as she approached him, Isaac held his hands up defensively but did not answer, “I’m assuming that’s a yes …” she said. Scott could tell by the hitch in her voice that she was extremely upset, “I don’t think you know this Isaac but Stiles is like a son to me … I watched him grow up with Scott and I know that he is a good kid and there is nothing he could have done to you or anyone else that could warrant any kind of ill will towards him. If you were one of the people that sought to harm him in any way I WANT YOU OFF MY PROPERTY! I’m serious Isaac, if you did anything to him, don’t ever show your face around here or I swear to God I will have you arrested and thrown in jail!” She threatened causing Isaac flinch back.

“Ms. McCall please it was-“ Isaac tried.

“Did you do something to him?” She asked.

The look of defeat that Isaac had was a clear answer to anyone, he put his hands down and hung his head low and whispered, “I-I’m sorry … I didn’t know-“

“Did you do something to him?!” she asked again, Scott didn’t miss the slight nod Isaac gave her. “GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!” Scott heard his mother roar letting out her inner Alpha, Isaac turned tail and ran off and before Scott knew it his mother was brushing past him back into the house. “Get inside now …” she ordered and Scott obliged. “So where were we? Oh that’s right you were going to finish explaining to me what exactly happened between you and Stiles …” she said waiting for his response.

“I messed up …” he murmured.

His mother nodded, “yeah you did, you messed up big time but that doesn’t explain what exactly happened between you and Stiles.”

“I …” he hesitated, “I made the lacrosse team and got to meet Allison … and we started hanging out and because of that Lydia was around and Jackson warmed up to me and I started hanging out with them … and eventually … eventually we started hanging out with Derek, Isaac, Boyd and Erica and sometimes Danny.” He started recalling the events that caused the rift between him and Stiles, “at first Jackson didn’t like Stiles because he had a crush on Lydia and everyone knew it. Because of that Jackson usually messed around with Stiles I think to probably ward him away from pursuing Lydia … there was a time he used to mess with me because I think he thought I liked Lydia too but that stopped obviously. Jackson hated Stiles even more after he thought Stiles was trying to steal Lydia from him even though he knew Lydia was Jackson’s soulmate. Jackson convinced some of the guys that Stiles was gunning for Lydia regardless of their soulmate status and they thought he was despicable for it and they started to mess with him …”

Scott frowned as he recalled the events, “I heard some of the things that they did to him and … and I didn’t want to say anything to them about it because I just wanted them to accept me and it didn’t sound like they were doing anything too bad to him. Eventually I found out that things got worse for Stiles especially when Derek got involved but … I still didn’t do anything …”

“And instead you went and spread some sick rumor that he plays with his mother’s bones in the cemetery on the day of her death,” his mother said.

Scott’s eyes widened in horror, “No … no … I just … I just told someone that he goes to the cemetery to see his mom on New Year’s Day because someone said they saw him there.” Scott explained.

He watched as his mom scrutinized him, it was clear she did not believe what he was saying, “then explain to me why he is convinced that you were the one to spread that rumor.”

“Because he confronted me today and when he brought it up I didn’t exactly try to defend myself.” He explained.

“You’re not telling me everything … I know you’re not; there’s something that you’re holding back.” It amazed Scott how easily his mother could read him, “Tell me how the rumor started.” She said.

“After I told the person why Stiles was at the cemetery they made up the rumor that he plays with his moms bones … I didn’t … I didn’t try and convince them otherwise …” Scott said hanging his head low.

His mother sighed and grabbed the bridge of her nose, “of course not … all because you wanted to fit in right? I bet you laughed at that horrible lie didn’t you?” Scott didn’t answer her but somehow he knew that she knew the answer to that question. “You know you might not have made up the rumor but you were part of the reason why it was spread in the first place so you might as well have made it up yourself.” She said.

“Mom …” he tried.

“Do you understand how horrible that is? You knew his mother, you cared for his mother, you were there when she died, you saw how it affected him and his father … it even affected you. The fact that you would let someone make up something so horrible and not say anything about it stuns me and it hurts me. It hurts me because you know when she was alive we were close like family; just as I think of Stiles as my son she thought of you as hers and you know that …” she said and Scott felt as if he had just taken a knife to the heart. “I wish you could have seen the look on his father’s face when he found out, I wish you could have seen how hurt he was, I wish you would have saw the way he looked at me after he found out. I never thought I would be the target of such disdain from that man … from John.”

Scott could only imagine how pissed off Stiles dad must have been, “Mom I didn’t mean-“

“No shut up Scott, if you didn’t mean for this to happen then it wouldn’t have happened … I raised you better than this. I raised you to respect everyone around you and treat everyone fairly, I raised you to stand by the things you believe in and I thought I was starting to raise you to be a good Alpha but apparently I was wrong …”

“Mom …” Scott whispered.

“I did not raise you to turn your back on people that love and care for you, I did not raise you to think it was okay to change yourself into someone you’re not just to fit in; I DID NOT RAISE YOU TO EMBARRASS ME.” The slap across his face was sudden and something he hadn’t expected, his mom did not falter and pressed on, “You willingly allowed your best friend to be tormented and were partially responsible for that torment.”

“I NEVER HURT STILES!” Scott said defensively, “Not intentionally … mom please you have to believe me I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“Scott I told you if you didn’t mean for this to happen then it wouldn’t have happened.” She said shaking her head at him disappointingly, “and you did hurt Stiles Scott, he told me that he told you what your friends were doing to him and he said you didn’t do anything about it … you knew whatever it is they were doing to him and you stood by and did nothing … you were supposed to be his best friend Scott. If you put anyone else in that situation I’m pretty sure they would be hurt … how would Allison feel if you let her go through what Stiles went through? How would she feel knowing that you were doing nothing for her? It would hurt her and you know it would, like I said it would hurt anyone put into that situation …”

Scott felt like the walls around him were crumbling and his world was falling apart, his mother’s example hit him in such a way that he felt he truly understood how Stiles must feel towards him; betrayed, hollow, numb, ashamed and hurt were a few feelings that came to mind. Scott fell to his knees in front of his mother and wailed he couldn’t imagine a way Stiles would ever forgive him for what he had done. It was beginning to feel more and more prevalent that Stiles was truly lost to him and there was no getting him back. He could hear his wolf whine from within, “I’m sorry … I’m sorry” he repeated between sobs and he was truly sorry and he meant it; if he could take back everything that happened and do it differently he would.

His mother knelt down next to him and rubbed circles on his back, “Scott … we can fix this but you have to be willing to make some changes … and you have to be willing to be patient.”

He wiped away the tears that covered his face and looked to his mother and nodded, “okay … what do I have to do?”

“We’re going to start by having you go upstairs to take a shower because you smell awful … after that you’re going to explain to me in detail everything that you know about what was happening to Stiles.” His mother said.

He nodded, “okay …” he picked himself up and walked towards the stairs.

“Oh and Scott …” his mother called and he glanced back at her, “you’re grounded until I say otherwise and I do not want you hanging out with whoever was involved with mistreating Stiles, do you understand me?”

That wasn’t much of a sacrifice to him at this point; he was already planning to avoid Derek and everyone else after the fiasco earlier. He nodded, “yes mam” and continued up to his room with a newfound conviction to somehow get his best friend back.

Chapter Text

Derek's POV

Pain was all he felt as he laid somewhere in the woods, every time he took a breath it felt like a thousand needles were stabbing his lungs. He couldn’t recall how he wound up where he was and he didn’t know how much time had gone by but it was still night time and he wasn’t sure if it was the same night or a different night. He tried lifting his arm over his face that’s when he noticed that the ace bandage that he used to cover his mark was now clinging to his wrist. It didn’t matter how dark it was he could still make out the outlining of his mark, it seemed more prominent than ever; Derek noticed that the black veins pulsating from the mark had disappeared and relief washed over him. ‘What the hell is happening to me?’ he wondered.

He looked around and checked his surroundings he couldn’t necessarily tell where he was, he decided to try and sit up to see if maybe he could see a little better from a sitting position but the second he tried to lift himself up he was struck with a dizzy spell and fell back to the ground. “That was a bad idea, “ he said. He wanted to take a few deep breaths to see if that would help but considering how badly it hurt him to breathe he decided against it. “Shit,” he said, “why? Why is this happening to me?” he asked as he scrubbed a hand over his face. He laid in the same spot for what felt like hours, eventually breathing didn’t hurt as bad and he managed to sit himself up without collapsing back to the ground.

Now that he was sitting up he took a quick look around and noticed that he had gone back to the area he went to before after Stiles presented. It was his favorite spot in the preserve and a place he came to often in distress and apparently his wolf felt the same, ‘at least we agree on something,’ he thought. He checked himself over and noticed that his pants had ripped a little over his left thigh other than that he seemed okay. He grabbed the ace bandage hanging from his wrist and opted to rewrap his mark but as soon as he started to wrap it up he stopped and gasped, “what the fuck?” he asked as he examined the inside of his wrist. He now had a clear view of his mark and it looked like it had doubled in size and was now almost the length of his forearm, “no … no, no, no what the fuck?” he panicked.

Luckily for him the ace bandage would still be able to cover the mark, the only problem was it was going to extend over a wider area and draw more attention. That didn’t matter to Derek so long as it stayed covered and no one learned who his soulmate was. He quickly began wrapping his arm back up, once he got that squared away he checked his surroundings again just to make sure no one might have followed him. He took the opportunity to try and stand up, it was hard at first, the pain he was experiencing hadn’t completely gone away but it had subsided enough that is was bearable for Derek. He slowly lifted himself up grunting when small jolts of pain hit him, eventually he managed to stand.

He stretched out his arms and legs and rolled his shoulders trying to get whatever kinks he had out, he opted to take a step forward when he noticed that his belt buckle and fly were still undone; he quickly righted himself and moved forward. The first step forward was the hardest, trying to walk turned out to be harder than trying to stand up but it eventually became easier with each step he took. From where he was in the preserve he was about a half hour from Jackson’s place and if it was still the same night then the party should still be going on if not dying down depending on the time. Luckily he still had his cell phone in his pocket, he reached in and grabbed it, the light from the screen nearly blinded him but his eyes eventually adjusted, he looked at the time and noticed that it was 12:40 a.m. and that it was now Saturday. He breathed a sigh of relief at that; it was technically still the same night. The next thing he noticed was that he had eight new messages; he looked to see who they were from and noticed that two were from Jackson, three was from Laura, and both Erica and Boyd had texted him and lastly he had a message Isaac. He checked the two from Jackson first:

Jackson: Bro more than a few people can hear you and whoever you’re with upstairs, good job man I’m happy for you.

Jackson: Trust me when I say you have gained yourself more than a few interested party guest.

He checked the message from Laura next:

Laura: is baby bro hooking up with someone? DID YOU FIND YOUR SOULMATE????

Laura: Derek, what the fuck are you doing?!

Laura: Hello! ANSWER ME!!!

Erica and Boyd’s messages were both similar:

Erica: I’m pretty sure we are in the room next door to yours and holy shit Derek, what are you doing to her? You should consider having a threesome with me and Boyd <3

Boyd: Jesus man either the girl you’re with is very sensitive or you’re just very good at sex, either way I’m happy for you and don’t lie and say it’s not you, you happen to be in the room that isn’t soundproof.

Derek groaned, ‘how am I going to explain this,’ he wondered. He checked the last message from Isaac and he noticed that it was sent about ten minutes ago:

Isaac: We probably won’t hear from Scott for a while … if not ever. His mom blew up and is super pissed, she said not to come around anymore; I’m just going to head home and call it a night, have fun.

Derek grunted, “Shit,” he said; the night couldn’t get any worst. He was thankful that no one had texted him asking him where he was, so he could assume Breaden hadn’t said anything when he left. “Thank God …” he said looking to the sky, his main priority was getting back to the party he could worry about everything else after the fact.

Stiles POV

Stiles sat in his room with the book Deaton had given him placed in front of him on his desk, he wasn’t sure how long he was sitting there. When he got home the sun was still out, now it was pitch black outside; about an hour or two ago Stiles had been skimming through the book Deaton had given him, going over every little detail making sure that he memorized every single piece of information the book had to offer but that stopped when he noticed his right arm felt a little funny, when he took his hoodie off the first thing he noticed was that there were black veins pulsating on his right arm. He removed his ace bandage and revealed his mark; it was growing right before his eyes.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been starring at his arm but eventually his veins settled and the black color running through his veins had faded, his mark was now almost as big his forearm. ‘What happened to cause this? Was this natural? Did this happen to other people?’ Stiles asked himself but he had no answers. He stayed starring at his arm for another ten minutes before he finally pulled himself together and looked to his computer for answers. He hoped that Google would be able to answer his questions for him, he typed in ‘My soul mark got bigger and I don’t know why?’ Unfortunately for him no results came up, so he was off to a bad start in figuring out what was going on. He then typed in ‘black veins coming from my soul mark’ and he was happy when he found a few results that described other people having gone through the same thing he did. What he found out was that the black veins that come from the soul mark are a side effect of a rejected mating. That was the most common answer Stiles found, everywhere he looked he read the same answer, there were some websites that said extreme pain and vomiting were also a side effect of this happening but Stiles didn’t experience any of that.

He was a little satisfied with what he had found but then he came across something that confused him, one website gave the most detailed description of what actually happens; ‘the black veins coming from the soul mark are a result of a rejected mating. This only happens with individuals who are soul bound and have completed their mating ceremony; usually one of the soulmates has died and the soulmate left behind attempts to mate with someone that isn’t their soulmate, in this case their were counterpart rejects the mating, this rejections causes the following symptoms: black veins coming from their soul mark, extreme pain, vomiting. In extreme cases it may cause an individual to go feral or even die.’ Stiles wasn’t mated to Derek at all and their bond was definitely never solidified but the website claims it only happens in soul bound couples. ‘Maybe it’s just a typo or something,’ Stiles thought to himself.

He read over the passage again and realized that the reason the black veins showed up was probably because Derek was trying to mate with someone. Stiles was well aware that Derek was not happy being his soulmate, the same applied to Stiles, he hated the fact that he was Derek’s soulmate and if he could change that he would do it in a heartbeat. One thing that surprised Stiles was that it was possible for someone’s were counterpart to reject a mating, was that the case with Derek? He hoped so and he hoped the bastard suffered greatly because of it. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, ‘does this mean that I can’t mate with anyone else except him?’ he wondered. He remembered Deaton said that he and his wolf were of one mind and wondered if his wolf would be against him mating with someone that wasn’t Derek. He shook his head and cleared his mind of those thoughts, he’d rather not think of Derek and mating at all.

He took the ace bandage he used to cover his mark and rewrapped his arm ensuring that he covered his entire soul mark. He then walked over to his drawer and pulled out a long sleeve t-shirt and changed into it, he figured the long sleeves would help to keep the ace bandage hidden from his father’s eyes.

To get his mind off of Derek and mating he looked back to the book Deaton had given him and gone back to reading it; so far the information he gathered from the book was that over time there have been a total of 19 documented male Omegas that have presented within the last 2000 years including the two male Omegas that were taken by Aucune Anomalie. Their experiences were all documented in the book and they were very similar to Stiles experience only they all had purple eyes while Stiles had green eyes. The book described how the Omegas of the old ages were all seen as prized possessions and they were cherished beyond words, both male and female alike. Apparently back then Omegas were a lot rarer than they were in present time, at least that’s what Stiles deduced from reading the book. He came upon information on green eyed Omegas as he read further through the book, the number of documented green eyed Omegas was less than half of the amount of documented male Omegas, that number being 8. The first documented green eyed Omega presented itself 1800 years ago. It was a woman who eventually developed the ability to control the weather, 200 years later the next green eyed Omega came to be and had the ability to control water.

100 years after that two more presented, one with the ability to heal any wound or illness; the other had the ability to control fire. The final four were the ones that Deaton had told him about when he went in for his hospital visit and soon he will be added to the book.

“Stiles didn’t you hear me calling you?” His father said from the doorway.

Stiles startled a little, “Dad … dad hey whe-when did you get home?”

His father sighed, “I’ve been home for ten minutes, haven’t you heard me calling you?”

Stiles stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the door, “no-no sorry I was kind of distracted by the book Deaton gave me.”

His father moved out of his way so that he could walk out of the room and towards the stairs, “oh I almost forgot about that, how is that coming? Have you found anything interesting?” his father asked as he followed him to the stairs.

Stiles shrugged, “it’s coming along great actually, still got a lot I need to read up on though.”

His father nodded, “I’m sure you do but that’s going to have to wait, right now we need to eat and discuss what’s been going on at that school of yours.”

Stiles sighed as he made his way down the stairs, he had to admit that he wasn’t exactly looking forward to having that particular conversation with his dad, “okay …” he said as he made his way into the kitchen with his father in tow. Stiles eyed the table and saw that his dad picked up food from the diner, “dad what is this?”

“Two double bacon cheeseburgers and fries …” his dad said quickly.

“Dad,” Stiles whined, “this … this isn’t healthy for you, you can’t eat stuff like this.”

“Stiles I don’t want to hear anything about what is and isn’t healthy for me right now, I told you before that I have been through enough in one day to deserve a nice juicy burger and I meant it.” His dad said sternly.

Stiles sighed, “Fine whatever, you can have this one cheat day but you have to go back to eating healthy tomorrow no questions asked.”

His father waved him off, “yeah fine whatever … now let’s talk about what’s been going on in school.”

Stiles tried not to make eye contact with his dad in that moment; he knew he was eventually going to have to explain everything that was going on in school that didn’t mean that he was necessarily prepared to have the conversation. “Oh-okay …”

His dad sat down at the table and grabbed the bag of food and pulled out his burger and fries and got himself situated, “alright well I’m waiting on you.”

“I … I don’t-I don’t know where to begin.” Stiles stammered.

His father sighed in front of him, “Well first you may want to sit down at the table and get your food, and then you can explain to me the things that have been happening to you at that school while we eat.”

“You-you sure you don’t want to maybe wait until after we’re done eating?” Stiles tried.

His father shrugged, “I’m sure you’ll manage just fine telling me everything while we eat; besides I’m starving I don’t think I could hold out another five minutes.” He said, “Sit down let’s talk.”

Stiles nodded and took a seat at the table but he didn’t make a grab for his food, “okay.”

His dad was going to town on the burger and fries he had gotten, “okay so what’s the deal?” He asked while chewing his food.

“Well …” he started, “it all started about a year ago …”

His father stopped mid chew and looked at Stiles incredulously, “but that was damn near the start of school.”

Stiles nodded, “yeah um it was … so about a year ago Jackson started making fun of me and doing things to me and it progressively got worst over time.”

His father put what little of his burger he had left down and whipped his mouth off with a napkin, “Stiles I asked you not to leave out anything in my expense, I want you to tell me everything.”

Stiles sighed, “fine, Jackson started making fun of me because he found out I had a crush on Lydia Martin who is his soulmate and at the time I didn’t know that.”

“Oh so that’s why you stopped obsessing over her,” his father said.

“What? No dad I didn’t obsess over her …” Stiles said.

His dad shrugged and took a bite of his burger, “I recall a time when you would manage to sneak her into nearly every conversation we had. You remember the time when I had gotten off work early and we had that Star Wars movie marathon and Anakin and Padme had just gotten married and you went on a rant about how they were star crossed lovers and it pissed you off that their story was so tragic?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah maybe …”

His dad cocked an eyebrow, “do you remember saying that Lydia looks similar to Padme and you looked similar to Anakin?”

Stiles gaped, “that was … that was a joke dad.”

His father shrugged, “You sounded pretty serious.”

“I wasn’t,” Stiles lied and continued on, “So anyway Jackson started getting in my face calling me a ‘freak of nature,’ a ‘worthless piece of trash,’ ‘defect,’ the list goes on and he sort of depantsed me in the cafeteria in front of a few people. He used to say and do things to Scott too when this all started and I’m guessing it was because he was friends with me but that’s no longer an issue and it hasn’t been for a while. Anyway Lacrosse tryouts happened and I guess Jackson thought I was trying out to steal Lydia away from him or something-“

“Why would he think you were trying to steal her away by trying out for Lacrosse?” His father cut in.

Stiles shrugged, “because Lydia was at the tryouts and I didn’t know she would even be there.”

His father nodded, “can I ask why you even tried out for Lacrosse? I never knew you to be interested in that sport,” his father said.

Stiles nodded, “I wasn’t, the only reason I went to the tryouts was because Scott needed a wingman … I guess he knew that Allison was going to be at tryouts and he wanted to tryout to impress her. Anyway Allison and Lydia are best friends I guess and both of them were in the bleachers sitting next to each other watching us tryout and Scott kept starring at Allison and I kept wondering what he was looking at so I would look in the same direction and I guess that Jackson got the wrong idea and he got mad and he sort of threatened me-“

“He threatened you?!” His father asked struggling to remain calm.

Stiles nodded, “yeah he did …”

“What did he say?” His father badgered

“He-he” Stiles stammered, “He said that if I went anywhere near Lydia he would tear me to shreds and leave what’s left of me for you to find.”

His father punched the table after hearing that, causing Stiles to jump in his seat, “damn it Stiles, why didn’t you tell me this when it happened?”

Stiles shrugged, “I-I don’t know … I didn’t think he meant anything by it,” he said.

His father held the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Go on.”

Stiles nodded, “So yeah, Lacrosse tryouts happened, I didn’t make the team for obvious reasons being that one I sucked and two I was practically beat up on the field by Jackson; but Scott he-he made the team and everything changed and got progressively worst from there. The week after lacrosse tryouts I noticed people around school looking at me funny and laughing when I would walk by, that’s when I heard about the rumor going around school; apparently I was some kind of freak that couldn’t present. The next week after dealing with people staring at me and berating me at every wake and turn, I was shoved into my locker by Jackson; the people that were in the hallway that saw it laughed at me … I’m pretty sure Lydia got a kick out of it too.”

“Where were the teacher’s when this was going on?” His father asked.

Stiles thought back to when the initial incident happened, “I’m not sure I think that was one of the few times that there wasn’t any teachers around to actually witness the incident.”

His dad balled his fist up and grunted, “Fine, go on, continue.”

Stiles sighed, “Okay but just a forewarning it’s gonna get kind of bad from here on out kay?” His father nodded in response, he fixed Stiles with a cold hard expression and waited for him to continue, “Well … after that initial incident nothing happened for maybe a week or two and then out of nowhere this guy named Isaac started shoving me and calling me a ‘loser’ sometimes he would go with ‘worthless piece of trash’ but that was only for special occasions I guess.” Stiles said trying to make light humor.

His father wasn’t having any of it as his face was completely devoid of emotion, “This is hardly the time to try and make jokes Stiles.”

Stiles nodded, “Oh-okay maybe you’re right, anyway that same week … or no … maybe it was about a month later Boyd started shoving me in the hallways and getting in on the torment that Isaac and Jackson were putting me through; I think there was also another rumor going around about me, I can’t really remember what it was though. Um so around this time is when Jackson and his friends started messing with my locker and putting stuff in it so I eventually stopped using my locker and I carried all my stuff to every one of my classes. The shoving and the name calling kept going on and on and then around this time is when this guy named Derek came into the mix and he started messing with me too.” Stiles paused after the last sentence, mentioning Derek’s name made him feel so repulsed and disgusted that he was prepared to vomit and then punch something.

“So-so about halfway through the year, a little after I was able to drive on my own and take the jeep I started going to school super early that way I could be in class before they were able to do anything to me,” Stiles said looking down at the table as he recalled his memories.

“Yeah I was wondering about that, usually you didn’t really care when you got to school so long as you were on time, I just figured that maybe you were doing some extracurricular activities or something,” His father mentioned.

Stiles shrugged, “I wish that was the case but it wasn’t, the real reason was because for about three weeks straight Jackson, Isaac and sometimes Boyd and Derek and some of his other friends kept bothering me and they wouldn’t leave me alone. They usually got to me in the morning just before class started so I thought the best way to eliminate that scenario from happening was to change the time I went to school … and it worked, for the most part.”

His father clasped his hands and leaned forward on the table, “you said that they were messing with you, what exactly were they doing?”

Stiles gnawed at his bottom lip and avoided looking into his father’s eyes, “sometimes they would just … push me around and call me names, other times they would … hit me-“

“They hit you?!” His father interjected.

Stiles sighed, “yeah sometimes they would gang up on me and punch me a few times but usually they just shoved me around or called me something stupid.”

“So you’re saying they jumped you?” His father cut in.

“No-no not like that they would just sort of smack me around a little.” Stiles said.

His father growled, “That doesn’t make it any better! Who was doing this? I want names other than Jackson!”

Stiles gasped, going through the memories of everything he’s dealt with was starting to get to him, “dad …”

“NO EXCUSES!” His father roared, “I want names Stiles, I specifically want to know who has been hurting you.”

Stiles breath hitched but he managed to continue without faltering, “Obviously Jackson and Isaac sometimes and I’m pretty sure Derek and Boyd did it once before too.”

Stiles managed to look up at his father and the look his father was giving him made a cold shiver run down his spine. He had never seen his father so angry in his life, it was worse than the way he appeared at the hospital when he addressed Melissa. His eyes had shifted to their alpha form and the expression he wore mirrored a mask that was capable of scaring any living being, “noted, continue.” He said growled.

“So-so around this time is when me and Scott started drifting apart, he uh … he started hanging out with them more and more as the months went on and he sort of forgot about me,“ he said; he could feel tears stinging the corners of his eyes but he refused to shed any tears over Scott, he knew that it wasn’t his fault that their friendship had went to waste. “He uh, he sort of got with the girl that he was trying to impress at the Lacrosse tryouts, turns out they’re actually soulmates.” His father didn’t seem to care about that at all, “So uh … I uh … I tried to tell him about the things they did to me more than once, most of the time I wasn’t really direct in my approach but I knew he knew what I was getting at. Eventually I just up and told him that they were messing with me and he said he was going to talk to them and when he did he came back and told me that they were just messing around and that I shouldn’t take it seriously.”

His father nodded, “Do you think he knew they weren’t just messing around?”

Stiles hated to admit it but there was no way he could lie about it and he wasn’t willing to lie for Scott anymore, “yes.” His father nodded again and said nothing he held the same cold expression, “so anyway um after that I remember there was one time after school when Jackson and a few guys from the Lacrosse team, who I don’t know, cornered me and they sort of beat me up worse than usual.”

“Why?” His father asked.

Stiles gnawed at his bottom lip again, “because I didn’t acknowledge Jackson when I was leaving.”

His father took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “noted … go on.”

“It was a week or two after that when I ran into Jackson again in between classes and he said he had a present for me and he wound punching me a few times in the chest. This was probably the first time I realized that a teacher had witnessed what happened and didn’t do anything about it. My teacher Mr. Bolin was right behind Jackson when this happened and instead of sending him to the office or writing him up he just sort of gave Jackson a pat on the back and told him to stay out of trouble and let him leave … he didn’t even bother helping me up off the floor and said I needed to get up because I was already making a scene.” Stiles struggled.

He heard something scraping along the table and that’s when he realized his father’s once blunt human nails were now large black sharp claws; “you said his name was Mr. Bolin?” Stiles nodded yes and his father replied with, “noted, go on.”

Stiles shrugged and swiped a hand over his face trying to pull himself together, “after that I pretty much dealt with the same kind of treatment from them throughout the rest of the school year; Mr. Bolin ignored whatever situation I was dealing with involving Jackson, my Biology teacher always gave Derek a pass when he was messing with me even if he was embarrassing me in front of the entire class or stealing my homework-“

“What was your Biology teacher’s name?” His father asked.

“Mr. Clark,” Stiles said and his father nodded, “there were a few other teacher’s that I know who saw something happen to me and did nothing but I don’t know their names.”

“If I were to place them all in front of you, would you know who ignored what was going on with you?” His father asked.

Stiles nodded, “yeah … “

His father nodded to him again, “okay good, continue.”

Stiles shook his head and sighed, “It’s pretty much the same thing up until the end of my Freshman year, Jackson and his friends kept messing with me and spreading rumors about me and I thought that summer vacation would have changed things but apparently I was wrong.”

“When did you hear the rumor that involved you and visiting your mother’s grave?” His dad asked.

“First day back from summer vacation …” Stiles said.

“Do you know any of the other rumors that were going around about you?” His dad asked.

Stiles wondered why that was important to know but he wasn’t willing to question his dad at the moment, “Uh let’s see the most recent one I heard was that I’m strung out on drugs. Oh and there’s one about me taking something to force myself to present; the ones before that were all pretty similar, either I was a freak who clung to Alphas begging them to claim me or I was prostituting myself out to anyone willing to take me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” His father asked.

At first Stiles wasn’t willing to challenge his father at all considering the menacing expression he held but after he asked him that question something snapped in him, “What do you mean?”

“I mean Stiles, why didn’t you tell me this before? Why did you keep it to yourself?” His father asked.

“Are you serious right now?” Stiles asked bewildered, he was certain they already had this conversation when he was in the hospital.

“Yes I’m serious, tell me why-“

“I-I told you already … I tried to tell you repeatedly!” Stiles yelled over his father. “I told you this when I was in the hospital! You never did anything when I told you what was going on, all you ever did was lecture me and-“

His father slammed the table with his fist, “I KNOW … I-I know.” His father gasped and squeezed the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes “I’m sorry Stiles, I am, I am so, so sorry; I just-I … before whenever you would tell me something was going on I wanted to believe that you were having a dispute with one of your friends and that it was something that you could easily handle on your own. I wanted to believe that everything you were saying was possibly an exaggeration and that it was just normal teenage behavior. I didn’t want to believe that someone would actually go out of their way and cause you trouble because no matter what you do you’re just not someone that deserves that kind of treatment.” Stiles worried at his lip and didn’t say anything as he looked towards his father, he noticed when his dad’s claws shifted back into their human form and when he opened his eyes they back to normal as well, “I didn’t want to believe someone would hurt my son or that you were going through more than you could handle. I just wanted to believe that … that you were happy even knowing that your scent said otherwise; I was willfully ignorant to your situation so that I could try and keep some kind of peace of mind and that is unacceptable as a parent.”

“Dad-“ Stiles tried.

“I will take care of this,” he cut in, “as soon as possible, you have my word.”

Stiles wanted to say something about his dad being so hard on himself but he knew there was nothing he could say that would change how he felt. And Stiles knew that his dad was right, it was unacceptable of him to ignore what Stiles was going through no matter the reason. Stiles nodded and said, “okay …” before standing up and grabbing his food and taking it over to the microwave to heat it up.

His dad had gotten up from the table and tossed the remainder of his food into the trash, “I’m going to call it a night, Parrish will be stopping by early in the morning before we go on shift so I need you up and ready when he gets here.”

Stiles turned and nodded to his father, his dad was about to exit the kitchen and head upstairs until Stiles said, “thank you, thank you for listening and helping me.”

His father walked over to him and wrapped Stiles up in his arms and held him tight, “I said I’ll do better for you son and I meant it.” He pulled back and held Stiles shoulders, “In the future, if you ever find yourself in some kind of trouble and you need help I want you to know you can come to me, I’ll always be here for you.” Stiles gave his dad a small smile and nodded, the microwave rung signifying Stiles food was hot and ready, “eat and get to sleep, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night dad, “ Stiles said as his father walked out of the kitchen.

“Night son,” he said in response.

Stiles was left alone in the kitchen with a whirlwind of thoughts plaguing his mind, the one good thing that came out of the conversation with his dad was that he could look forward to what the immediate future held.

Derek's POV

Derek was at the edge of the forest, he could make out Jackson’s house from where he was and from what he could see the party was still in full swing. Before he made it past the tree line he checked his ace bandage and ensured that his mark was completely covered. Walking back towards Jackson’s house was a little awkward, he knew he probably looked like a disheveled mess and he didn’t have a shirt on and considering he was lying out in the middle of the forest for a few hours he was probably a little dirty. He didn’t really mind though he wasn’t self-conscious about his body at all considering he was in fairly good shape and a little dirt never hurt anybody. He hoped everyone would be too far gone to notice him at all though, he’d much rather not have to explain to anyone why he looked the way he did.

He made his way up to the front of the house and there were still people outside running amuck the party was definitely still in full swing. He walked towards the front door keeping his head down until he heard someone say, “Yo Derek is that you?” Derek turned to see who had spotted him and it turned out to be Danny, “hey man you … are you feeling okay? Did something happen? You look kinda like you got in a fight with a lawn mower and you lost and where is your shirt? Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

Derek huffed, “I was just out messing around with a few people in the woods and my pants got a little messed up,” he lied.

Danny’s face scrunched up, “yeah right, you do know that practically everyone here heard Breaden upstairs screaming your name not too long ago.”

Derek’s eyes widened, “what?”

Danny patted his shoulder, “dude it’s okay, good job, you must be pretty great in bed and you know if you’re ever looking for someone else to mess around with you should let me know.”

Derek scrutinized Danny, “aren’t you with that one guy … what’s his name uh, oh right Ethan.”

Danny laughed, “Calm down man I’m just messing with you and yeah I am with Ethan … kind of … we’re talking. Anyway you better get inside and get a shirt on unless you want to get jumped by a few girls and guys who have an eye out for you.”

Derek smirked, he knew Danny wasn’t necessarily messing around about wanting to hook up not that he could considering his circumstances at the moment, “yeah thanks for the heads up.”

He noticed Danny glance towards his left arm, “did something happen to your arm?”

“It’s nothing, I just got hurt,” he said before heading into the house and straight for the stairs without giving Danny a chance to respond.

“Derek?” Someone said but he recognized the voice instantly and turned to see Breaden near the base of the staircase.

“I can’t talk right now …” he said before heading to the room to get his things.

“Derek wait,” she said following him up the stairs towards the room. He shrugged off a few people making grabby hands at him as he made his way to the room, “Derek please talk to me.” Breaden said behind him.

He entered the room and his shirt and jacket were lying where he had tossed them, he grabbed his shirt and put it on quickly and grabbed his jacket, “Derek, why won’t you talk to me? What happened? I was freaking out when you left and I didn’t know what to do … I-I didn’t tell anybody what happened though, I didn’t think you would want me to.”

Derek stiffened up and turned around to face Breaden, “It’s nothing I’m just … I’m not feeling well.”

Breaden worried at her bottom lip and shut the door behind her, “I know that’s not true, there’s something else I know there is, I know you’re not telling me something.”

He felt like he was being suffocated and the only way to alleviate the feeling was to tell the truth but he wasn’t willing to expose his secret; he wasn’t even sure that his soul mark was the cause of his troubles. He didn’t like feeling like he was backed against a wall with no other options and he didn’t like that Breaden was asking questions that he felt were a little too personal, he huffed, “does it matter?”

Breaden flinched at the question, “what?”

Derek sighed, “Does it matter? I-I’m just someone you wanted to hook up with, we aren’t mated, we’re not soulmates, so you have to ask yourself does it really matter?”

“Derek,” she breathed out, “I-I wanted something with you, you know that, I told you this wasn’t just a one-time thing.”

“Exactly, it was a thing that isn’t going to happen,” he said, that wouldn’t be true if his situation hadn’t of happened but it did. He had to admit it hurt him to say it as he was honestly looking forward to getting with Breaden and she seemed like a nice girl from what he knew about her and she didn’t deserve to be hurt this way.

“Derek … what-what’s going on? Why are you acting like this?” She asked becoming a little frantic.

Derek shrugged, “I’m just … I just want you to know the truth, I can’t do this, we can’t do this, you’re not my mate and you’re not my soulmate and I-I can’t do this.”

Breaden’s eyes were wide but something came over her and she settled down and looked to Derek confidently, “I know what you’re doing, you’re trying to deflect and find a way out of explaining yourself to me.”

Derek growled, “I don’t have a fucking explanation for what’s going on so why don’t you quit hounding me and quit acting like we mean something to each other!”

Derek attempted to walk past her but she stopped him, “wait, I’m sorry, I-I just … I’m worried about you, we were in the middle of … you know and you have to understand why I’m worried about you.”

Derek sighed and looked around the room he needed to find a way out of this without explaining anything to her, “you’re right, I’m sorry, I-I don’t know what’s going on but I’ll figure it out and I’ll let you know, okay?”

Breaden didn’t look convinced at that so she crossed her arms, “promise?”

Derek shrugged and did his best to seem as genuine as possible, “yeah whatever …”

Breaden nodded and cupped his cheek, “okay. So does that mean you’re leaving the party?”

Derek nodded, “yeah I gotta get out of here I wasn’t lying when I said I’m not feeling so great.”

Breaden nodded and dropped her hand down towards Derek left arm, “do you think it may have something to do with whatever is going on with your arm?”

Derek flinched back, “ye-yeah maybe, I-I don’t know, I’ll-I’ll find out.” He tried to walk past her again but she stopped him.

“Show me,” she said.

“What?”

She pointed to his ace bandage, “Show me what’s wrong with your arm.”

Derek shook his head, “no.”

“Derek, show me,” she said again.

“I said no just leave it alone,” he growled.

Breaden attempted to make a grab for the bandage, “show me.”

“No,” he roared and made his way past her and out the room, Boyd and Erica happened to be making their way to the staircase to rejoin the party as he exited the room.

Boyd noticed him instantly when he came into the hall, “hey man we heard you guys earlier, you sound like you had a good time.” He said as he walked up to him hand in hand with Erica.

“I’m gonna get out of here,” Derek said quickly.

“Wait you’re leaving, you’re not gonna stay the night?” Erica asked.

Derek turned around and noticed Breaden in the doorway to the room they were in, watching him intently, he looked back to Erica and shook his head and walked towards the stairs with Erica and Boyd tailing him, “no I-I don’t feel too good and I need to get out of here.”

“Well what about Isaac did you ever hear back from him?” Boyd asked.

Derek stopped halfway down the staircase, “yeah … apparently things didn’t go so well with Scott and he just went home.” He said and continued down the stairs.

“Wait what do you mean things didn’t go well? What the hell is going on?” Erica asked.

As he got to the bottom of the stairs Brittany ran up to him, “hey looks like you’re finally done with Breaden and it’s a good thing too because after I heard the way you made her scream, let’s just say I’m definitely a little more than anxious to get into bed with you.”

“Not interested,” Derek said and moved past her.

“Ugh what the fuck?!” Derek heard her say from behind him.

Boyd had grabbed hold of his shoulder and spun him around, “dude what the hell is going on with you?”

Derek balled his fist up and tried to remain calm, “I have to get out of here, I don’t feel so great.”

Erica walked up and grabbed his left arm, “Derek what is this?” she asked pointing to his ace bandage.

Boyd’s eyes widened, Derek looked down at his arm and realized that he had forgotten to put his jacket back on before he exited the room with Breaden, “shit, it’s-it’s nothing don’t worry about it.” He said as he put his jacket on.

“That looks like something to me Derek,” she said.

Luckily Jackson had come up behind them and greeted them obnoxiously, “hey guys what’s going on?”

Boyd smirked, “you look pretty trashed Jackson.”

Jackson pointed to Boyd and gave him a thumbs up, “only a little bit bro,” he turned to Derek and patted him on the back, “Derek dude you are the fucking man. I’m serious I think everybody in the house heard you going to town on that one Breaden girl.”

Derek stiffened up again and didn’t say anything, Erica crossed her arms and sighed, “Jackson where’s Lydia?”

Jackson shrugged, “I don’t know she was playing beer pong with me and then she sort of disappeared, I think she might be a little mad at me.” He said before bursting out into hysterics, “oh yeah I almost forgot,” he pulled out his phone and struggled to operate it but he managed and eventually he pulled up a picture of someone’s arm and showed it to them, “check this out.”

Boyd, Erica and Derek each leaned in to see what the picture was of, “what am I looking at exactly?” Erica asked.

Derek looked hard at the picture and before long he realized what he was looking at, it was a picture of Stilinski’s soul mark, luckily it wasn’t the clearest picture but Derek could definitely make out the mark. Boyd must have noticed it too as he looked to Derek worriedly, “it’s Stilinski’s soul mark. Someone managed to get a picture of it.”

Erica scoffed, “it looks like a piece of turd.”

“It’s only fitting for the little shit right? Man I feel terrible for whoever got stuck with that little freak,” Jackson said and started laughing hysterically again.

“How-how did you get this picture?” Derek asked suddenly.

Jackson pulled himself together and started messing with his phone, “it was forwarded to me, half of the school has this photo.”

A chill went down Derek’s spine, half of the school had some idea of what Stiles mark looked like; if Derek ever slipped up and forgot to cover his mark, someone would probably notice his mark is paired with Stiles. “I need to find my sister,” he said.

Jackson actually managed to look concerned at that, “she’s in the kitchen … dude are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Derek said leaving Jackson, Erica and Boyd standing where they were to find his sister.

“Hey wait, DEREK!” Erica called but Derek ignored her.

He made his way to the kitchen ignoring anyone and everyone calling his name, he did not have time to entertain people with small talk. As soon as he made it into the kitchen he saw his sister near the table with some friends and they looked like they were about to start playing king’s cup. He walked over and tapped his sister lightly on the shoulder to get her attention, “Laura we need to go home.”

Laura spun around giddy and gave him a hug the second she saw him, “Derek, I was just looking for you.”

Derek sighed and patted his sister’s back and coaxed her to let him go, “Laura how much have you had to drink?”

Laura scoffed, “not enough to be drunk. Hey you should play king’s cup with us.”

Derek shook his head, “I really need to get out of here.”

Laura tugged his arm, “come on Derek, don’t be such a downer, let’s just play one game.”

“Laura please I really need to get home, I don’t feel too well.” He said.

Laura looked Derek over, “you look fine to me. Oh hey were you upstairs with some girl earlier? Everyone is saying you were the one making some girl scream like her life depended on it.” Derek’s face must have gave him away, “you were the one!” She said hitting his shoulder, “Oh my God Derek, who were you fornicating with? Was it Breaden? That’s what people are saying, come on spill.”

He didn’t want to answer any of her questions and he wasn’t about to tell her the real reason why Breaden was screaming, “Laura please, I need to leave.”

Laura must have caught on to how serious he was as she put her drink down on the table and her once gleeful expression was replaced with a look of concern, “woah Derek, are you okay? What’s going on?”

“I can’t explain it right now, I just know I need to get out of here.” He said.

Laura nodded and said, “okay, let me just tell my friends bye.”

Derek nodded, he was grateful that his sister was so understanding and didn’t try to challenge him or hound him into telling her what was going on with him; it was a rare occurrence whenever that happened. As soon as she was done saying her goodbye’s to her friends she turned back to Derek and nodded to him giving him the okay to leave. He turned around and made his way out of the kitchen and back towards the front of the house with his sister in tow. He passed up Erica, Boyd and Jackson and gave them a quick nod but didn’t say that he was leaving.

“Derek hold on, are really you leaving?” Erica asked.

“I’ll text you guys later, don’t try and stop me” he said over his shoulder.

As soon as he made it to the front door he heard Braeden call for him from the top of the staircase, “Derek, wait.”

He turned around slowly and watched as she descended down the staircase, if he were a complete gentlemen he would have waited for her to get to the bottom of the stairs and at least hear what she had to say. But he wasn’t feeling like much of a gentlemen at the moment, so instead of waiting for Braeden to get all the way down the stairs he turned to his sister and said, “Come on Laura we’re leaving,” and she nodded and followed him out of the house.

“DEREK!” Braeden called after him as he and his sister made their way towards his car.

“Derek, did you want to see what she wanted?” Laura asked from behind him.

“No, all she’s going to do is nag me about stuff that isn’t any of her fucking business.” Derek said loud enough to ensure Breaden could hear him.

He heard Breaden run up behind him, “Derek listen, please …” He didn’t stop to acknowledge her as he was steadfast on getting to his car, “Derek,” she tried again.

“Leave him alone,” Derek heard his sister say and that caused him to stop so that he could turn and face her, “Obviously my brother doesn’t want to talk right now and I think you should respect that.”

Breaden gasped, “but it’s important, we-we …”

“It can wait,” Laura said, “whatever you have to say can wait.”

Breaden shook her head, “no it can’t, it’s important … I-I’m worried about him and I-I just want to make sure that he’s okay.”

“I’m fine, now leave me alone.” Derek said and started to head for his car again.

Breaden had called for him again but Derek heard his sister silence her and afterward Derek didn’t hear Breaden’s protest at all. He opened his passenger door for Laura and went around to the driver’s side of the car and got into his Camaro and started it up and as soon as Laura was in the car with her seatbelt fastened he sped away. “So much for the best night of my life,” he thought as he drove away.

Stiles POV

Stiles awoke to a loud knock on his bedroom door, he fumbled around in bed and sat up straight a little bewildered; “Stiles get up and put something on, Parrish will be here in 15 minutes.” He heard his dad say on the other side of his door.

“Kay-Okay dad!” He said still feeling a little disoriented from sleep.

He looked around and his eyes landed on his digital clock, it was only 4:45 a.m. he had just gone to bed 3 and a half hours ago. He would have gotten to bed sooner but he wound up texting Cora and the two of them kept each other up late into the night. The last text he remembered getting from her was what he thought was an invitation to go to the movies with her next weekend. He looked around for his cell phone when he realized that it wasn’t charging next to his digital clock on the nightstand; he looked over the side of the bed and there lying on the floor was his phone. He reached down and picked it up and luckily it was still alive, he checked his past messages with Cora and sure enough he found that he was right. The message read:

Cora: Hey so I’m thinking about going to the movies next weekend to see ‘Forward Dawn,’ if you want you can come along …

Stiles grinned at his phone and for a split second he panicked thinking that he didn’t respond to the message at all so Cora might have thought he wasn’t interested in going with her but he saw that he had replied to the message and said “that would be great,” and that helped him to calm down. He saw that she had responded with “great we can plan on a day and time sometime next weekJ,” afterwards there were no more responses so he figured that’s where he fell asleep. So sometime next weekend he had plans to actually go out with a friend and do something, ‘Hell has officially frozen over,’ he thought.

“Stiles are you getting ready?!” His dad called pulling his attention away from his cell phone.

“Ye-yeah dad just gimme a second.” He said back.

Since it was so early in the morning and he had barely gotten any sleep, Stiles wasn’t aiming on getting completely dressed. He got up off his bed and looked towards his dresser where most of his clothes were, he walked over and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and pulled them over his boxers, then he pulled out a long sleeve black t-shirt and threw that on as well. He took a quick whiff of his pits to make sure he wasn’t musty and when everything checked out he considered himself appropriately dressed to meet Parrish … again, only this time would be the first time he met him as his personal government agent aka his bodyguard.

He walked out of his room and downstairs and found his father sitting on the couch in front of the TV already dressed in his uniform, “hey dad you got the early shift today?”

His father looked back at him, luckily he didn’t look like he disapproved of Stiles choice of clothing, “yeah, I may have to do a double today unfortunately.”

Stiles sighed, “I’ll have dinner ready for you when you get home then …”

His dad nodded and turned back to face the TV, “Parrish should be here any minute now, in fact I think I hear him pulling up.” He said standing up off of the couch and heading towards the front door, Stiles hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary; then again he wasn’t exactly listening for anyone. His dad opened up the front door and took a step outside and waited, Stiles followed his father and went outside to join him and there he saw parked in front of his house was another cruiser and Parrish was getting out of it.

“Sherriff, Stiles …” he said as soon as he spotted Stiles and his dad.

“Deputy or do you prefer agent?” His dad asked mockingly.

Parrish sighed as he made his way towards them, “oh come on Sherriff don’t tell me you’re still mad about that, I told you that I was sorry … it’s not like I lied to you or anything.”

“But you weren’t completely up front with me from the get go, is your name really Jordan Parrish?” Stiles dad asked.

Parrish nodded, “yeah, Sherriff seriously the only thing you didn’t know about was the fact that I am employed by the government and work as an undercover agent.”

Stiles noticed his dad starring long and hard at Parrish as if trying to find a lie in what he was saying; when he deduced that Parrish was telling the truth he eased up, “fine I believe you … Parrish allow me to reintroduce you to my son Stiles. Stiles this is Jordan Parrish whom you know as my deputy and now you know him as your personal government official.”

Parrish looked up to Stiles and smirked at him, “nice to meet you again.”

“Yeah you too …” Stiles said.

“Parrish, I trust that you are fully capable of keeping my son safe?” Stiles dad asked.

He nodded, “yes sir, I will do my best.”

“And if your best isn’t good enough?” The sheriff countered.

“I wouldn’t be able to face you if that was the case,” Parrish responded.

Stiles tapped his dad’s shoulder to get his attention, “dad lay off a little.”

His father turned to him and said, “That organization of psychos isn’t going to lay off a little when they confront you and I just need to make sure that he’s fully prepared to do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

“I am Sherriff you have my word, I will keep him safe,” Parrish said.

His dad seemed satisfied with the answer, “good, then let’s quickly go over the game plan for the next few days and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Stiles noticed that Parrish started to seem a little uneasy, “well uh you two are probably gonna have to get accustomed to having me around … a lot.”

Stiles cocked his head to the side wondering what he meant by that but his father clearly understood what he meant, “got that, if you ever need to stay the night you can sleep in the living room the couch has a pull out bed, next.”

Stiles would be shocked by that but considering the circumstances and what’s happened to other Omegas it didn’t surprise Stiles at all that Government officials would be working round the clock to ensure the Omega was safe. “If something should happen and the group does show up in Beacon Hills, I am in charge and you need to-“

“No,” his father interrupted.

“Dad, come on hear the guy out,” Stiles pleaded.

He shook his head, “no son, I already know what he’s getting at and I already said when we went to see Deaton that you are my son and you’re my number one priority and it will always be my job as your father to ensure your safety.” He said before facing Parrish.

Parrish sighed, “Fine, I can see that there’s no talking you out of this so if the group comes you and me are partners but if the situation ever gets too dangerous to handle, you will do as I say. I know that might not seem ideal to you but I’m sure your son doesn’t want to be an orphan.”

The Sheriff looked taken aback by the statement and Stiles could see that his father wasn’t going to challenge what Parrish just said. “Okay fine, I’ll concede and agree to those terms,” the Sheriff said.

Parrish nodded, “thank you,” he sighed and then looked to Stiles; “Alright moving on, since the full moon is on Monday I will be accompanying both of you on your run. Sheriff you and I will need to work together to ensure that no one see’s Stiles at all.”

The sheriff nodded, “we can figure something out.”

“Okay then we need to talk about Stiles and school, Sheriff I heard from Deaton that Stiles school situation isn’t particularly ideal-“

“I’m going to take care of that Tuesday Morning and just a heads up I will not be sending Stiles to school on Monday per Deaton’s request.” The sheriff cut in.

Parrish nodded, “good, it’s for the best. If you’re planning on taking a visit to the school Tuesday morning, I will accompany you. I just need to assess the situation and any possible threats that Stiles may face.”

“Wait, do you think there’s someone at my school that’s a part of that organization?” Stiles asked alarmed.

Parrish shook his head, “no, but I did just say that I would keep you safe no matter what and if there are people that are seeking to harm you then it’s my job to ensure that they’re no longer a threat to you.”

“Wait-wait does that mean you’re planning on killing them?” Stiles asked frantically.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Stiles heard his father say.

Stiles eyes were wide as he turned to his father, “DAD!”

“Calm down Stiles,” Parrish said, “I’m not going to kill them, these are just teenagers after all. But I do have to make sure they understand that if any harm comes to you they will not be safe from the consequences that will surely follow.”

The sheriff let out a hardy laugh, “I do like the sound of that; you’re okay in my book Parrish.”

Parrish seemed relieved to hear that and it looked like he was able to relax a little, “good, it’s best that our relationship be on good standards.”

The sheriff nodded, “I agree …”

Stiles scoffed at their renewed bromance, “so is that it?”

Parrish shrugged, “for now, there will be more in the coming days but right now the sheriff and I have to attend to our duties as police officers.”

The sheriff sagged forward and sighed, “Unfortunately.”

“Okay well I’m gonna head to the station, sheriff I’m gonna stop by the coffee shop on the way there, did you want anything?” Parrish asked.

“Large coffee, black with 3 sugars,” Stiles heard his father chuckle, “and please from now on call me John.”

Parrish looked a little bothered by that but didn’t say anything, “ri-right okay … John.” He was about to turn away and leave until he snapped his fingers and turned back to Stiles, “Actually Stiles I’m gonna need your cell phone number.”

Stiles had an idea as to why Parrish would need his phone number but apparently his dad didn’t understand it, “I’m standing right here Parrish and my shotgun is about 20 feet away from where I’m standing, I assure you I can have a bullet in you in no time.” Stiles dad threatened.

Parrish held a hand out pleadingly, “no sheriff it’s definitely not what you think, I just need his phone number so I can check in on him from time to time to ensure he’s okay since I cannot physically be with him the entire day and beside that your son is a minor.”

“Oh right sorry, excuse me then, I thought you might have been trying to come onto my son.” The sheriff said.

Stiles sighed, “I left my cell phone upstairs and I don’t necessarily know my number off the top of my head considering I hardly ever give it out.”

Stiles didn’t miss the slight frown on Parrish’s face, “I’ve got it here hold on,” his father said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Let me just find his contact information, aw here it is,” he said handing his cell phone to Parrish “here copy this into your phone.” Parrish obliged and pulled out his phone and entered Stiles contact info into his phone.

“Alright I sent you a text, save my number in your phone; if I’m ever not around you I’m going to send you a text every 30 minutes to make sure you’re alright.” Parrish said.

“But what if I’m in class?” Stiles asked.

Parrish shrugged, “I’ll work something out with the school.”

“Okay well on the weekends just in case you’re not around I don’t wake up until around 10:30 or 11, so don’t freak out if I’m not texting you back at the ass crack of dawn.” Stiles said

His dad swatted him upside the head and said, “Stiles watch your language.”

Stiles rubbed the back of his head where his dad had hit him, “okay,” he heard Parrish say, “10:30, I will text you at 10:30 on the weekends.”

Stiles didn’t really mind that so he simply shrugged and said, “Okay.”

Parrish nodded to him and looked back to the sheriff, “alright so you said black with 3 sugars?”

The sheriff nodded, “yeah and get me a chocolate donut while you’re at it.”

Stiles put a hand on his dad’s shoulder, “dad hold on, you only got one cheat night. You’re supposed to be eating healthy!”

His father covered his hand with his own, “I had a cheat night and now I’m having a cheat morning,” he said and pulled him in for a hug, “gotta go to work now kid, I’ll see you when I get home.”

Stiles hugged his father back, “I’m making you eat salad for dinner.”

His dad pulled back and said, “Fine by me.”

“I’ll see you at the station sheriff and I guess I will see you later Stiles,” Parrish waved from the side of his cruiser.

Stiles waved back and watched as his dad walked down the driveway towards his own cruiser and got in and drove off down the road disappearing around the corner behind Parrish. Stiles looked around his front yard and up at the sky, the sun hadn’t even started to rise yet and the street lights were still on; “it is definitely way too early for me to be awake,” he sighed and walked back into his house and up to his room, throwing himself on his bed, making a mental note to save Parrish’s number when he woke up again.

Derek's POV

Derek’s weekend hadn’t started the way he planned; the night of the party which was supposed to be one of the most memorable nights of his life was ruined. The following day, Saturday, he couldn’t get Laura off his back about what exactly happened at the party which caused his dad and uncle to become a little suspicious of him and what he was dealing with. Of course he was able to get them off his back by saying he was just feeling tired and a little under the weather and his dad chalked it up to puberty having an effect on him but Laura wasn’t so easily convinced. His mom stayed out of the discussion in general while his aunt was busy fawning over her baby bump, Cora on the other hand didn’t care and that was a little surprising to Derek as she would usually mimic Laura in similar situations and start hounding Derek. Laura had been on his back so much that Derek had to lock himself in his room just to keep her away from him.

It didn’t help any that his friends were texting him like maniacs asking him why he left and if he was okay. Erica mentioned that Braeden asked for his phone number but she didn’t give it to her and he was grateful for that as she would probably hound him even more than Laura was. Jackson was worried that he was the reason that Derek left the party and Derek had to reiterate more than once that he was not the reason and that he was dealing with something personal; eventually Jackson accepted what Derek was saying as true and told him to feel better and that he missed out on a wild night. Boyd asked about his mark, it didn’t surprise Derek that Boyd would probably know what was up with him.

Boyd: I don’t wanna pry because I know you hate that but is everything alright? When you came out of the room with Breaden I heard her tell you to show her something, did she see your mark? Is everything alright?

Derek texted him back quickly saying:

Derek: No she didn’t see it but something’s wrong, I just don’t know what it is; my mark got bigger.

Derek had to admit that it was nice having someone to talk to about his situation without the other person judging him for it; that was one of the many reasons why he and Boyd were best friends. Derek’s phone buzzed and he had another message from Boyd:

Boyd: Do you need to go to the hospital?

Derek had been thinking about going to the hospital the entire day to figure out what was wrong with him but he somehow managed to always talk himself out of it; he responded:

Derek: I don’t know, maybe.

Boyd had gotten back to him quickly after that:

Boyd: Do you need someone to go with you? I can be there in 10 minutes …

That helped Derek decide that he needed to go to the hospital to figure out what exactly was going on with his mark. If he didn’t go today he would have to wait until Tuesday, Sunday’s are family days and his parents never allow him to go out, Monday is the full moon plus he has school so he wouldn’t be able to make time for a doctor’s visit. Derek quickly typed up his response saying:

Derek: Okay I’m gonna throw some clothes on, did you want me to just come pick you up?

Boyd had gotten back to him fast saying:

Boyd: No I’ll come to you, we just stopped by Isaac’s to see what was going on with Scott :/ the situation is pretty bad man.

Derek did not want to read that, ‘if it isn’t one thing it’s another,’ he thought. He was about to throw some clothes on when he realized that Boyd had said ‘we’ and not ‘I,’ he quickly texted him saying:

Derek: Are you alone??? Don’t come if you’re not by yourself I don’t want anyone else to know …

Derek was holding on to the shirt he was going to change into when Boyd responded:

Boyd: yeah I’m alone, I told Jackson and Lydia that my Grandma needed me home ASAP and asked them if they could take Erica home.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief and threw his shirt on and found a fresh pair of jeans to wear, he grabbed his wallet and keys off of his dresser and headed for his bedroom door. It didn’t surprise him any that the second he opened his door Laura was standing in front of it looking to him expectantly, “where are you going?” she asked.

“Out,” he said walking past her, heading for the stairs.

“Okay but where?” She asked following him.

He scoffed and said, “I’m going to hang out with Boyd.”

Laura had run around him before he could walk down the staircase and stood in front of him, “okay but you haven’t told me what happened at the party, I gave you your space and respected the fact that you obviously weren’t willing to talk about it last night. But that was last night and now it’s a new day and I wanna know what happened.”

He sighed, “Are you really going to keep pestering me about last night?” He wasn’t really sure why he asked because he knew the answer was yes. He really did love the fact that his sister didn’t bother him at all on the car ride home from the party but he should have figured that she would be asking questions the next day; that’s how it usually worked with her, she’ll usually give you time to relax and then she’ll pounce on you and badger you for answers.

Laura nodded, “obviously, I do deserve an explanation you know, I was having a really good time and because of you that ended. So spill, what happened? Was it that girl Braeden?” She leaned in close and whispered, “was she the one you … you know?”

Derek flinched back, “I don’t want to talk about that …”

Laura narrowed her eyes at him, “did you actually do it? Wait, was the reason we left because you regret actually going all the way with someone that wasn’t your-“

Derek covered her mouth with his hand, “shut the hell up Laura.”

She pried his hand off of her mouth, “just tell me was that the reason? Just answer yes or no …”

“No,” he said and he wasn’t lying considering he wasn’t even able to go all the way with Braeden.

Laura looked into his eyes for a moment, “Oh my God, you’re telling the truth … then what the hell did we leave for? Did it have anything to do with you know what?”

Derek shrugged, “kind of. Look I just need to find some things out and I’ll fill you in later if I feel like it.”

Laura crossed her arms, “no, you are going to fill me in whether you like it or not.”

Derek put on his best scowl and tried to think of a way out of the situation without telling Laura yes or no, “hey, where’s Cora?” he asked suddenly.

Laura looked a little bewildered by the question but then she started looking around and said, “I don’t know, you know now that I think about it I haven’t seen her since breakfast.”

Suddenly a door closed and Derek turned around to see that it was the door to Cora’s room, “Did something happen to her?” he asked.

Laura stood next to him looking towards Cora’s room, “I don’t know, but I can find out.”

Derek’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he figured it was Boyd, “good you do that, I gotta go Boyd’s here, I’ll see you later.” He said as he rushed down the stairs, praising every deity that he was able to get out of that situation. His mom, dad, Aunt and Uncle were in the living room watching TV, “I’ll be back later I’m going to hang out with Boyd.” He said.

“Okay be back by 7 we’re going out to eat to celebrate yesterday’s win.” His dad yelled.

“Okay,” he called and rushed out the door, Boyd was standing by his car looking at his phone.

“Oh there you are, why didn’t you answer your phone?” he asked.

Derek scoffed, “Laura wouldn’t leave me the hell alone.”

Boyd nodded, “I gotcha, so do you want to drive or should I?”

Derek held up his car keys, “I’ll drive,” and then whispered, “I’m the one that needs to go to the hospital anyway.”

Boyd nodded and locked his car up and headed over to the passenger side of Derek’s Camaro, “alright let’s get going then, I gotta be home by 7, I guess we’re going out to eat tonight.”

Derek sighed, “yeah me too. We have about 3 and a half hours to get there and back, I that should be enough time.” He said as he walked over to the driver’s side of his car, they both got in and Derek started his car up and drove off, their destination, Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

It didn’t take them long to get there at all and luckily for Derek there weren’t a lot of people, so the wait to see a doctor shouldn’t take long at all. He looked to the front counter and contemplated what he was going to say to the woman, “shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Boyd asked.

“What am I gonna say, hey I’m having issues with my mark and I need assistance? They’re just going to start asking me questions and they’ll probably want to know who my soulmate is.” Derek said.

Boyd shrugged, “That could be a problem, word travels fast in this town.” Boyd said and a moment of silence hung in the air before either one of them spoke again, “hey just ask to see the doctor and say the reason is personal … then when you tell the doctor at least you’re assured patient confidentiality so the word won’t get out.”

Derek nodded, “yeah that’s actually a good idea, thanks Boyd.” Derek said before walking up to the front counter and speaking to the woman at the front desk, “uh hi I sort of need to see a doctor for uh personal reasons.”

The woman looked up to Derek and said, “What kind of personal reasons?”

“It’s personal …” Derek said.

“So do you need a doctor or psychiatrist because I can recommend you to a good psychiatrist to help with any personal issues you’re dealing with?” The lady said.

“No … no,” Derek quickly made up an excuse in his head, “look my friend is having issues with his mark and he needs to see a doctor.” Derek said pointing back to Boyd.

“Well okay, is your friend’s soulmate here with you?” She asked.

“No,” Derek answered.

She then asked, “Can you call him or her in?”

“No,” Derek answered again.

She followed with another question, “is there a reason for that or-“

“No, can you just let us see a doctor so we can explain what the hell is going on?” Derek cut in.

The woman sat back in her seat and looked to Derek begrudgingly, “fine, third floor, you’ll be seeing Dr. Deaton.”

“Thank you,” Derek said and turned towards Boyd and inclined his head toward the elevators; Boyd got the hint and followed Derek over to the elevators.

“So you wanna tell me why you said I was the reason we were here.” Boyd asked as soon as they stepped into the elevator.

“That lady was obviously fishing for more information than necessary and I wasn’t willing to tell her the truth, so I thought up an excuse and you know …” Derek shrugged.

“Yeah I know but it was kinda obvious you were lying, I heard your heartbeat …” Boyd sighed.

“Oh well I don’t really care and don’t worry the doctor is gonna know that I’m the one with the problem …” Derek said sensing his friend was upset.

“That’s not really what I’m worried about,” Boyd said and looked to Derek worriedly.

Derek peered at Boyd, “what is it?”

“This-this thing with Scott I think it might be really bad man, Isaac was a wreck when we went to see him; he said that Ms. McCall told him not to come around anymore.” Boyd explained.

“What the hell for?” Derek asked, he had been meaning to ask Isaac what exactly happened with Scott last night but considering his situation he never really got around to it.

The elevator doors opened and the boys walked out and walked down the hall, “Scott and Stilinski were like super close dude, Isaac said that Ms. McCall freaked out on him after-“ Boyd suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway and dragged Derek aside.

Derek stumbled as he was pulled aside, “Boyd what the hell?”

“Be quiet,” Boyd said as they stood against a wall he then pointed towards the hall they were just in and at first Derek couldn’t see anyone but then Melissa McCall appeared from around the corner she was reading something on a clipboard and was too preoccupied with that to notice them as she walked by. Derek heard Boyd sigh heavily and go lax up against the wall, “that was close.” He said.

Derek turned to face Boyd and asked, “What the hell was that about?”

Boyd looked to him appeared haunted, “Isaac said that Ms. McCall freaked out on him after she found out he was messing with Stiles,” he whispered.

Derek’s eyes widened, “What? She-she knows?”

Boyd nodded, “she told him not to come around anymore … if-if she knows about him then she probably knows about what we did too and I think it might be best to avoid her for the time being.”

“Shit,” Derek said as he punched the wall, “that fucking Stilinski is ruining everything …”

“Ye-yeah,” Boyd said and Derek could hear the uncertainty in his voice but he didn’t question it, “Derek we should probably get to that Doctor now while Ms. McCall is heading in the opposite direction.”

Derek huffed, “fine let’s go,” he said and they both walked back towards the hall where they spotted Melissa, Boyd peaked around the corner to see if she was anywhere in sight and when he cave the all clear they booked it towards Deaton’s office.

As soon as they found where it was Derek went up to the lady behind the desk in the waiting area and said, “Hi I was sent up here to see Dr. Deaton …”

The woman nodded and asked, “Name?”

“Derek Hale,” he answered.

“Are you the patient that’s having issues with your mark?” she asked.

Derek knew that he had to answer honestly if he wanted to see Deaton, “yes.”

“Do you have an I.D.?” She asked.

Derek pulled out his wallet and handed her his ID and she started typing something up in her computer, “Alright I pulled up all your information, Dr. Deaton should be out shortly to see you, please have a seat in the waiting area.” She said.

Derek nodded and said, “thank you.” He turned around to see that Boyd had already found a seat in the waiting area and opted to take the seat next to him.

But as soon as he was going to sit down he heard someone call his name, “Derek Hale.”

“That’s me,” he said turning to face the individual.

“You want me to come with you?” Boyd asked.

Derek shrugged, “do you want to stay out here and possibly run into you know who?”

Boyd nodded and stood up, “you’re right let’s go.”

Derek walked over to the man who was holding the door to the back offices open, “How are we doing today?” Deaton asked.

“Okay I guess,” Derek said as he walked up to Deaton “is it okay if my friend comes back with us?”

Deaton nodded, “that’s fine with me, if you will follow me.” Deaton took them to his office and held the door open for them, “please have seat gentlemen.” He said as he walked around his desk and took a seat behind it, “what can I help you with today Mr. Hale?”

“I’m sort of having an issue,” Derek said.

Deaton clasped his hands together, “care to elaborate?”

“Um well I have a soul mark and I’ve been having issues with it, it’s happened twice now, I’ll start feeling this horrible pain coming from my mark and the pain will spread through my body; last night I was … I was getting with someone …” Derek stammered.

“You were attempting to mate with someone?” Deaton asked.

Derek nodded, “yeah I guess and something happened, my mark started hurting and I had black veins coming from my mark and I was puking up this black ooze.”

“Tell me Mr. Hale was the person you were attempting to mate with your soulmate?” Deaton asked.

“No …” he admitted.

Deaton sighed and sat back in his seat, “have you ever mated with your soulmate?”

“No,” he answered.

“Is your soulmate alive?” Deaton asked.

Derek nodded his head, “yes.”

Deaton narrowed his eyes suspiciously and said, “Huh, this is strange, I know it isn’t impossible to mate with someone that isn’t your soulmate if you haven’t already mated with your soulmate. But you claim you’ve never been with your soulmate at all correct? You’ve never kissed them or anything right?”

Derek shook his head, “no, never.”

“Well Mr. Hale this a bit baffling because the symptoms you’ve described only ever happens to people who have solidified their soul bond and have gone through a mating ceremony. This usually happens to people whose soulmates have died, they attempt to mate with someone other than the person they bound themselves too and their were side rejects the mating, this causes an individual to suffer the symptoms you have described.” Deaton explained, “So I’m going to need you to be honest with me, have you or have you not mated with your soulmate?”

Derek shook his head, “no, I swear we haven’t done anything.”

“Its true doc, I can assure you that there’s no love between them.” Boyd chimed.

Deaton honestly looked stumped by that, “was there another time this has happened?”

Derek nodded, “earlier in the day yesterday when I was at lunch I was gonna kiss somebody and my arm felt like it was on fire and it spread throughout my body and it didn’t go away until I backed away from the person I was going to kiss.”

Deaton, “I see, were there any other symptoms than the ones you have described?”

“Yeah um, my mark it-uh-it … it got bigger.” Derek said.

Deaton sighed, “Okay this is starting to sound a little outlandish,” he said getting up from his seat and walking around his desk, “show me your mark.” He said as he approached Derek.

Derek flinched back, “Wha-what?”

“Show me your mark,” Deaton sighed.

“Dude show him your mark, he can’t say anything remember?” Boyd said.

Derek looked to Boyd and nodded, he rolled up his left sleeve and started taking the ace bandage he used to cover his mark off and showed Deaton the inside of his left wrist. “Oh …” Deaton said the second he saw Derek’s mark.

“Oh? What do you mean ‘Oh?’ What’s wrong?” Derek asked growing concerned.

“It’s you … you’re his soulmate. This makes sense now …” Deaton said walking back behind his desk and sitting himself back down.

“What makes sense, what’s going on?” Derek asked.

Deaton had picked up a pen and begun writing something down on a sheet of paper, “You are Stiles Stilinski’s soulmate aren’t you?”

Derek felt like the wind was knocked out of him as he sat back in his seat stunned that Deaton was able to determine who his soulmate was, “how-how did you know?”

Deaton inclined his head towards him, “your mark is very similar to his, a wolf’s head shaped like a half of a heart I assume if you put both of your arms together the two wolf’s heads would form a whole heart. I saw his mark when he was brought in the day he presented; and speaking of presenting I think the reason why this is happening to you is because it is Stiles that is your soulmate and he is an Omega.”

Derek almost forgot the fact that Stiles was an Omega, just goes to show how important he is to him, “what does him being an Omega have to do with this?”

Deaton sighed, “Well normally people who have found their soulmate but haven’t proceeded to bond with them through the mating ceremony are free to mate with anyone they want. Of course they do face the risk of rejection during mating but it doesn’t necessarily happen the way it does in your case unless you’ve already gone through a mating ceremony. I’m assuming it is because he is an Omega that your wolf already feels a strong bond with him and is acting as if that bond is a solidified soul bond.”

Derek shrugged, “okay is it possible to like reverse that or something? Because you have to understand I don’t like him … like at all.”

Deaton chuckled, “what a foolish question to ask, I’m sure you know that it is impossible to reverse the effects of soul marks and soul bonds.”

“Stilinski seemed pretty convinced that he could break a soul bond,” Boyd chimed.

Deaton nodded to Boyd, “I doubt that very much but you’re welcome to believe that.”

Boyd flinched back clearly insulted by what Deaton said, “So it’s not possible then? You can’t do anything to reverse the effects of a soul bond?” Boyd asked.

Deaton grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, “It is literally impossible to do, I’m sorry if you honestly believed that it was possible.”

Derek huffed, “But … but-but then what am I supposed to do?”

Deaton shrugged, “there’s nothing you can do, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Derek stood up from his seat, “there has to be something, I don’t want that little loser to be my only option. I hate him with every fiber of my being, I hate him, I’m not going to let this force me to be with him and I refuse to accept that there’s nothing I can do to fix this.”

Deaton took his glasses off and started to clean them off, “on the contrary Mr. Hale I believe your wolf is quite fond of him, so you don’t necessarily hate him with every fiber of your being.”

“Don’t fucking mock me,” Derek growled.

Boyd reached over and grabbed Derek’s wrist, “dude calm down.”

Derek snatched his wrist away from Boyd, “no, this is bull shit you don’t have answers because you don’t know anything, I obviously need to find someone that knows something about my situation.”

Deaton chuckled and put his glasses back on, “that’s the thing Mr. Hale there is no one that knows how to deal with your situation; I understand that you and Mr. Stilinski aren’t each other’s favorites and I understand how frustrating it must be to have someone you’re not fond of as your soulmate but you have to know there is literally nothing you can do to reverse this. He is your soulmate end of story, people have tried in the past to try and change who they were meant to be with and have failed miserably and I mean miserably.”

Derek shrugged, “oh yeah well I’ll come up with something on my own then, I’ll figure something out and I’ll show you it’s possible to reverse this.”

Deaton scoffed, “what can you possibly do that somebody else hasn’t already tried.”

Derek pointed to his left wrist, “I’m gonna cut my mark off.”

Boyd shot up out of his seat, “dude that’s crazy, you could bleed out before you heal up.”

Deaton started to laugh again, “You should listen to your friend because he’s right your mark happens to be over your radial artery and if you cut that you’re as good as dead; and by the way a few people have attempted to do that same method and unfortunately for them just before they died from blood loss their wounds would heal and their mark would reappear so I can assure you your attempt will be futile.”

Derek was so mad he thought he was going to break down and cry in the middle of Deaton’s office, “then I’ll figure something else out, I-I don’t want this, I don’t want him, I-I hate him, I fucking hate that little freak.”

Deaton scoffed, “no matter how much you claim to hate him it still does not change the fact that he is your soulmate.”

“Jesus man, aren’t supposed to like try and support him or something?” Boyd questioned.

Deaton shrugged, “in certain situation yes, this situation doesn’t happen to be one of them.”

Derek thought about every missed opportunity he had before he realized Stiles was his soulmate, if he had of known then what he knew now he’d probably be one of the biggest sluts in school. The wait for ‘the one’ turned out to be a complete disaster and now Derek was going to regret that decision for the rest of his life. “I’m going to be a virgin for my entire life; I’ll never have a family of my own.” He said a little dejected.

Boyd cocked his head to the side, “didn’t you and Braeden … you know, do it. I heard the screaming and everything coming from the room …”

Derek looked to him in that moment like he was a complete idiot and he was ready to have an outburst on him but he second guessed that idea after he remembered that Boyd didn’t actually know what happened in the room between him and Braeden. “We couldn’t go all the way, the symptoms I described earlier happened while we were trying to get to it.”

“Oh dude that-that kinda sucks,” Boyd said.

“You’re telling me,” Derek sighed.

“Are you boys finished?” Deaton asked.

Derek turned and scrutinized him, “so I can’t do anything right?”

Deaton shook his head, “no.”

Derek nodded, “so I’m forced to be with Stiles then?”

Deaton shook his head again, “no apparently not, that choice still belongs to you.”

Derek grunted, “at least there was some good news to come out of this.” He looked to Boyd and then back to Deaton, “okay fine, I can deal with this, I’m just gonna have to count my losses and move on.”

Deaton nodded, “indeed now if you don’t need anything else, I do have other matters I need to attend to.”

“Alright thanks for your help … what little you could provide,” Derek said offhandedly.

“Thanks doc,” Boyd said right after Derek and headed for the door to his office and opened it up and exited.

As soon as Derek was about to leave his office Deaton called him back, “Mr. Hale I need a moment with you.”

Derek stood in the doorway and turned around, “what do you want?”

“Do not attempt to mate with anyone else, do you understand?” Deaton asked.

Derek wanted so desperately to jump across the room and pummel the doctor but if he did that then the cops would get called and his parents would find out about his hospital visit, so it was best to keep his emotions in check, “yeah I got it.”

Deaton nodded, “good I’ll see you soon then.”

Derek frowned, “what?”

Deaton waved him off, “never mind ignore me just a slip of the tongue that’s all.”

“Whatever see ya,” Derek said leaving Deaton’s office, Boyd stood in the hall that lead to the waiting area.

“What was that about?” He asked.

“Nothing I didn’t already know,” Derek sighed and checked the time on his phone, “we have about an hour and a half to get back we should get going.”

Boyd placed a hand on his shoulder, “dude, are you okay?”

Derek wanted to say ‘no he wasn’t okay,’ he wanted to say that the world had something against him and was purposely trying to fuck him and ruin his life. He wanted to go on about how Stilinski is some sort of curse placed on him for his past transgressions in another life, he wanted to say so many things but he couldn’t find the voice to say them. “I’m fine.” He said shrugging Boyd’s hand off, “let’s just get out of here.”

Boyd remained somber and put his hands in his pocket and nodded, “okay, remember we have to be careful of running into Ms. McCall.”

Derek nodded and walked past Boyd, “yeah I know,” he said and headed out into the waiting area with Boyd following in tow.

They managed to exit the hospital without seeing Melissa at all; when they got into the parking lot Derek was heading over to the driver’s side of his car when Boyd asked, “Are you okay to drive?”

Derek looked up at him, “why wouldn’t I be?”

Boyd shrugged standing in front of the passenger door, “because you just found out some pretty shitty news and I know that you aren’t handling it well, I can tell.”

Derek would have challenged Boyd on that and told him he didn’t know anything but he was after all his best friend and the two of them were easily able to read each other like a book, “You’re right, I’m not handling it well but I’m trying not to think about that right now because if I do and I let everything I’m feeling out my parents are gonna know something is up and they’re gonna start asking questions and I can’t afford to let them find out anything about my situation.”

Boyd didn’t press any further after that he knew when to let things go; he simply nodded his head and opened the passenger door and got in the car. Derek followed suit and got in and started up his car and drove out of the hospital parking lot and back home, neither one of them said a word to each other the entire way there.

As soon as they arrived back at Derek’s house Boyd said his goodbye’s and left, Derek entered his home and was greeted with Cora screaming at Laura; “leave me the hell alone!” he heard.

“Laura, stop bothering your sister!” Derek heard his dad say from the living room.

“Oh Derek you’re back, we were about to call and see where you were. We’re gonna be going to dinner with Boyd and his grandmother tonight,” His mother said as she approached him.

Derek figured that they probably were going to be going out to eat with Boyd after he mentioned that he was going out to eat at the same time Derek was. “Okay, I’m gonna run upstairs and change my shirt then.”

His mother nodded, “okay.” As soon as Derek walked past her she stopped him and said, “Were you in a hospital?”

Derek held his breath and said, “What?”

“You smell like you were in a hospital, is everything okay?” his mother asked looking to him worriedly.

“Ye-yeah everything’s fine mom,” Derek said rushing up the stairs.

“Be ready in 10 minutes and tell your sister’s to hurry up and finish getting dressed!” His mother called after him.

“There you are,” Laura said as soon as he made it to the top of the stairs. Derek was intent on ignoring his sister and making a straight shot for his room until she said, “I think Cora is dating someone.”

He turned and looked at her, “what?!”

“She’s been texting someone since before you left and when I tried asking her about the person she got mad at me. So I gave her some time to cool down and I went back to her room to talk to her about it and she just got mad at me again.” Laura explained.

“Did you get a name at least?” Derek questioned.

Laura shook her head, “no, she wouldn’t tell me anything, the most I got out of her was that I needed to mind my own business.”

Derek sighed, “What’s the deal with her? She’s usually a lot more open with us; I don’t understand why she would keep this from us.”

Laura shrugged, “well if you think about it this is probably the first person that she’s been able to talk to that isn’t family and it’s not someone that we tried forcing to be friends with her. This is a friendship or relationship or whatever it is, that she has started on her own,” she sighed and scratched the side of her head, “I guess we should probably respect that and not try and pry, she’ll introduce us to this mystery person eventually anyway.”

Derek grunted, “I wanna know who the hell it is now.”

Laura scoffed, “well I still wanna know what happened at the party! You owe me an explanation Derek!” Derek started to walk towards his room and ignored his sister, “hey hold on Derek, you said you would tell me what’s going on.”

Derek got to the threshold of his room and turned to face Laura, “I never said that, you did, I told you that I might tell you what’s going on and right now I’m not in the mood to talk about it. Anyway mom said that you and Cora need to be ready in ten minutes so we can go out to eat.”

“Derek hold that’s not fair you said … hey wait why do you smell like you’ve been in a hospital-“

Derek shut his bedroom door in her face and locked it and ignored Laura pounding at the door demanding that he open it and talk to her. He then took his shirt off and walked over to his closet to pick out a new shirt to wear for dinner; he wound up picking out a long sleeve shirt and he was about to put it on but then he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, the one thing that stood out more than anything was the ace bandage covering his mark. In that moment he desperately wanted to punch his reflection and break the mirror as an overwhelming amount of rage took over him. But just as soon as he felt a sense of rage it dissipated and was replaced with an overwhelming amount of sadness, a few tears escaped his eyes, he hadn’t realized it at first not until he felt something wet drip on to his arm. “Shit,” he said throwing his shirt on and wiping the tears off of his face and eventually balling his fists up at his side, “fucking shit, I hate him … I fucking hate him, that little shit is gonna ruin my life” he whispered angrily, “fuck you Stilinski,” he gasped.

“DEREK IT’S TIME TO GO!” Laura yelled banging on his door.

“GIMME A SECOND!” he yelled back. He looked back to his reflection in the mirror, everyone would know something was up the minute they saw him and he needed to pull himself together if he didn’t want to clue anyone in on his situation. He brought both of his hands up to his face and patted his cheeks, “get it together Derek, you got this.” When he was certain that he could face his family without giving them any reason to be concerned he opened the door to his room and walked out.

Cora and Laura were waiting for him by the top of the stairs, “come on everyone’s already outside waiting for us.”

He nodded and followed his sister’s downstairs and out of the house and joined his family outside. “Derek you’re gonna ride with your uncle Peter and I, the girls are going in a separate vehicle, we’ll pick Boyd and his grandmother up on the way there.” His father announced.

Derek smiled at his dad, “okay.” Derek would have figured his father had something else to say with the way he was staring at him but when nothing came he started to get weirded out, “dad stop starring at me.”

His father howled and walked over and embraced him, “come on now Derek can’t a father take pride in his son?”

Derek hugged his dad back, “I guess considering it is me after all.”

His dad burst out laughing again and patted him on the head, “that’s my boy.”

“It’s mushy moments like this that make me want to vomit and cut my eyes out,” Peter chimed from behind them.

Derek’s dad let him go and turned to face him, “Aw Pete come on you gotta get used to stuff like this you’re gonna have a kid soon and eventually you will be the one having these so called mushy moments.”

Peter scoffed, “sometimes you make me hate that my sister married you.”

Derek watched his father walk over next to Peter and knock him on the head, “don’t pretend that you aren’t thrilled to have me as a brother in law.”

Peter rubbed the side of his head and asked, “Who’s pretending?”

“Hey boys we gotta go the reservation is for 8 O’clock.” Derek heard his Aunt say.

“Okay Lynn!” Peter called back and turned to face Derek’s father, “stop messing around and get in the truck Jeff, wouldn’t want to have to force you in.”

Derek’s dad held his hands up and started mocking Peter, “oh no big bad Pete’s gonna rough me up, what shall I do.”

Peter scoffed and walked around to the driver’s side of the truck and got in, “Derek let’s go!” He said from inside the truck and Derek walked over and hopped into the backseat of the truck as his father got into the passenger seat and before he knew it they were off to go celebrate the Bobcat’s victory over Casanova.

Stiles POV

Stiles spent majority of his Saturday either sleeping or texting Cora, Parrish shot him a few text here and there to check up on him while he was on shift so it just went to show that he was serious about watching out for Stiles. Around 7 P.M. Cora had told him that she was going out to eat with her family and they would probably nag her if they saw that she was on the phone the entire time so she promised to text him early Sunday morning. It was around 9 P.M. when Stiles heard his father come home, “Stiles!” his father called up to him the moment he walked into the house.

“I’m in my room dad,” Stiles called back to him.

“Come on down, I brought food,” his dad responded.

Stiles scoffed and sat up in his bed, “I Said I was going to cook!” Stiles yelled back, ‘he probably brought home more junk,’ he thought as he got out of bed and rushed towards the stairs and made his way into the kitchen, he was surprised to find that Parrish was there with his father, “Oh hey Parrish, what’s up?”

Parrish turned around as he placed some bags of food on their table, “not much, we got food and don’t worry it’s all healthy.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him, “define healthy.”

Parrish started opening up the bags of food and said, “Salad and soup … is that good with you?”

Stiles was a little dumbfounded at that, “huh yeah I guess it is, where’s my dad?”

“I’m behind you,” he said.

Stiles turned and saw his father sitting in the living room with all the lights off, “oh hey dad, why are you sitting over there in the dark?”

“I’m savoring my home Stiles, I thought today would never end,” he sighed.

“Actually I think it’s probably because he didn’t get any of the food that he wanted.” Parrish chimed from behind Stiles.

“I’m still technically your boss you know …” Stiles heard his father say,

“Would you consider the food junk food?” Stiles asked Parrish.

Parrish shrugged, “it depends on if you consider greasy burgers junk food?”

“Ugh Dad seriously you got your one cheat day now your back to eating healthy end of story,” Stiles said.

His father got up off the couch and walked over to the kitchen, “I didn’t even get that chocolate donate I wanted and the coffee he brought me was decaff!”

Stiles looked to Parrish and was prepared to question why he did that, Parrish must have caught on to his confusion and answered the question for him, “you said earlier that your father was supposed to be eating healthy so I took the necessary measures to make sure everything he ate today was in fact healthy.”

Stiles was satisfied with the answer and said, “that’s cool at least now I’ll know whenever you’re at work you won’t be eating junk food behind my back.”

“You’re an absolute traitor Parrish,” His father pouted as he sat himself down at the table and grabbed his salad sitting it down in front of him, “pass me a fork,” he said to Parrish to which he did and Stiles watched his dad angrily stab at the salad and eat it.

Parrish and Stiles both chuckled at that and eventually the three of them found themselves at the table eating their dinner in what was unexpectedly a very eventful night. Parrish wound up staying the night and went home early Sunday morning promising Stiles and his father that he would be back later in the day to check up on them, Stiles dad had the day off, so they spent all of Sunday watching a bunch of movies, Parrish came back around 4:30 P.M. and joined them in their little movie marathon. Stiles noticed that he brought his uniform with him so it was apparent he was going to be staying the night with them again.

Due to their early work schedule Parrish and Stiles dad called it a night around 9:30 P.M. and headed to bed. Stiles told them both goodnight and went to his room and checked his phone and noticed he had one new message from Cora:

Cora: See you at school tomorrow?

Stiles had forgot to mention to Cora that he wasn’t going to be in school Monday, so he responded to her letting her know he would be absent but assured her he would see her on Tuesday. His phone buzzed not two minutes later and he saw he had another message from Cora:

Cora: :)  okay, just a heads up I’ll be MIA tomorrow night, I’m going out running around the preserve with my family for the full moon.

Stiles responded telling her to have fun and to text him before school started and then put his phone on the charger on his nightstand; he then sat on the edge of his bed and contemplated over the text Cora had sent. He hadn’t really given much thought to the full moon and the fact that he will experience his first full shift; this will be his first year being able to go out on a run with his father, unfortunately for him due to his Omega status he has to keep himself hidden. He eventually started to feel a little troubled by the fact that instead of being able to run freely out in the open as a fully transformed wolf he will wind up being confined to a certain area; he might as well be shackled if that’s the case.

His phone buzzed again pulling him from his thoughts, he walked to his nightstand and expected to see a response from Cora but instead he saw that he had a new message from Scott, he wanted to just delete the message but curiosity got the best of him and he wound up reading the message anyway:

Scott: Hey man I know you’re pissed at me and I know you told me not to talk to you anymore but I want you to know that I can’t do that and that I’m sorry that I messed up so bad that you hate me. I want you to know that I wish I could take everything back and that-

Stiles wound up deleting the message halfway through reading it, he knew the message was meant to attempt to mend their nonexistent friendship but instead it only angered Stiles as it was a reminder of all the crap he went through with Scott. ‘I probably should have just blocked his number,’ he thought as he selected Scott’s contact information and selected the option to block the number. At least now he won’t be bothered with unnecessary messages from him, Scott should hopefully realize that the only thing that can probably help his situation is time because that’s what Stiles needed.

He put his phone back down on the nightstand and got himself into bed and dozed off; the next morning his father came into his room around 5 A.M. and woke him up, “Stiles … Stiles wake up.” He whispered.

Stiles jostled around and peered up at his dad through sleepy eyes, “dad? Wha-what’s going on?”

His dad started patting his head, “are you feeling okay?”

No he wasn’t feeling okay, he was tired, extremely tired and he wanted to go back to sleep other than that he felt fine, “I’m sleepy,” he said.

“I know kid but I need you to get up for me, we can’t leave the house if we don’t know that you’re completely alright,” his dad mentioned.

Stiles suddenly became alert when his dad said ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and he remembered that Parrish was also there in the house with them. He fumbled around in his bed and stretched himself out before sitting up and rubbing his eyes and saying, “I feel fine, nothing seems out of the ordinary.”

Someone cleared their throat and Stiles looked over to his doorway to see Parrish looking more than a little conflicted about something “are you sure about that?”

Stiles cocked his head to the side, “hey are you okay?” He looked to his father then and asked, “Dad is he okay?”

His father patted his head again and started checking him over, “he’s fine Stiles he’s just dealing with something and if he comes in this room I won’t hesitate to shoot him.”

Stiles eyes widened and he wiggled his way out of his father’s grasp, “woah dad what’s-what’s going on?”

“John, have you figured anything out yet?” Parrish asked.

His dad looked frantically at Parrish and then back to him, “no I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him, Jordan you just make sure you stay by the door.”

Stiles started to panic a little, “dad, tell me what the heck is going on, you’re freaking me out.”

His father took a deep breath and said, “okay so you probably know that your scent has been pretty great as of late but-but this morning when we got up and we were getting ready to leave Jordan noticed something different, he thought someone else might have been in the house so he came up to check on you and your scent … Stiles you-you,” he could seem to finish the sentence.

“You smell incredible,” Stiles heard Parrish say from the doorway.

Stiles was a little alarmed at that, “okay, well Deaton said that I shouldn’t be in school today and this is probably one of the reasons why and you know if nobody from school can be around me maybe you guys shouldn’t either. So you should probably go to work and I’m gonna go back to sleep …”

His father stood up straight and put his hands at his sides and looked to Parrish, “that’s probably the best idea,” he said and looked back down to Stiles worriedly, “you’re sure you’re feeling alright?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah I feel fine dad, just go to work.”

His dad looked to Parrish again and nodded to him and Stiles saw that Parrish nodded back to him, “alright son, I’m going to call around 9 to see how you are and make sure everything is okay.”

“I’ll text you every thirty minutes after that to check up on you.” Parrish said holding the bridge of his nose, “excuse me, Sheriff I’ll be outside.”

“Is it really that bad?” Stiles asked looking to his father.

“It’s definitely a reason to keep you away from other people that’s for sure,” he said patting his head. “Alright kid I’m heading off to work, call me if you need anything or if something comes up. I should be home early today since we have to get prepped for your first full moon.” He said and started heading out of his room.

“Alright, see you later dad.”

“Bye son, remember I’m going to call at 9 so make sure you answer the phone.” His dad said and Stiles nodded to him and with that he was out of his room and out of the house in no time at all.

Stiles felt conflicted between going back to sleep and getting on his computer and googling what was going on with him. The latter was what he wanted to do, but he felt so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open, ‘maybe I’ll just take a 20 minute nap, then I’ll get up and figure out what the deal is,’ he thought; so he laid back down and shut his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

*Buzz*

Stiles shuffled around in his bed and swatted at the buzzing.

*Buzz*

He tried swatting at the buzzing again but he kept hearing it, then he heard something else, it sounded like his house phone.

*Buzz*

Stiles shot up in his bed and looked around his room which was now illuminated by the sun’s morning light. “Oh shit, what time is it?!” Stiles asked as he looked back towards his digital clock and saw that the time was 10 A.M.

*Buzz*

Stiles looked to see where the buzzing was coming from and he saw that it was coming from his nightstand, it was his cell phone, and Parrish was calling; “Oh crap dad said he would call at 9,” he answered his phone and cautiously said, “he-hello?”

“Stiles, are you okay? Did something happen? Where are you?!” Parrish answered with a flurry of questions.

“Is that him? Give me the phone!” Stiles heard his father in the background and then he heard a bit of shuffling around.

“Hold on Sheriff, I’ll put him on speaker phone.” Parrish said.

“Stiles, I told you I was going to call at 9 you damn near gave me a heart attack!” His father yelled.

Stiles cowered away from his phone a little, “ye-yeah dad hey I’m sorry, I-I was just really tired and I thought that I could go back to sleep and get up in time to answer the phone.”

Stiles heard a door shut in the background, “are you feeling any different?” Parrish whispered into the phone.

“No I feel fine like I did earlier; I-hey wait,” Something did feel a little off, the way he was holding the phone was weird it was like he couldn’t clasp his hand around the phone because something long and sharp wouldn’t allow him to. He checked to see what it was and he found that his normal blunt human fingernails were now replaced with long sharp black fingernails, “Oh-Oh my God my hand-my hand, I have claws,” Stiles panicked.

“Calm down Stiles that’s normal; you’re going to be a little shifty throughout the day. You may notice that you have claws on your hands and feet and you might be a little hairy in some places it’ll go back to normal in a few hours.” Parrish said.

“Right-right okay um anything else I should know?” Stiles asked.

“Aside from that no, if you feel you have any questions regarding your transformation process refer to the book you got from Dr. Deaton, otherwise make sure you respond when I text you in the next 30 minutes.” Parrish informed

“And make sure you keep the phone near you at all times in case I call to check up on you,” his dad ordered.

“Ye-yeah got it,” Stiles said.

“Okay I’ll check in with you in another half hour, see you later.” Parrish said.

“See ya,” Stiles responded and hung up the phone and sat his cell phone back down on his night stand; he then immediately started observing his claws, “This is so freaking awesome.” He said to himself as he marveled over his claws. His phone buzzed on the nightstand and when the screen lit up he saw he had 4 new messages.

Cora: Hey I’m heading to school, you’re so lucky you don’t have to go today

Cora: I’ll get your work from Mr. Harris for you :)

Cora: Class just ended surprisingly Mr. Harris didn’t give us any work, he asked about you.

Cora: Are you awake yet?

Stiles fumbled around with his phone trying to text her back as quickly as possible but his claws were making that task very difficult. “Shit shit shit shit shit, you’re getting in the way you damn claws,” he said as he struggled to type up a response. Luckily his phone auto corrected most of the words he wanted to say:

Stiles: Hey sorry I woke up really late, how’s school going? Lot …

He hit send before he could fix the end of his message:

Stiles: lol*

He sent to verify his correction, Cora wasted no time getting back to him:

Cora: it’s going I guess, I wish I wasn’t here though and it doesn’t help that you’re not here and I’m going to be eating lunch on my own today :(

Stiles was typing up a response to her but then she sent another message:

Cora: Can I ask you something?

Stiles quickly responded with, “sure.”

It didn’t take long at all for Cora to reply with her question:

Cora: This might seem a little weird but I just wanted to know if you have presented yet and if you have, are you going to run tonight?

“Shit,” Stiles said as he read the question over, he wasn’t sure if he should tell Cora the truth or lie to her. She was his only friend at the moment and he didn’t want to risk losing her by telling a stupid lie but he wasn’t sure if he could trust that she wouldn’t say anything to anyone about what he was; he hasn’t known her long enough to deduce that and that was risky.

Stiles: no not yet, hopefully soon though :( .

He typed and sent to her. As much as he would like to tell her that he had presented he just couldn’t do it, telling Cora what he was could potentially threaten his life and it wasn’t worth it. His phone buzzed and he had one new message from Cora:

Cora: :(  okay at least you don’t have to deal with the hassle of going out on a moonlight run; I was going to see if you and your family wanted to join mine lol, maybe next time? Well next time after you present of course lol.

Stiles smiled at that and typed:

Stiles: LOL definitely next time, should be any day now.

His phone buzzed again shortly after he sent his message and it was another message from Cora:

Cora: Oh I forgot to mention there were some people in Chemistry talking about you they said that something happened to you last Monday and you got taken to the hospital? One girl said that you were taking something and it had a bad effect on you, Mr. Harris heard her and shut her down but then some other guy made the same claim and next thing you know the whole class was in a debate with Mr. Harris about you. Basically everyone was saying that you took something to force your presentation but nobody had anyway of proving it and Mr. Harris wound up giving almost all of the class detention. I’m sorry I didn’t want to tell you about that but I didn’t think it was a good idea to keep it from you.

Stiles frowned after reading the message, people were still adamant that he was on some kind of drug, not that he cared. But something came to mind and he quickly typed it up and sent it to Cora:

Stiles: was that the real reason you asked if I presented?

He got a response quickly and read it over:

Cora: No, I really did want to know if you would run with us later and I won’t lie I was a little curious about the whole hospital thing considering you left school early Friday to go the hospital.

Stiles couldn’t really argue with her there she did have a legitimate reason to wonder about his situation but he couldn’t tell her yet. He was thankful this conversation was happening through text rather than in person because Stiles would have been caught in a lie and probably would have been forced to reveal his situation.

Stiles: Yeah I sort of had to go to the hospital to figure out what was going on with me and why I my presentation hasn’t happened yet; and speaking of my presentation I thought I was presenting on Monday but it turned out to be a false alarm, I mean I did have the symptoms and all but I didn’t present which was more than a little weird … I meant to tell you but I sort of forgot.

Stiles hated the fact that he had to lie to Cora but his main priority is his safety and his father and Parrish might strangle him if he told them that he told a friend that he’s only known for a few days that he was an Omega.

Cora: It will happen soon don’t worry, it will hit you when you least expect it ;) gotta go class is about to start and I think my sister is stalking me.

Stiles wondered about the whole stalking thing but he decided not to question it and just replied with:

Stiles: Okay have fun in class.

After he sent the message he had started to think about Cora and her family and what they might be like, if they’re anything like her then he could only assume that they’re great people, he hoped he could meet them sometime. He shook his head of the thought and told himself that he shouldn’t get too excited over the idea of meeting her family as their friendship would have to last long enough for her to want him to meet her family and Stiles hoped it would.

He glanced at his hand and noticed that his claws had receded and gone back to normal, “huh … when did that happen?” he asked himself. He shrugged and got up off his bed and stretched his arms high above his head and heaved out a sigh as he threw his arms back down to his side. He took a step towards his bedroom door opting to go downstairs and make himself some breakfast but his toe seemed to be caught on something and when he looked down he noticed that his toe nails were now claws. “Go figure … first the hands then the feet,” he sighed and sat back down on his bed, “how long am I gonna have to wait until these bad boys go back to normal?” Just as soon as he asked his claws had transformed back into blunt human toe nails right before his eyes.

Stiles startled a little and grabbed his right foot and starred at it for a moment, he felt himself starting to smile and next thing he knew he was laughing hysterically and fist pumping the air, “that was freaking awesome!” He jumped up, “I better get down to the kitchen before anything else changes,” he said as he made a break for the stairs, he got down pretty quick and was in the kitchen before he knew it. He made himself some pop tarts and got himself acquainted with the couch and put on a movie. When he went to take a bite of his pop tart he noticed he took a much larger bite out of it than he wanted and chewing the pop tart was difficult considering his teeth felt like they had doubled in length; he checked what the deal was and he wound up pricking his finger on one of his canines and he wasn’t surprised to find that his teeth had shifted. ‘It’s a good thing I’m not in school today this would have been a disaster,’ he thought.

It didn’t take long at all for his teeth to shift back to blunt human teeth, with that he was able to eat his pop tarts and enjoy his movie. He spent his entire day like that, whenever he’d get hungry, he’d make sure nothing was shifted and when he was sure of that he’d run to the kitchen to make something; then he’d come back and enjoy whatever was on television. His claws on both his hands and feet had appeared more than a few times throughout the day, then he noticed that he was a bit hairy on his arms and saw that his forearm was covered in fur, his legs soon after. The first time he went into the restroom he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and saw his eyes, he could understand why someone would get lost in them, they were beautiful but then he sort of noticed that other features on his face had shifted and his eyebrows were missing. He panicked for a minute and paced around the bathroom and almost pissed himself but luckily the toilet was right next to him; once he was finished using the bathroom he saw himself in the mirror again and he saw that his eyebrows had returned which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

The minor shifts happened all throughout the day and had started becoming more frequent the later it got.

By the time his father and Parish had arrived back at the house half of Stiles body was shifted, “well I see the shift has started,” his dad said as he walked in.

Stiles jumped up off the couch and turned to face his father, “yeah um it’s kind of been going on all day.”

Parrish stepped forward and asked, “How frequent?”

Stiles shrugged, “a few times every hour in all different places.”

Stiles father frowned, “you’re not feeling a little light headed or anything are you?”

Stiles shook his head, “no I feel fine.”

“You still smell …” Parrish didn’t bother finishing.

Stiles noticed his dad glaring at Parrish, “do you need to step outside?”

Parrish pulled himself together and shook his head,” I got this.”

The sheriff nodded and turned back to Stiles, “alright Stiles it’s 6:30 we need to head out to the woods in ten minutes so we can get ready.”

“We found an area just outside of town that should be safe for you to run in.” Parrish said.

“I-I thought we were gonna stay put around the house …” Stiles said.

His dad shook his head, “can’t do that son, we do have neighbors who run in the woods around us and if we were to run in those same woods we would no doubt be spotted by one of them; so Jordan decided it’d be best if we went out of town to do our run.”

“Ye-yeah … I guess you’re right.” Stiles sighed.

“I need to make a phone call, I’ll be outside,” Parrish announced and headed out the front door.

His father glanced at him and Stiles didn’t miss the look of concern on his face, “you ready for this kid?”

Stiles shrugged, “yeah I guess, it can’t be too bad right?”

“Everyone’s experience is different …” his father said.

With the way his dad appeared Stiles started feeling nervous about the whole ordeal and hoped for the best, “yeah okay …”

His father walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder, “it’ll be okay kid, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Stiles nodded, “yeah I know.”

He patted him once more and said, “Okay well I would tell you to go get changed but considering you won’t be needing clothes for this what you have on is fine.”

Stiles looked himself over, after he managed to take a shower earlier he put his black sweats back on and threw on a different long sleeve t-shirt, “okay let’s go.”

His dad nodded and led the way towards the front door, as soon as they stepped out of the house Stiles could hear Parrish speaking to whoever he was on the phone with, “then I guess we’ll meet you there … okay see you then;” he said before hanging up his phone.

“Is someone tagging along with us?” The sheriff asked from beside him.

Parrish turned to face them, “yeah Deaton wants to tag along he said it may save the two of you a hospital visit and he wants to see Stiles in person when he shifts.”

Stiles dad sighed and shrugged, “okay well let’s go then, we’ll take the truck.”

Parrish nodded and immediately headed over to the passenger side and waited for the Sheriff and Stiles as they made their way over to the Police truck and let themselves into the vehicle. Stiles sat in the backseat and started thinking about what it was going to be like to be a fully shifted wolf, he wondered if going through a full shift would hurt a lot, and in that moment he regretted not taking the time to do a little research on fully transforming into a wolf. His dad started up the police truck and they began their venture towards wherever they were going; along the way Stiles dad started probing Parrish to talk about himself just to make small talk, “Parrish when and why did you choose to work for the government?”

“Well um … I joined the military straight out of high school and got into Special Forces with the army; did three tours of war in a span of 8 years and it was in my eighth year when I decided I was done with military life and I wanted to come home. I got offered a job the minute I landed back stateside and obviously the job was working for the government and my assignment was Omega protection, I started that job the same day I came to Beacon Hills and I’ve been doing it for almost 2 years now.” He explained.

Stiles heard his father hum and say, “impressive, there’s one other question I want to ask you.”

“Okay I’m all ears sir,” Parrish said.

“Make that two questions, one do you count your job as a deputy as a real job or is it a cover?” he asked.

Parrish sighed, “Originally I was supposed to consider this job a temporary assignment, when I first came to Beacon Hills I wasn’t planning on staying. My supervisor was adamant about putting me guard duty for the next Omega that presented ...” he stopped and Stiles could tell he was holding something back.

“So what happened?” the sheriff probed.

“I-I,” Parrish stammered, “I got used to the town and I liked the environment that came with it, it’s sort of peaceful and calm compared to major cities. After fighting in a war I realized the one thing I wanted more than anything was a calm lifestyle; I feel like if I was in a major city I would probably be watching my own back unintentionally all the time just because it’s always so hectic and a situation could rise at any moment … that kind of paranoia is stressful. I think my supervisor saw that I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be put on Omega detail and I think he knew that I was still trying to come back from war so instead of putting me on Omega detail and sending me to some big city he let me stay here. So to answer your question after the first 3 months that I was here I started considering my job as a deputy a serious one a little more so than me being a government official.”

Stiles heard the light chuckle that came from his father, “good answer,” the sheriff said. “Now as for the second question, what are the chances of us running into this organization that’s kidnapping Omegas?”

“To be honest I’m not sure,” the deputy said, “I can tell you that if word got out about Stiles being what he is then they would probably make him a priority and there’s no doubt in my mind they would come for him. If we keep what he is a secret, I’m pretty sure we’ll never run into them.”

Stiles was a bit surprised that his father was thinking more about the organization than he was, why that is he wasn’t sure. Maybe he was blocking them out to avoid dealing with more stress either way it didn’t matter; he was going to do everything in his power to make sure no one finds out what he is. Stiles looked out the window and let his mind drift off as they made their way out of town, the car ride to wherever they were heading was silent after his dad was finished interrogating Parrish. Stiles wasn’t sure how long they drove but they eventually pulled off of the main highway and started to drive down a side road that led into the woods. Stiles looked around and was only able to see a mass expanse of trees, “Dad where are we going?” he asked.

“A little spot Jordan found earlier while out on patrol, no one lives out here so we are free to run freely in this part of the woods. I was going to put up caution tape to ward away any stray weres but Jordan said that might attract them rather than ward them away.” His father said.

Stiles hummed, as they road further down the road a car came into view and Parrish sat up in his seat and said, “Looks like Deaton’s already here.” They came to a stop next to the car and got out of the truck, Deaton was standing a few feet in front of his car looking out into the woods. “Dr. Deaton glad you could join us,” Parrish said.

Deaton turned to face him and grinned, “Glad I could be a part of this.” He then looked to Stiles and asked, “Are you ready?”

His father and Parrish both turned to face him and Stiles shrugged, “yeah I guess … shouldn’t be too bad right?”

Deaton shook his head, “for you not at all, trust your instincts and everything should come naturally.”

Stiles nodded and his father cleared his throat and said, “I am grateful that you decided to join us although I am not sure why?”

“Oh right, I apologize for not explaining myself, I know that Stiles has you two to protect him but considering the severity of the situation I felt an extra pair of eyes and ears would be helpful. You never know what could happen and who could be out here and it’s best that we take more precaution given the fact Stiles will be exposed during the run.” Deaton explained.

His dad nodded and said, “You’re right, thank you for doing this.”

The sheriff offered to shake his hand and Deaton gladly accepted, “it’s my pleasure. Now we should probably get started, the earlier we do this the earlier we can end this and avoid running into anyone.”

“Is this not the normal time people go on runs?” Stiles asked.

His father sighed and swiped a hand over his face, “aw crap, I haven’t really given him the rundown on how moonlight runs work.” He looked to Stiles then and said, “sorry son, I should have explained this all to you a long time ago; people usually start their runs around 8 or 9 and they usually last anywhere from 2 to 6 hours. Sometimes people choose to stay with their families or packs, other times people tend to stray away and enjoy a run alone. We will be running as a group to keep you safe, someone will always be in front of you and behind you and since Deaton is here there will always be someone monitoring the surrounding area wherever we go.”

“That seems like a hassle,” Stiles said

“A necessary one,” Deaton chimed.

His father nodded to Deaton and turned back to him and continued explaining, “We have to do whatever we can to make sure no one see’s you.”

“Yeah but no one is out here right? So you guys shouldn’t have to go through so much trouble to make sure I’m not seen.” Stiles said.

“No one is out here yet,” Parrish said.

“People will surely venture out here eventually; we aren’t too far outside of town.” Deaton said.

“I thought the point of coming out here was to get away from people,” Stiles sighed.

“We are,” his father said, “we’ve gotten away from majority of the town but there will be stragglers who roam the woods on the outskirts of town and we need to watch for them and ward them away if they get too close.”

“I should probably mention that weres will be attracted to your scent if they catch wind of it.” Deaton said and the sheriff and Parrish suddenly became alarmed until Deaton held a hand up, “don’t be alarmed, of course this is going to make this run that much more difficult but should we wind up unsuccessful in warding away a straggler and they do approach Stiles, there is no doubt in my mind Stiles can get away without being seen.”

Parrish stepped up and said, “How can you be sure?”

“Parrish, do not forget that he is an Omega and he can easily outrun all of us especially if he’s shifted.” Deaton said.

The sheriff nodded and said, “you seem sure about that so I’m gonna trust what you’re saying is true.” He then turned back to Stiles, “Stiles if anyone manages to somehow get by us you run like hell and don’t look back, try to find your way back here and wait for us.” Stiles nodded and his father looked back to Deaton, “you’re sure he won’t have any problems with control right? Because if he does he won’t be able to do what I asked …”

“He’ll be fine sheriff trust me, now that we have a plan in place we need to start the run, its 7:10 and we don’t want to start at the same time as everyone else unless we want to run a greater risk of running into someone.” Deaton said.

Parrish nodded, “you’re right, I’ll scout ahead and make sure the surrounding area is clear.”

Deaton and the sheriff nodded and Parrish went back to the truck and had started to strip down into his underwear and started folding up his clothes. Stiles caught a glimpse of his chiseled body and had become extremely self-conscious, “Don’t worry son you’re still young, if you work out that could be you someday.”

Stiles couldn’t hide the blush that crept on to his face, “yeah right … wait how did you-“

His dad tapped his nose, “I can smell your anxiety, I’ll teach the scent of emotions throughout the week okay?”

Stiles nodded, “okay”

Parrish finished folding his clothes and left them in the truck, as he closed the door he turned back and nodded to them and made a break for the woods. In the blink of an eye he shifted into a massive wolf with brown fur that had a reddish tone to it; Parrish’s wolf had to be at least 6 feet tall. Stiles watched as he disappeared into the trees at an incredible speed, “Alright son, take off your shirt, sweats and shoes and leave them in the truck,” his dad said next to him.

Stiles nodded and followed his dad back to the truck, while his father stayed on the driver’s side and stripped down, Stiles went to the back of the passenger side and stripped down. When he was finished he walked around towards the front of the truck, his dad and Deaton were waiting looking out towards the tree line. Stiles followed their line of sight and saw Parrish waiting near the edge of the tree line, “must be clear, I’ll go on ahead.” Deaton said and began running towards the tree line and like Parrish in the blink of an eye he shifted into his wolf form, a large black wolf with hints of grey all over his fur, Deaton appeared to be just as big as Parrish, maybe a little bigger.

“Stiles your arm, what-what happened?” his dad asked suddenly.

Stiles looked down at his arms and his eyes immediately went to his ace bandage wrapped around his mark. Of course it was a dead giveaway that something was wrong, “nothing,” Stiles answered.

“Well it looks like something to me,” his dad said as he moved to grab Stiles right arm, “did somebody do this to you?”

“Dad no I-“

Stiles watched as his father’s eyes widened as if he had just realized something, “No-no I remember now, you have a soulmate, I remember looking at your mark when you first went to the hospital it was the whole reason you blew up on me; I can’t believe I forgot about that,” he said.

This was the last thing Stiles wanted, he still wasn’t prepared to discuss his soulmate situation with his dad, who knows what he might do if he found out who his soulmate was. He pulled his arm away from his father and said, “Look I don’t really want to talk about that right now, okay? Can we just focus on the run first, please?”

His dad looked into his eyes for a few seconds and eventually nodded, “okay but we are eventually gonna have to talk about this, you know that right?”

Stiles nodded, “I know, it’s just-I’m not really ready to talk about it just yet.”

“Okay,” his dad said.

Stiles flinched back, “what?”

“Okay,” he answered again, “when you’re ready to talk about it we will, I won’t force you.”

The answer caught him off guard and he stood gaping at his father, “I-I … th-thanks dad.”

His dad nodded and patted him on the shoulder, “are you ready to try shifting?” Stiles nodded in response, “Okay then I need you to focus okay, can you do that for me?” his dad asked.

“That’s kinda hard when you’re standing half naked in front of me,” Stiles said.

His dad chuckled, “I know but I really do need you to try and focus.”

Stiles nodded, “okay.”

“Alright close your eyes,” he said and Stiles slowly shut his eyes, “I need to focus on your wolf, let your wolf take over, imagine yourself as your wolf and-“

Suddenly as Stiles was listening to his father he felt something strange come over him, he wasn’t sure what it was but it was definitely a new feeling he had never experienced before. He felt two hands clasp his face and he heard his father’s voice, “Stiles … Stiles buddy I need you to open your eyes, you-you did it … you shifted.”

Stiles opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was his snout and the fur around it, his fur was white but not completely he had a reddish brown tone to his fur; he suddenly became elated and tried jumping around only to fall flat on his face, he had forgotten he no longer operated on two legs but four. “Stiles are you okay?” His dad asked his voice laced with concern.

Stiles struggled but he slowly managed to pick himself back up and stand tall on all four legs, now that he was shifted he stood taller than his dad but only by a few inches, a foot at most. His father shifted in front of him and it was the first time Stiles had seen his father’s wolf in a long time; he had forgotten how big he was and how magnificent he looked; he was a large wolf with fur that was a deep shade of brown with grey undertones all over. His father towered over him he had to be at least 5-8 feet bigger than Stiles.

Suddenly his dad was using his snout to probe him to move, “go son,” Stiles heard.

“Dad?” Stiles questioned.

“Yeah it’s me son, I can talk to you through our bond, because you are my son you are a part of my pack and because of that I can speak to you through it. Now I need you to try walking for me okay,” his dad said as he continued to probe him to move. Stiles complied and stepped forward with his right paw and then his left and almost tumbled forward until he caught himself, “You walk on four legs now, you need to use your hind legs too Stiles. Let your instincts guide you.”

Stiles tried again and this time he actually managed to start walking, “dad-dad I got it!”

“That’s good son now try and pick up the pace and head over towards Parrish and Deaton,” his father said. Stiles turned and looked over to Deaton and Parrish next to the tree line, they were a little ways away but walking the distance would make excellent practice for Stiles. So he started walking towards them slowly pacing himself so that he wouldn’t fall flat on his face again; his father came up behind him and said, “Follow and keep pace.” He started to prance along in front of him and Stiles struggled to keep up, he couldn’t keep his footing for anything and his paws kept tangling up with one another but he somehow avoided collapsing. “Use your instincts Stiles,” his father said.

“Easier said than done,” he said; he watched as his father paced further ahead of him suddenly he closed his eyes and allowed his instincts to take charge and as soon as he did that he could feel himself walking easier as if he were on two legs. He picked up the pace and soon after he felt the wind in his fur if he didn’t know any better he would think he was running on clouds.

“Stiles … STILES SLOW DOWN!” his father yelled causing him to open his eyes and he realized he was no longer looking towards the tree line, he was now pretty deep in the woods. Stiles couldn’t believe that he was in the woods already considering he had only shut his eyes for a few seconds; there was no way he could make it all the way into the woods from where he was in that amount of time, wolf speed or not. His father, Parrish and Deaton had all raced into the woods together and surrounded him as soon as they caught up to him, “Stiles how-how did you do that?” His father asked.

“That is the speed of an Omega, the fastest weres on the planet,” Stiles heard Deaton say.

Stiles perked up, “wait Deaton I can hear you, does that mean you and my dad are in a pack together?”

“It’s necessary, for this we need to be able to communicate with one another,” Deaton said.

Parrish walked up near Stiles and sniffed him, “his scent has finally settled … a little.”

“As expected, it should return to normal when he shifts back into a human,” Deaton said.

“How is he managing to stay in control?” Stiles heard his father ask.

“It’s like I told you before, Omegas are one with their were counterpart, control is no issue for them like it is for the rest of us.” Deaton said.

Parrish started pawing at Stiles ears, “he’s so small compared to us.”

Stiles attempted to bite Parrish’s paw but he backed away and had just avoided him, “he still has some growing to do Parrish, you know this.” Deaton said.

Stiles looked hard into Parrish’s red eyes and barred his teeth, he would have thought Parrish would do the same but instead he stood there and next thing Stiles knew Parrish had sat back on his hind legs starring back at him. Deaton walked in between them, “that’s enough of that.”

Parrish sprung back up and glanced around frantically, “what-what happened?”

Deaton turned back to face Parrish and said, “He put you in a trance.”

“I did?” Stiles asked.

“Yes you did but we don’t have time to get into the details of how, we should go. Sheriff you may lead the way I will follow behind Stiles, Parrish will scout the perimeter as we move.” Deaton said.

“Got it,” Parrish said.

“Let’s go,” his father said and started running away from them.

“Follow him Stiles,” Deaton said.

“Okay,” Stiles obliged and let his instincts take over again and he started moving chasing after his father. It was no trouble catching up to his dad the problem was he was having trouble trying not to outrun him. Eventually he was able to maintain a pace that would keep him just behind his dad and just ahead of Deaton; as he ran through the woods he began to marvel at how much clearer everything seemed, his hearing, his vision and all of his senses seemed to be enhanced to a whole new level, it was incredible. Stiles had read online that running as a fully shifted wolf was an intoxicating experience that you could never get tired of and he completely agreed with that. He wasn’t sure how long they had been running, if he had to take a guess he would fine about 15 minutes but he could be wrong.

“How are you doing Stiles?” His father asked.

“Fine dad,” he answered.

“Sheriff we should start heading back, we’ve been at this now for a little over 2 hours.” Deaton said.

“It’s been 2 hours already?! How can you tell?” Stiles asked he was in awe at how easy it was to lose track of time.

“The perimeter Parrish is running takes him about 5 minutes to fully cover and he’s ran it 28 times; do the math and you will know that it’s been a little over 2 hours and we should probably start heading back,” Deaton explained. Stiles had to admit that he was a little jealous of how perceptive Deaton was.

“He’s right sir we need to get back to the vehicles, something isn’t right.” Parrish said.

“Stiles, Deaton stop now,” the sheriff ordered and they did, he sniffed the air, “Parrish where are you?”

“I’m on your 20, I hear something” he answered.

“Where, in front of us or behind us?” The sheriff asked.

“Did you stop running?” he asked.

“Yes we-“

“Stiles get back to the truck now, do not stop for anyone or anything, go NOW!” Parrish yelled.

“There’s a pack tailing us, I can hear them now, they aren’t that far away from us, they’ve most likely caught onto Stiles scent,” Deaton said. “Stiles when you get back to the vehicles shift back, your scent should go back to normal and whoever is following you won’t recognize your scent.”

“Go son go right now go as fast as you can, follow our scent back to the vehicles and wait for us there! MOVE!” His father commanded.

“But dad-“

“GO STILES!” He commanded, Stiles startled back a little but eventually pulled himself together and started to run back in the direction they had come. He couldn’t afford to go the pace he had set with his dad, he needed to go faster, he needed to let loose, he needed to be sure he wouldn’t be seen by anyone. So he ran and soon everything around him passed by like a blur, he wasn’t sure how long he had been running but he made it back to the clearing where they initially started there run in what seemed like no time at all. He stopped at the edge of the woods and turned back searching for his father, Parrish and Deaton but the only thing he saw was trees.

Parrish’s words came to mind ‘don’t stop for anything,’ and Stiles knew he needed to keep going and get back to the truck. So he ran out into the clearing towards his dad’s police truck, he could see it the minute he came out from the tree line. He was almost to the truck when suddenly he came to a stop, if someone was following him they would probably scent his discarded boxer briefs on the ground and if they did that they would probably scent part of whatever smell he was giving off. He took a quick whiff of the air and was easily able to scent his where his undergarments were; he raced over and picked them up with his teeth and he was surprised to see they were still intact. He then looked around the clearing, he could shift back here but there was one problem, he wasn’t exactly sure how to shift back and he wasn’t sure if he should shift back in such an open area.

So instead he raced past his father’s truck and looked for a place that was secluded and covered so no one would see him. He also needed to make sure that this area wasn’t too far away from his dad’s truck because he would need to race back to it and put his clothes back on before anyone saw him. He knew he needed to use all of his senses to ensure that he wouldn’t be spotted, so as he ran in search of said area he listened out for anyone and anything; he couldn’t hear anything other than bugs flying around, owls hooting the normal sounds one would expect from the woods. He eventually came upon a large bush that wasn’t too far from the truck, it provided the perfect cover for him to shift back and get his underwear back on.

He ran around it and hid in the shadow of the bush, “okay so how exactly am I supposed to shift back?” he asked himself. “Shift now …” he tried but to no avail, “that was stupid. What the hell am I supposed to do?” He couldn’t figure out what the secret was to shifting, he stood there for about five minutes trying to go over what exactly he needed to do to go back to being a human but nothing came to mind. He had an idea that it was probably something simple and all he needed to do was close his eyes and focus on being human and that would be that and it turns out that was exactly it. Once he tried it he found himself shifting back to his human form, his fur dissipated, his claws receded and his arms and legs went back to the way he’s used to. When he was fully shifted back into his human form he quickly threw his boxer briefs back on, “that was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” he said. He peeked around the bush and scanned the area, from what he could see there was no one in sight he opted to make a break for the truck but there was one problem he didn’t have any shoes on so instead he was forced to pace himself simply to make sure that he didn’t step on anything that might hurt him. Luckily he managed to make it back to the truck without so much as a scratch and he quickly jumped in the back seat and started throwing his clothes back on; he kept looking out the front window and anticipated seeing something but nothing was there.

When he got his clothes back on he stepped out of the truck and looked around the clearing, there was nothing in fact something strange was going on because Stiles definitely felt like he heard all the same things he did when he was a wolf. Did his enhanced senses stick with his human form too? He would have to find out later, right now he just needed to worry about who was going to come out from behind the tree line. He stood outside for almost 45 minutes until suddenly he heard something out of the ordinary, multiple branches cracking underneath the weight of something that was coming his way. He couldn’t tell if it was his dad, Parrish or Deaton and he probably should have gotten back in the truck but his curiosity got the best of him. He started to walk towards the front of the truck looking on at the tree line, the clearing was illuminated by the moons light up until the tree line so he should be able to see glowing eyes approaching with no problem and he did. But it wasn’t just one pair of eyes it was at least 8, spread all across the tree line both red and blue alike.

‘Shit … shit shit shit shit shit, what the hell do I do?’ He asked himself as he stepped back towards the truck. ‘Get back in the truck and lock the door,’ he told himself as he slowly backed up towards the truck. As he was backing up he noticed something on the ground, it was his ace bandage that he used to cover his mark; he figured it probably still had a bit of the scent he was giving off before on it so he picked it up and stashed it in his pocket and continued to back up towards the truck slowly. He wasn’t sure why he was moving so slow the clearing was pretty large and the weres in the woods still hadn’t broken the tree line. Once Stiles realized that he turned around quickly and opened the passenger door he wasn’t planning on sitting in the front seat because the windows weren’t tinted and you could easily see inside of the truck but the back windows were tinted; but in his dad’s police truck there was a barrier between the front and backseat as there would be in any police vehicle and Stiles wasn’t able to lock the doors from the backseat so he needed the keys so that he could lock the doors.

His dad had left them on top of his folded clothes, Stiles grabbed them and closed the passenger door and looked back out towards the tree line. The many sets of glowing eyes were still very visible and from what Stiles could hear they were padding closer and closer nearing the edge of the woods, they would break the tree line at any moment and if they haven’t already spotted Stiles they would definitely spot him once they exited the woods. Stiles opened up the back door and hoped into the truck and hit the lock button on the keys and all the doors locked and he was forced to sit and wait as whoever was approaching crept closer and closer.

Eventually Stiles could see a massive dark wolf come into the clearing, it was an Alpha and it moved at a slow pace as if he or she were stalking prey. Stiles hoped that Deaton was right and that his scent went back to normal when he shifted back to a human, it would be just his luck if it didn’t and he wound up getting caught because of it. The wolf was about halfway across the clearing when Stiles noticed that other wolves were starting to break the tree line and come into the clearing. There were at least 2 Alphas and about 6 or 7 Betas the other Alpha was going in the direction of the bush Stiles changed behind. The betas stayed near the tree line and scanned the clearing.

Stiles felt his heart hammering in his chest; he could hear each beat in his ears, and his heart rate increased as the first Alpha came closer and closer to the truck. It was about ten feet away when Stiles noticed the wolf looked back as if it were distracted by something that’s when Stiles heard a vicious snarl come from the woods. The Betas near the tree line moved further into the clearing and the Alpha that was approaching his dad’s truck moved to rejoin them that’s when Stiles saw three sets of Alpha red eyes he knew it was his dad, Parrish and Deaton. They each came out of the woods and each of them gave a vicious snarl to the Betas around, Stiles could see his dad approach the Alpha he stalked up close to it as if he were challenging it. From what Stiles could see his dad was easily 1 to 2 feet bigger than the Alpha and that must have intimidated it from even trying to challenge him.

The Alpha yipped at the Betas surrounding them and the other Alpha that was heading towards the bush had appeared by them and led them back into the woods. Once they all disappeared behind the tree line the last Alpha followed them in and disappeared into the night, his dad was the first to turn and make a break for the truck. He saw him quickly shift back and fumble around with his underwear trying to put them back on, Stiles unlocked the doors when he got close to the truck and his dad quickly opened up the driver’s side door, “Stiles are you okay?”

Stiles sighed, “I’m fine dad I don’t think they saw me.” His dad sighed in relief and started gathering his clothes so that he could put them back on.

Parrish was the next one to make it to the truck, “Stiles?!” He yelled as he opened the door.

“He’s fine Parrish … thankfully, he doesn’t think he was spotted,” the sheriff said.

Parrish sighed, “Oh thank you God.”

“That could have been bad but he managed,” the sheriff said.

“If I reported in that I screwed up and possibly compromised the Omega, HQ would have given me an earful.” Parrish said.

“Yeah well they wouldn’t have been the only ones to do so; now put your clothes on you’re making me feel out of shape.” The sheriff said. Parrish huffed but started gathering up his clothes and putting them back on, “Stiles I’m gonna need the keys.”

Stiles opened the door and got out of the truck and handed his dad the key and he received a pat on the head because of that, Stiles swatted his dad hand away, “why do you always do that, it’s embarrassing.”

“Just trying to show you that I’m proud of you that’s all,” his dad said and that made Stiles clam up a little.

“I knew he could make it back without a problem, he even figured out how to shift back on his own; you have a smart kid John, you should be proud.” Deaton said as he walked around his car, he was completely dressed.

His dad looked to him with an immense amount of pride, “yeah he sure is something.”

Deaton nodded and looked to Stiles, “Stiles how do you feel?”

Stiles shrugged and looked over himself, “nothing feels out of the ordinary but I am kinda tired.”

Deaton hummed, “that’s normal all you need is a goodnights rest and you should be fine.”

Stiles nodded he had a few questions for Deaton that he wanted to ask before they left, “so now that I’ve shifted I can shift anytime I want right?”

Deaton nodded, “yes you can, all you have to do is follow what you did before and obviously the same thing applies if you want to change back to being a human.”

Stiles looked at his hands he couldn’t help the growing excitement he felt, he was now a fully presented werewolf. He looked back at Deaton, “so do I smell normal again?”

“Well you’re definitely not exuding a ridiculous amount of Omega pheromones anymore so your scent has become less appealing. So yes I would presume your scent has gone back to normal,” Deaton said.

“He’s right; before your scent was pretty nice especially this morning I swear I thought I was gonna go crazy being around you but now-now you smell like a normal teenager maybe a little better than that.” Parrish said walking around the truck fully clothed.

Stiles heard his father stifle a laugh, “gee thanks,” Stiles said a little peeved.

“Now that you’re fully presented and have complete control over yourself, I shouldn’t have to remind you that it is of the upmost importance that your Omega status remains a secret for your safety.” Deaton said.

Stiles nodded, “I know, I’m not gonna tell anybody I promise. Can I ask you something else?”

Deaton nodded, “I’m listening.”

Stiles thought about what he wanted to ask he did have a question for Deaton but he couldn’t really remember what it was; “never mind forget it I-I sort of forgot what I was going to ask you.”

Deaton smirked and nodded, “okay well if you remember you can always contact me and speaking of contacting me Sheriff-John if it’s not a problem with you in the future should you and Stiles choose to go on a run I would like to accompany you, tonight has proven to me that more eyes and ears are necessary in keeping Stiles safe from exposure.”

The sheriff nodded, “that’s fine by me.”

“Good, Parrish has all my contact information if you need to get in touch with me. Now I know we had another appointment scheduled for Stiles but I don’t think that it will be necessary.” Deaton said and looked to Stiles, “this means you’re free to go back to school tomorrow.”

Stiles sighed, “I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that … not.”

“Well we better get going then so you can get to bed,” his dad said patting him on the head. He looked over to Deaton and offered to shake his hand, “Deaton thank you.”

Deaton shook the sheriff’s hand, “it was my pleasure, you boys have a good night.”

“Thanks for the help tonight,” Parrish said.

Deaton nodded to him, “make sure Stiles stays safe.”

Parrish nodded, “alright time to go,” the sheriff said and they each got in their designated vehicle and drove away from the clearing, sometime during the ride Stiles dozed off succumbing to the exhaustion that suddenly overwhelmed him.

Derek's POV

The weekend did not go the way Derek wanted it to, first the party that was supposed to be life-changing and a fresh start for Derek turned out to be a massive disaster. Then there was his hospital visit and finding out there was nothing he could do about his soul mark; followed by a very awkward dinner with Boyd and his grandmother. It didn’t help any that he found out from Isaac that Scott was no longer allowed to associate himself with them. Top that off with Laura nagging him all weekend and he had the perfect recipe for a shitty weekend.

Derek’s shitty weekend was killing his mood and it was made obvious to him when he showed up to school Monday morning, Erica and Jackson had called him out on it telling him that he was being unreasonably sour. Derek brushed off their comments and told them the reason for his bad mood was because he hadn’t slept well but he knew they didn’t buy that. It didn’t matter to him anyway he didn’t give them the opportunity to interrogate him as he wound up leaving the conversation before it could continue, claiming he wanted to get to class early. Boyd knew the reasoning behind his mood and made an effort not to bring up the events of the weekend and Derek appreciated him that much more for that.

While they were in weight training a few of their acquaintances had been looking at Derek funny, Derek wasn’t sure why until the class ended and he got in the hallway there were more than a few people staring at him. This wasn’t anything unusual for him as he usually had a few admirers whenever he walked the halls but this time was different it sort of reminded him of when he first presented as an Alpha and people were throwing themselves at him begging him to claim them. As he walked by his classmates some were blatant with their interest in him, he thought that was done for after he’d always shown disinterest in anyone who showed they were interested in him but something changed and he needed to find out what that was. Erica had come racing down the hall with a wide grin on her face she was happy about something, when she reached Derek and Boyd instead of greeting Boyd first she went to Derek and grabbed his hands squealed in excitement.

Boyd looked a little concerned at that and Derek couldn’t figure out what was going on, “Erica?” he questioned.

“I’m sorry but I just sort of heard probably the best rumor that’s gone around this school,” she said.

“Okay so what’s the rumor?” Boyd asked.

Erica looked to him and smirked, “Derek here is apparently a sex god in bed.”

Derek withdrew his hands from hers, “what?”

Erica grinned wide and nodded her head, “yeah it’s all over school, a few people told me about it in class apparently the shenanigans you pulled at the party with Breaden were not easily forgotten and Derek when I tell you that you have some serious admirers I mean it.” She reached in her bag and pulled out a few pieces of paper, “do you see these? These are notes to you with numbers in them from girls and guys that want to hook up, I think there’s like 4 or 5 in here and these are all from my first class. This is just like when you first presented only a little better because now you’re actually putting yourself out there.”

“Let me see those,” Boyd said taking the notes from Erica, he opened one up and seemed a little surprised by what he saw. “I’ve seen desperate but this is taking it to a whole new level, this person actually wrote their address and said they would leave their bedroom window unlocked so Derek could sneak in and have his way with them.”

Erica shrugged, “yeah okay it’s desperate but at least now Derek has options … not that he didn’t before.”

Derek thought that this had to be some kind of cruel and unusual punishment, of course a rumor would spread about him being great in bed and net him some more admirers after he couldn’t actually do anything about it. He’s been shackled against his will and is now forced to look at all the things he could have had and that did nothing to lift his mood, “throw them away,” he said.

Erica flinched at that, “what? You’re not serious right?”

“Yeah I am, throw them away, burn them, do something with them just get them away from me.” Derek said.

“Why-wait … Oh my God are you and Breaden exclusive?” Erica asked.

“No,” Derek growled.

“Then what-“

“Erica stop,” Boyd said, it was the first time Derek has ever heard Boyd sound even a little upset with her.

Erica seemed a bit shell shocked at first then she started mumbling, “wha-what’s going on?”

Derek looked at the notes that Boyd held, “can you throw those away for me on your way to your next class?”

Boyd nodded and Derek gave him a small smile before leaving, “Derek …. Derek wait what’s going on?!” Erica called as he walked away but he didn’t feel like answering her so he left her hanging, he just couldn’t find it in him to talk about his situation with anyone other than Boyd. He walked the halls and headed for his next class ignoring the many on lookers and he silently cursed the wind when he realized that he was walking towards English class with Ms. Karagan the same class he shared with Isaac and Erica and Breaden. As he approached the room Breaden was standing outside the class waiting for him she walked to him the minute she spotted him, “hey how are you?” she asked.

“Fine,” Derek answered dryly.

Breaden nodded and looked him over, “so did you figure anything out about … you know,” she pointed to his arm.

Derek nodded and said, “Yeah.”

She looked to him expectantly, “so what is it? What’s wrong?”

Derek could only tolerate so much before he started to snap and he was at his breaking point, he leaned in close to her and said, “None of your fucking business.”

Breaden flinched back from him, “what? You said you would tell me what was going on when you found out?”

Derek grunted and rolled his eyes, “I changed my mind now leave me the hell alone.”

He tried to walk past her but she grabbed hold of his arm, “Derek wait-“

Derek yanked his arm out her hold, “no, you don’t get to act like I owe you anything because I don’t. I don’t owe you a fucking explanation as to what happened to me because you’re nothing to me and that’s that. My problem is personal and I’m trying to find a fucking way to deal with it; so why don’t you do you and me a favor and just leave me the hell alone.”

Breaden was stunned into silence she must have been able to hear the truth in his words and Derek could see that what he said was having an effect on her but he didn’t care. He turned around and walked into Ms. Karagan’s class without looking back; he was surprised to see that Isaac was already seated in class. He looked just as down as Derek felt and he didn’t need to scent him to know that he was incredibly sad, he wasn’t handling the Scott situation well at all. “Hey Isaac,” Derek said as he sat next to him.

“Hey,” he greeted sounding very glum.

“You don’t look so good buddy,” Derek said stating the obvious.

“I saw Scott before I came here,” Isaac huffed and swiped a hand over his face, “he told me to stay from him, actually he said that all of us should stay away from him.”

Derek sighed and laid his head on his desk, “fucking great,” he whispered.

Isaac sighed, “Do you think maybe we messed up?”

Derek didn’t get the chance to ask him what he meant by that as the last of the students rushed into the room to make it on time including Erica and Breaden. Erica sat down in the desk next to him looking extremely pissed and Derek had a good idea as to why she was, Derek caught a glimpse of Breaden and he noticed her face was tear stained he had to admit that he did feel a little bad for making her cry but he wasn’t going to apologize to her she brought it on herself, if she had minded her own business he wouldn’t have had to hurt her. Luckily the class went by smoothly, Erica didn’t badger him at all, Isaac stayed silent for the most part, it was probably the most mellow the three of them would ever be.

When class ended they each got up and awkwardly looked to one another as if they weren’t sure what to do next, Derek sighed, “come on let’s go to lunch,” and lead them out of the room towards the cafeteria to meet up with everyone else. Along the way Erica apologized to Derek stating that she was sorry if he felt that she was pressuring him into doing things he didn’t want to do. He accepted her apology and apologized for his bad mood stating that he had a pretty shitty weekend, Erica then asked Isaac why he was so down and he explained to her what happened with Scott earlier in the day and she completely understood why he was so down.

Lunch went by a little slower than Derek would have liked it to, he wasn’t sure what the deal was but the group mojo he had with his friends was completely thrown off and it felt like something was missing and Derek had a good idea as to what or who it was. The whole time Jackson gloated about his awesome party and how much Derek missed out, Lydia seemed dejected like she hardly cared about anything that was going on and the same could be said for Isaac. Derek could tell that Erica was doing her best to engage in as much conversation as possible to save the group from feeling awkward around one another but it wasn’t exactly working. Derek knew they needed to talk about Scott and Allison and they needed to do it now because their silence on the subject would tear them apart, “okay we need to talk,” Derek said leaning forward on the table interrupting Jackson.

“Yeah we do,” Lydia whispered Isaac shuddered in the seat next to Derek.

Derek rubbed his temples and tried to remain calm, “I know we’re missing Scott and Allison, it’s pretty obvious.” No one said anything even Jackson who was happily gloating about his party now fell silent and appeared a little glum. “It sucks but it doesn’t mean it’s the end, maybe both of them just need a little time and who knows maybe in a few days or a few weeks or months we’ll be talking to them again and it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

“I highly doubt that this is something we’ll be able to sweep under the rug and pretend like it never happened,” Lydia said.

Isaac sat up in his seat and sighed, “She’s right you guys weren’t there when Scott’s mom was grilling me, she was pissed and I saw Scott this morning and he’s serious about not wanting to have anything to do with us.”

Lydia huffed, “Allison doesn’t even want to look at me let alone have a conversation with me.”

Derek groaned and grabbed the bridge of his nose, “then we just have to move forward without them. At the end of the day we need to remember that we are still friends and turning our backs on each other because of what happened isn’t going to make anything better. I know it hurts and I know it sucks but it isn’t the end of the world and there are plenty of other people out there that can fill the void they left behind.”

“I don’t think anyone except them can fill that void Derek but you’re right by the sounds of things this whole situation is bad and I can’t imagine what we can do to make this better. So our only option is to just accept the fact that shit happens and move forward.” Boyd chimed.

“This sucks,” Isaac said his voice wavering.

“Do you guys really think there’s nothing we can do?” Jackson asked.

“Honestly Jackson, we would need a miracle to happen for them to forgive us,” Boyd said.

Jackson scoffed and threw his hands up showing how exasperated he felt, “I can’t believe this bull shit happened over fucking Stilinski.”

No one said anything after that, they each just looked down at the uneaten food in front of them, “regardless of why it happened we have to stick together in this, if we push each other away because of what happened we’re just going to wind up feeling worse than we already do,” Derek said.

Erica smiled, “wow Derek, you’re really starting to live up to being an Alpha.”

Derek smirked “yeah well what choice do I have?” He asked and started gathering his things and stood up, “I’m gonna get out of here I got a lot on my mind besides this and I really need some time alone to clear my head.”

“Okay if you need anything we’re here,” Erica said.

“Derek,” Lydia called before he left, “thank you for that talk surprisingly it sort of helped and I didn’t want you to leave without one of us thanking you.”

Derek nodded to her and walked away from the table at least he was able to mend a potential problem before it got out of hand, he didn’t want to imagine what it would be like if his circle of friends completely shattered. As he was about to exit the cafeteria he spotted Laura at a table with her friends laughing loudly, she looked over to him and waved at him and he waved back before he walked out of the cafeteria. Once he was in the main corridor he spotted his sister Cora, she was near the library and from what Derek could see she was on her phone again. He figured now was as good a time as any to figure out who she was talking to at least then he could get his mind off of his own problems. He stalked up slowly to her trying not to alert her of his presence but she noticed him anyway, “hi Derek,” she said.

“Hi Cora, what are you doing?” He asked.

Cora put her phone back in her pocket and sighed, “Waiting for lunch to end. Do you need something? Why are you out here?”

Derek sighed, “I needed to get away from people, feeling a little stressed out lately.”

Cora frowned, “why are you stressed?”

“I don’t know I mean I do know but I-I can’t really talk about it right now without feeling like I’m gonna lose my mind,” Derek said.

Cora huffed, “maybe you should see a therapist.”

Derek chuckled at that, “maybe you’re right.” It was times like these that he appreciated his little sister, unlike Laura, Cora was not one to pry in a serious situation, she always knows when someone needs space and Derek admired that about her. A comfortable silence fell between them for just a moment then Derek heard Cora’s phone buzz from her pocket, she quickly took it out and whatever she was looking at put a bright smile on her face. “Are you ever gonna tell us who you’re talking to?”

She looked up from her phone and tried to hide her smile, “it’s just a friend I made.”

Derek smirked, “with the way you’re smiling I’d think you have a crush on this person.”

Cora rolled her eyes, “oh please no way, I just met him last week … he’s … he just reminds me of me and I guess we sort of relate to one another in more ways than one.”

Derek scrutinized her, “he isn’t some weird emo kid is he?”

Cora swatted at him, “are you trying to say I’m a weird emo kid?”

Derek laughed outright and fended her off, “no, I’m just teasing but seriously when are you gonna introduce this guy to me. You don’t have to introduce him to Laura but I mean come on you can at least let me meet him.”

Cora shrugged, “maybe … maybe you guys can meet him tomorrow? We’ll come eat lunch with you or something.”

“Why can’t we meet him today is he not here?” Derek wondered.

“Duh genius, if he was I’d probably be hanging out with him,” she said.

“Is he really a student here?” Derek asked.

Cora scoffed, “yes Derek he’s a student here you’ll see him tomorrow.”

Derek held out his pinky finger, “Promise?”

Cora scoffed and grabbed his pinky with hers, “I promise, now can we drop this?”

Derek shrugged, “yeah sure whatever,” he was content that he managed to get her to agree to let him meet her new friend at least he had something to look forward to tomorrow.

“So are you gonna run tonight?” She asked.

Derek sighed; with everything going on he forgot that tonight was the full moon, “I don’t know I think I might sit this one out.”

“You’re not gonna go? Wow you really must be dealing with something serious then and I hope it has nothing to do with these ridiculous rumors going around about you being great in bed. Wait a second … you’re not trying to avoid running to hook up with someone-“

Derek groaned loudly, “No Cora I’m not hooking up with anyone I swear, those are just rumors and they’re stupid.”

Cora shrugged, “yeah I figured as much …” she said looking him over, “Derek?”

Derek looked at her out of the corner of his eye, “yeah?”

“Are you-are you gonna be okay?” She asked.

Derek sighed, “Yeah I think so …”

Cora huffed, “you don’t sound so sure about that.” The bell rung just after she said that, “well I hope that you can get over whatever you’re dealing with.” She said as she started to walk towards her next class.

“Yeah me too,” Derek said he waved at her and told her, “I’ll see you at home,” before leaving and heading for his next class.

The rest of the school day passed by relatively quickly, before he went home Isaac and Boyd wanted to know if he was going out on a run that night and he told both of them that he was opting to stay in much to their disappointment. Boyd had told him that Jackson and his parents had invited them to go on a moonlight run that would extend to the outskirts of town, Erica and Isaac had already agreed to go they just needed to ask their parents. Long runs with a big group sounded tempting but Derek just wasn’t feeling up to it, if he couldn’t run with his family there is no way he could run with his friends and he always felt uncomfortable whenever he ran with anyone other than family; the temporary pack bond he felt when running with others seemed foreign to the bond he had with his family and he didn’t like it. That specific reasoning made it much easier to cope with the idea that he might miss out on something.

When he went home and told his mom and dad that he was opting to stay in for the night he was surprised to find that they were okay with it. His dad had said that he seemed stressed about something and if he needed to talk he could always come to him. His mom gave him a knowing look and told him to relax for the night; he gave her a hug as a show of his appreciation towards her and for keeping his secret. Laura was not thrilled that Derek was skipping out on the run and it only caused her to badger him a little more until his parents told her to lay off; everyone else was okay with him staying behind. His family wound up leaving around 7:30/8:00 p.m. if they followed their usual routine they would be gone for a little more than three hours. As soon as they left, the house was quiet and Derek was left alone with his thoughts and he found himself in his room laid out on his bed; he went over the events of the last few days and it was crazy to him how just two weeks ago everything was going fine and nothing in his life seemed like it could go wrong.

But everything he never thought would happen happened and now it seemed like he was only a step away from his life turning into an absolute disaster. He mentally berated himself over how mopey and woe is me he seemed he knew that he was sort of acting like a selfish spoiled brat throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t have it his way and that wasn’t okay. He knew he needed to fix his attitude and up his mood or he was gonna wind up queuing someone in on the fact that he was dealing with something he wasn’t prepared to handle. So sometime around 8:30 p.m. he came to the conclusion that he needed to be happy for all the good things he had in life and that he needed to stop focusing on the negative; if he could do that he could live his life the way he did before. In that moment he picked himself up off his bed and walked over to the bathroom and took a good look at himself in the mirror and told himself that everything would be okay and things would get better and he had no other choice but to believe that. He went to bed shortly after that telling himself that tomorrow is a new day and it will be a good one.

Stiles POV

Stiles was awoken from a very deep slumber by somebody shaking him, “Stiles … Stiles, you have to get up we need to get to the school … Stiles,” he opened his eyes slowly and wiped away the sleep from his eyes and saw his father standing over him. “Hey kid I need you to get up we have a very important meeting today,” his dad said.

He looked around and saw that he was back in his room he didn’t remember ever making it home last night he just remembered leaving the clearing in the truck so he figured he must have dozed off on the way home. “What time is it?” Stiles asked.

“It’s 6:00 a.m. we need to be at the school in an hour, okay?” His dad said.

Stiles stretched out in his bed and slowly got himself up, “okay.”

“You want me to make you some pop tarts or something?” His dad asked.

Stiles looked at him still trying rub the sleep from his eyes, “yeah sure whatever, I’m gonna get dressed first.”

His dad nodded, “okay be downstairs in a half hour.”

Stiles nodded and said, “okay,” and his father left his room; he walked over to his bathroom and saw himself in the mirror, he had serious bed head and a little eye baggage, overall he looked a little disheveled but it wasn’t anything a hot shower couldn’t fix. He wound up spending a good twenty minutes in the shower and needless to say he needed it; when he got out and dried himself off he opted to throw on his usual attire that being some jeans and a t-shirt covered by a hoodie. When he went to put his hoodie on he noticed something was missing but he couldn’t figure out what it was until he glanced at his right arm and noticed the ace bandage he used to cover his mark was missing.

That’s when he remembered that he stashed it in his pocket last night when he was out in the clearing; his dad might have known once again that he had a soul mate but he didn’t want anyone else knowing. Luckily he had his hoodie sleeves to cover his arm so he wouldn’t necessarily need the ace bandage. He threw on his hoodie and zipped it up, grabbed, his bag and went downstairs, he heard the pop tarts pop out of the toaster as soon as he entered the kitchen, his dad had gathered them onto a napkin and turned around and handed them to him just as he walked in. “Here you can eat these on the way to the school,” he said as he handed Stiles the pop tarts.

Stiles took them from him and looked around the house, “did Parrish go home?”

His dad nodded, “yeah he needed to change his uniform he said he would meet us at the school which …” he looked at his wrist watch, “we need to be heading to right now. We need to be there by 7 and I’m not missing this meeting with your principal for anything.”

Stiles gave him a small smile, “alright well I’m ready when you are.”

“Alright get your keys and let’s go,” he said as he headed for the front door.

Stiles followed his dad to school in his jeep and they arrived at the school at around 6:45 a.m., Parrish had already been there waiting for them. His dad pulled in next to his cruiser and Stiles parked next to his dad it wasn’t the usual spot he parked his jeep in but at the moment he didn’t particularly mind, “You feeling better?” Parrish asked as Stiles got out of his jeep.

Stiles nodded, “yeah I guess.”

Parrish smirked, “good you were out like a light last night; you didn’t even flinch when I carried you in the house.”

Stiles gawked, “You-you carried me?”

His father sighed, “How else were we supposed to get you in the house? I tried waking you up but you weren’t responding to anything, if I couldn’t hear your heartbeat I would have thought you were dead.” Parrish nodded in agreement, “alright boys let’s get this over with,” the sheriff said as he lead the way into the school.

The school was practically empty aside from a few early bird students; Stiles, his dad and Parrish each made their way to the front office, when they entered they were greeted by Shelly, “Good morning boys, I’m assuming you’re here to see Principal Thomas?”

“Yes we have a meeting with him at 7,” the sheriff answered.

Shelly nodded, “alright, please follow me to the conference room.” She said and led them back to an empty conference room, as they got seated she informed them that Principal Thomas will be with them shortly.

They waited for less than five minutes before Principal Thomas came waltzing into the room, “Good morning gentlemen.” He greeted and took a seat across from them, “before we start I want to say that I apologize for the circumstances behind this meeting and I hope that we can get this all squared away and leave this room on a much better note.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” the sheriff said.

Principal Thomas nodded and pulled out a notebook and a file, “good. Well I’d much rather get the easy part of this out of the way and move on to the more difficult topics afterward. So with that being said Deputy Parrish I understand that you have requested permission for Stiles to use phone in class and stated that it is only for his safety, correct?”

Parrish nodded, “yes that is correct, I’m going to be texting him making sure that he is okay throughout the school day and I want to make sure he doesn’t get in trouble for using his phone when he’s checking in with me. I check in with him every half hour, if you need me to I can have somebody from D.C. write something up that will make Stiles exempt from getting in trouble for phone use in the classroom.”

Principal Thomas shook his head, “that won’t be necessary, I will allow it; as soon as we leave this room I will inform all of his teacher’s.”

Parrish nodded, “thank you.”

Principal Thomas nodded and looked to Stiles, “but if any of your teacher’s feel you’re using your phone excessively you’re still viable to get in trouble, is that understood?”

Stiles nodded, “yes sir.”

Principal Thomas looked between his dad and Parrish, “Sheriff, deputy is that okay with the two of you?”

“Yes,” they said simultaneously.

Principal Thomas nodded and flipped through the notebook he placed in front of him, “alright then moving onto the more difficult portion of this meeting, Stiles I understand that a few of your teachers have been treating you unfairly, correct?”

The formality used during the meeting was kind of irritating Stiles but he understood that due to the situation there had to be some form of professionalism presented, “yes that’s correct.”

“Can you please explain to me what’s been going?“ Principal Thomas asked.

“Well um I-I’ve been insulted, pushed around and beat up in front of some of the teacher’s before and each time it happened the teacher’s never did anything about it.” He said

“How long would you say this has been going on?” Principal Thomas asked.

Stiles sighed, “I don’t know, it happened pretty much all last year and it still seems to be happening.”

Principal Thomas nodded and wrote something down in his notebook, “If this has been going on for so long, why didn’t you bring it to the front offices attention?”

Stiles shrugged, “if my teacher’s weren’t going to stand up for me and do something, why would you expect me to believe that you would be any different?”

“Huh wow, fair enough.” Principal Thomas said seeming slightly offended, “can you give me an example of a time when a teacher has treated you unfairly?”

“Well you already know about what happened on Friday when Mr. Peters sent me to the office because I was defending myself. Another time would be when my teacher Mr. Bolin saw me get knocked around by Jackson Whitmore and instead of doing anything he let him off the hook and told me to stop making a scene and that I needed to get to class because I was going to be late.”

Principal Thomas wrote something else down in his notebook before saying, “Were there any other instances similar to this, with the same teacher perhaps?”

If Principal Thomas was going to question every instance one of his teacher’s dropped the ball and forgot to do their job they would be there for a while. So instead of explaining the faults that Mr. Bolin had demonstrated, Stiles instead told Principal Thomas everything he could remember about all the teachers who had possibly wronged him in the past; starting from his old Biology teacher who practically let Derek get away with murder to his old P.E. teacher who frequently let a few members of the lacrosse team get too physical with him and finally finishing on his old history teacher, Mr. Bolin. Of course he didn’t leave out Mr. Peter’s from the conversation and by the time Stiles was finished explaining everything he’s dealt with Principal Thomas was left stunned with his mouth agape.

“I’m sure you can understand why I am not happy to hear any of this,” his dad said once he was finished.

Principal Thomas shuddered and sunk back into his seat, “yes I do … this is … this is unacceptable and not something I would expect from anyone on my staff.”

“Before you say anything else I have to remind you that due to Stiles being what he is, if this treatment were to continue with any more of your staff, I will be forced to take action and report you, your staff and your school board to my superiors and I can assure that as soon as I do all of you will be out of a job and you will be lucky to find another position in education.” Parrish interjected, Principal Thomas sat straight up in his seat but Parrish held a hand out halting him from saying anything, “I don’t mean to threaten you with the loss of your job but if this continues you will be threatening mine and I need you to understand that Stiles safety is not only our concern but the governments concern. There are very powerful people that will do whatever is necessary to ensure his safety and I wouldn’t want you to wind up on their bad side.” Parrish said.

“I completely understand and I want you all to know that we will be handling this immediately and I especially want you to know that the teacher’s Stiles has mentioned will not go unpunished,” Principal Thomas said.

“That’s good to hear,” the sheriff said, “but there’s still another problem that needs to be dealt with, and that problem is the students involved in harming my son.”

“Yes that is true,” Principal Thomas sighed, “Stiles do you care to explain what has been happening to you and who was involved?”

“Well,” he started but then he thought about every single person that has done him wrong and there was no way in hell he was going to be able to list all of the names of the people that hurt him; “Now that I’m that I’m thinking about there’s quite a few, I can’t really name all of them.”

“Okay, then name the ones that come to mind and we’ll go from there,” Principal Thomas suggested.

“okay well obviously there’s Jackson Whittemore and Boyd, I don’t really know Boyd’s first name; um then there’s Isaac Lahey and um … and Derek Hale,” Stiles stammered he then went on to explain mostly everything the boys had put him through in the last year.

When Stiles was finished he could see that Principal Thomas was bewildered by something but he wasn’t sure what, “you said Derek Hale?” Principal Thomas asked.

“He forgot to mention Scott McCall as well,” the sheriff chimed.

“Dad no, all he did was spread a rumor he’s never actually done anything,” Stiles said and to be honest he wasn’t sure why he was defending Scott.

“Exactly, he hasn’t done anything so he’s just as bad as the rest of those mutts,” his father said.

Stiles wasn’t going to argue with his father about that because he was right, he simply nodded to him and looked back at Principal Thomas who still seemed a bit rattled by the mention of Derek’s name. “I’m sorry Stiles um I don’t think I understand something here you said Derek Hale as in the Derek Hale our school’s star athlete?”

Stiles nodded, “yes.”

He still seemed like he was in disbelief, “The same Derek Hale that was in the nurse’s office with you the day you presented?”

Stiles nodded again, “yes.”

Principal Thomas sat his pen down on the notebook shaking his head, “Derek Hale … your soulmate?”

Stiles hated hearing that, he hated knowing that there was even a fraction of a link between them, “ye-yes.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” his father said next to him.

“You have a soulmate?” Parrish asked sounding slightly intrigued.

“No I-I mean yeah but he hates me and I hate him … like I really hate him a lot and I don’t understand why that out of the 8 billion people that live on this planet he turned out to be my soulmate; I don’t accept him, I won’t accept him,” Stiles ranted.

“Has he done anything to you since finding out that you were soulmates?” Principal Thomas asked.

Stiles gasped, “when I was presenting and I was going to the nurse’s office, I-I ran into him coming out of the bathroom and he shoved me against a wall and threatened to send me home with some bruises. The only reason he didn’t was because our marks appeared and I guess he took me to the nurse’s office for that same reason … after that he’s been … I don’t know, distant and that’s probably the greatest thing I could have asked for.”

“This isn’t good,” Parish whispered.

“You’re damn right it’s not good, my son’s soulmate made a habit out of bullying him, I don’t think I’ve ever heard something like that in my entire life,” the sheriff said.

Principal Thomas removed his glasses and held the bridge of his nose, “this is a big problem, I’m going to have to call his parents and we are going to need to figure something out immediately.”

“What exactly do you need to figure out? My son has basically given you enough to have a few of them expelled,” The sheriff said.

“Yes he has but I can’t just expel students without speaking to the parents first,” Principal Thomas said.

“Oh give me a fucking break these kids are monsters, they’re-“

“Sheriff I understand your plight with the students but if I were to expel them without any notice towards the school board or their parents I could be fired and sued for infringing on a person’s right to a fair hearing,” Principal Thomas interrupted. “Now with that said expelling some of these students might be a little difficult considering who their parents are, Mr. Whittemore is a very well established lawyer and sheriff, deputy both of you should be familiar with the fact that Derek Hale is the District Attorney’s son.”

“Damn it,” the sheriff said looking to Parrish.

“Expulsion isn’t necessary they just need to face some kind of punishment not only because what they’ve done is heinous and out of line but also to send a message to anyone else who might think it’s fine to pick on someone.” Parrish said.

The sheriff huffed, “Can’t you pull some strings and tell your bosses that these kids are an immediate threat to my son and his wellbeing?”

Parrish nodded, “that does sound ideal but there’s an issue with doing that, if we were to expel the students under special circumstances people are gonna want to know why, especially the parents. And if the parents start asking questions then we could have a major problem and that is something I would like to avoid.” Parrish said to the sheriff and turned to the principal, “so I propose that instead of expelling the students we do something a lot easier, something the parents can’t argue against.”

“In school suspension,” Principal Thomas suggested, “if any of the parents try to argue that their child is being punished to harshly I’ll inform them that the punishment was lessened from expulsion.”

“In school suspension should keep them away from Stiles and if that’s the case then I have no problem with that suggestion,” Parrish said looking to the sheriff. “Sheriff, what about you, is this okay with you?”

The sheriff sighed and ran a hand through his hair and sat up in his seat, “I’d much rather see these punks get expelled but I understand why that could be a problem. So long as my son is okay with it and you can assure me that these kids and your teachers will leave my son alone, I have no problem with it … Stiles?”

Stiles thought about it for a moment and if he were being honest he didn’t really care what happened to Derek and his friends so long as they left him alone, “its fine with me.”

“Alright I will do what I have to do to get this all taken care of, Sheriff I can assure you that from this day forth Stiles will not deal with this mistreatment any longer from my staff and I will do what I can to ensure the same thing from his peers,” Principal Thomas said.

“Alright then I guess we’re done here,” the sheriff said.

“Actually sheriff I have one question before we leave,” Parrish chimed, “Principal Thomas what exactly do you plan on doing to the teacher’s involved in this situation?”

Principal Thomas smirked and stood up out of his seat, “well that’s simple really; I’m going to fire them. I have substitute teachers on call that can easily replace them for the rest of the year.”

Parrish nodded and stood up out of his seat, “good answer.”

Stiles stayed in his seat for a moment he wasn’t sure why but he felt a little bad about what was to come to the teachers that have mistreated him. ‘They probably depend on this job to get by in everyday life, what will happen to them if they lose it?’ He wondered, “Stiles?” His dad called snapping him out of his thoughts.

He looked up at him, “Ye-yeah?”

“Are you ready to go?” His dad asked.

Stiles nodded his head and stood up, “yeah sorry um thank you Principal Thomas for the help.”

“You’re welcome, should there be another time you go through something like this, which I hope there isn’t, please know that you can come to me,” Principal Thomas said.

Stiles nodded, “okay.”

His father and Parrish both said their goodbyes and thanked him for what he was going to do to handle the situation. Afterward they left the conference room and walked out of the front office, “Stiles before we go … Derek Hale he’s your-”

“Dad I really don’t want to talk about that, especially here,” Stiles said looking around at the many students that were now filling the school.

His father nodded, “Okay,” he said patting him on the shoulder; “if anyone else gives you trouble don’t hesitate to let me know.”

Stiles nodded, “thanks dad.”

“Hey remember check in every 30 minutes,” Parrish reminded him in a low whisper.

“Yeah don’t worry I will, I don’t want you guys bum rushing the school thinking I’m in danger or something,” Stiles said.

“Alright then we better get going we got a job to do, we’ll see you later kid,” his dad said and started walking away; Parrish waved him off and followed his father out of the school. Stiles watched them leave for a moment but then he became very aware that someone was watching him, when he looked around he noticed more than a few pairs of eyes on him. He should have figured that people seeing him with two cops would draw some kind of attention, he sighed and threw his hood on and checked his phone he still had another 20 minutes before class started. He also had a new message from Cora, she simply wanted to know if he would be at school and he responded telling her that he’s there already and he’s headed to class. When he got a response from her saying that she would meet him there he quickly made his way over to Mr. Harris’s class.

Luckily by the time Stiles made it to class Mr. Harris had already been inside prepping, the minute Stiles walked up to the door Mr. Harris noticed him, “ah Mr. Stilinski it’s good to have you back. How are you feeling?”

Stiles shrugged, “pretty good I guess.”

Mr. Harris nodded, “that’s good, so there’s nothing wrong with your head or anything?”

Stiles shook his head, “no I don’t think so.”

Mr. Harris smirked, “okay then take your hood off you know it’s against the rules to wear hoods in class.”

Stiles smiled at that and pulled his hood back off of his head and walked over to his seat and waited for class to begin. Cora showed up about 5 minutes before class started her face seemed to light up when she spotted Stiles sitting in his seat, “hey sorry I took so long my sister decided she wanted to take forever getting ready.”

Stiles nodded, “It’s okay it’s not really a big deal, how are you? How’d your run go?”

Cora sat her stuff down on the floor next to her chair and took a seat, “I’m fine I guess. Our run went pretty smooth for the most part although my brother decided to sit out. There was something else that was strange too but … it’s not really a big deal.”

Stiles curiosity piqued as he sat up and asked, “What was strange?”

Cora sighed, “well when we were in the middle of our run we caught this scent that was irresistible and intoxicating and-and so many other things. Anyways um when we went to follow the scent we wound up running into another pack, they had two Alphas and a few Betas and they were coming from the direction the scent was coming from. My dad and one of the Alphas from the other pack shifted back and discussed what the source of the scent was, and I overheard the Alpha say that the scent belonged to a were that was incredibly fast. He said they were tracking it for some time but when they started to gain on the source it just sort of disappeared or something, I don’t know. But after my dad talked to the guy we all gave up on finding whatever it was that smelled so good and just went about our business.”

Stiles mentally fist pumped the air, “wow that does sound a little strange.”

“Yeah you’re telling me, if I didn’t know any better I would have thought it was an Omega or something.” Cora said and Stiles could feel himself tense up at that, “but everyone knows there are no Omegas in Beacon Hills.”

Stiles sighed and nodded, “yeah you got that right.”

“Oh hey speaking of the run and my family, my brother and my sister kind of want to meet you, if that’s okay with you?” Cora asked.

Stiles felt elated that Cora was even willing to introduce him to her family, “yeah that-that’s fine with me.”

She nodded, “cool, then I guess you’ll meet them later today.”

“Yeah I guess so,” Stiles said; Mr. Harris started class just after they were done conversing. They were assigned more lab work and needed to have it done by the end of class which Cora and Stiles were able to do easily. Once class ended Stiles walked with Cora for a while sharing small talk with her and discussing their plan to go to the movies sometime in the coming weekend.

Derek's POV

Derek’s day started off a bit odd, when he woke up and went downstairs to eat breakfast he overheard his parents and his uncle Peter discussing something that happened during their run. Apparently, they were tracking something but lost whatever it was after running into another pack, Derek couldn’t really get all the details as he didn’t really care much and he was still technically half asleep. He didn’t bother asking them about it he just minded his own business and ate his breakfast; when he went back upstairs to get ready for school he overheard Laura and Cora speaking with one another and it happened to be about the same thing his parents were discussing. From what Derek could hear Cora seemed disinterested by the subject but Laura couldn’t really let it go, Cora managed to change the subject by telling Laura that she would allow her to meet her friend today if she would drop it. Of course, Laura fell for it and started asking Cora what her friend was like and how they met but Derek didn’t hear Cora’s answers as he stopped listening in favor of getting ready.

On his way to school he received a few texts from Boyd, Jackson and Isaac each of them resembled one another, they simply wanted him to meet them by the stairs in front of the student parking lot. When he got there and met up with them they all seemed happy and anxious about something, “what’s going on?” Derek asked.

“Hey man, so get this last night on our run we were tracking something,” Jackson said.

“We’re not sure what it was but it smelled incredible,” Isaac chimed.

“Incredible seems like an understatement,” Erica tittered.

Derek cocked his head to the side, “do you know what it was?”

“Apparently not,” Lydia started, “from what I hear they didn’t even see the thing.”

“We were gaining on it whatever it was and next thing you know the thing like disappeared, we tracked it into a clearing and then we were basically ambushed by 3 Alphas,” Boyd said.

Derek seemed surprised at that, “3 Alphas?”

“Yeah we think it was probably the sheriff and his deputies, we saw a cop truck out there,” Erica said.

“Do you think they were hiding something?” Derek asked.

Jackson shrugged, “we don’t know my mom said the scent disappeared around their vehicles, so maybe. She couldn’t really finish tracking the thing because they showed up.”

“Damn sounds like you guys had a hell of a run,” Derek said.

Isaac playfully punched his shoulder, “yeah and you should have come with us.”

Derek glowered at Isaac, “yeah whatever I’ll come next time, I promise.”

“We’ll hold you to that,” Jackson said, soon after the bell rang and they each went to class.

Weight training went by relatively fast but Derek noticed that the whole time they were in class Boyd seemed distracted by something and Derek was itching to find out what it was. “Are you okay?”

Boyd hesitated to answer, “I’m fine I think.”

“You sure cause you don’t seem like it,” Derek said.

“Yeah sorry, I just keep thinking about whatever it was we were trying to find last night,” Boyd said. “What about you, are you okay?”

Derek nodded, “yeah I will be I just need a little time that’s all.”

Boyd smirked at that, “good.”

As soon as class ended and Derek and Boyd got changed out of their workout clothes and they exited the locker room only to be greeted by a number of students crowding the halls chatting amongst themselves. From what Derek could hear out of the many voices someone got in trouble with the cops he wasn’t sure who though until Erica came prancing down the hall with a wide grin on her face. She greeted Boyd and immediately told them what had her so happy, “have you guys heard the news?”

“No but we can hear some of what’s going on,” Boyd said.

“Well Stilinski apparently got himself into some trouble,” Erica said.

Derek listened around to what the many other students were saying and from he could gather Erica was right, “what did he get in trouble for?”

Erica shrugged, “I don’t know but a few people saw him walk out of the front office with two cops before school started; they said he was so embarrassed to be seen that he threw his hood on and ran off.”

“So all they saw was him walking out of the front office with two cops?” Boyd asked.

“Yeah I guess,” she started, “they were talking to him for minute before they left, so people assumed that he got himself in trouble doing something.”

“Well it serves him right I guess, I still owe him for messing up my arm last week,” Boyd said.

Derek sighed, “maybe you should just leave that alone,” Boyd looked to him surprised; “don’t get me wrong I don’t care if you beat the little freak up or not but if Scott found out we were still messing with Stilinski he might freak out on us.”

Erica cocked her head to the side, “why do you think that?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know I guess I’m just assuming that if he stopped talking to us because his friendship or whatever the hell he had with Stilinski was ruined, what will he do if he found out we were still messing with him?”

Boyd grunted, “Good point, I guess I’ll leave him alone then.”

Derek simply nodded and soon after he and Erica were off to their next class, Isaac had met them by the door; one thing Derek was happy to see was Isaac being back to his normal cheery self. When they entered however and Derek saw Breaden and she didn’t appear too happy in fact when she caught sight of Derek she only seemed to look even angrier than she did before. “Someone’s in a sour mood,” Isaac whispered to him as they headed for their desk; Derek simply shrugged the comment off and took a seat.

As class went on Derek tried to keep his focus off of Breaden but he couldn’t help but stare at her, he wondered what must be going through her mind; in that moment he kind of wanted to tell her he was sorry for what he said to her but he figured that wouldn’t go over so well, “hey are you okay you smell kind of anxious?” Erica asked snapping him out of his daze.

Derek turned to look at her, “yeah I’m fine, just got a few things on my mind I guess, stop scenting me.”

Erica scrutinized him, “and would one of these things happen to be a certain someone we happen to be sharing a class with?” She pressed.

“Obviously, he’s been starring at her the whole time we’ve been in class,” Isaac chimed.

Derek scoffed, “Can you guys maybe shut up?”

“Mr. Lahey, Mr. Hale and Ms. Reyes quiet!” Ms. Karagan shouted from the front of the room; none of them spoke again until class ended. Once the bell rang Breaden had stormed out of the room and Isaac and Erica started badgering Derek about Breaden and wouldn’t let him hear the end of it. It didn’t help any that his sister had come running along to meet up with them outside of their classroom, “Derek, hey!” She called.

“Oh look it’s the best Hale of them all,” Isaac said greeting Laura as she ran up to them.

“Stop sucking up to her Isaac,” Derek sighed.

“Hey Isaac, Hey Erica,” Laura said hugging Erica.

“Hey what’s up?” Erica asked.

Laura shrugged, “nothing much I just figured I’d eat lunch with you guys today because Cora wants to introduce me and Derek to her new friend.”

Isaac gasped, “Hold on, time out, Cora has actually managed to make a friend?”

Laura rolled her eyes, “yeah I guess, I don’t know why do you seem so surprised by this, aren’t you guys her friends?”

Erica groaned, “That’s kind of a stretch wouldn’t you say?”

“Ugh whatever, you might be right; let’s just get to the cafeteria, Cora just texted me and said that she was going to meet us inside I guess,” Laura said as she started walking to the cafeteria.

“All I know is this guy better not be some weird emo kid,” Derek said.

Laura swatted him upside the head, “who cares if he’s a weird emo kid? At least Cora actually managed to make a friend, that’s what matters.”

Derek grunted, “Yeah right.”

“Derek please promise me you’re not going to do anything to ruin this for her,” Laura said.

“Fine whatever I promise, let’s just get this over with, I really want to know who the hell she’s been talking to,” Derek said and started walking a little faster towards the cafeteria.

Derek wasn’t too surprised to find that when they got in the cafeteria he couldn’t spot Cora anywhere. Jackson, Boyd and Lydia had already been seated at their table and they moved to join them once they got there Derek had asked if any of them had seen his sister but they each said no so Laura wound up texting Cora to see where she was. During the time they waited for Cora to respond Isaac and Erica went back to badgering Derek about Breaden and soon after Jackson joined in on it, even Laura got at him a little. But it didn’t last long as Laura’s phone vibrated and she immediately looked to Derek a little concerned, “she said that she’s in the library and that her friend is kind of nervous to come in here.”

“Why is he nervous to come in here?” Derek asked.

“Maybe he’s not good around big crowds of people?” Lydia suggested.

Laura nodded, “that could be it,” she said while texting something on her phone, “I’ll be right back; I just told her that I would come meet her in the library to help get her friend here.”

Derek stood up just as soon as Laura did, “do you want me to come with you?”

“I don’t know maybe you should stay here, if he turns out to be some weird emo kid you might scare him off before we can get him in here,” Laura said.

“Haha you’re so funny,” Derek said sarcastically and sat back down.

Laura smirked at him and cheerily said, “I know,” before she left and walked out of the cafeteria; when she returns she will be in the company of Cora and her mysterious friend and Derek couldn’t help that he was anticipating seeing who it was.

Stiles POV

Stiles French class with Ms. Morell went by in the blink of an eye, surprisingly Boyd had made no attempt to get back at him when he got to class and Stiles didn’t know who he had to thank for that but he was most definitely grateful. Even at the end of class Stiles figured Boyd might wait outside for him to snatch him up but when he walked out of the classroom Boyd was nowhere in sight. He paced along cautiously through the corridor making sure no one would run up on him and surprise him, he specifically looked out for Jackson and Boyd; but they never came instead he unintentionally ran into Scott when he wasn’t paying attention, “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean-“ Stiles cut himself off when he noticed who he ran into.

“He-hey,” Scott whispered.

Stiles wasn’t sure what to do other than mean mug Scott, “Hi.”

“How-how are you, are-are you okay? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to run into-“

“I actually have somewhere to be,” Stiles interjected and walked past Scott without a second glance, he really did not want to be bothered with him right now. When he rounded the corner and entered the main corridor he ran into Cora, “hey,” he greeted.

“Hey, so we’re gonna meet my brother and my sister in the library, okay?” Cora said.

Stiles nodded, “yeah sure that works.”

“You know you smell different,” she said suddenly catching Stiles off guard, “I noticed it before when we were in chemistry but I wasn’t too sure about it but I am now.”

Stiles fumbled through his brain for an excuse for his scent, “ye-yeah um I don’t know whatever it was that was making me smell good must have worn off.”

Cora seemed to buy that, “yeah maybe who knows, whatever it was though made you smell really good.”

“Thanks I guess,” Stiles said.

Cora smiled and they walked over to the library and instead of sitting in their usual spot which was between book aisles where they couldn’t be seen they instead sat at a table at the front of the library. Cora had looked around and said, “huh you would have thought they would have beaten us here …”

“Maybe they got held up,” Stiles suggested.

Cora shrugged, “maybe but I doubt it, they were pretty adamant about meeting you and I guess they would be considering they’re older; I think it’s just them being protective or something.”

Stiles felt himself get a little anxious at that, “Wait but we’re just friends, why would they need to be protective?”

Cora sighed, “You remember what I told you the first day we ate lunch in here? Remember how I said I’m not really a people person and that I don’t really have friends?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah.”

“Okay well I wasn’t kidding, I don’t try and become friends with people I never have and my family knows that better than anyone. But then I met you and now we’re friends and I think they just want to make sure you’re cool and not someone crazy or super old or anything,” she said.

Stiles gawked, “why would they think I’m crazy or super old?”

Cora shrugged, “I’m guessing they think I’ll attract weird people or something I don’t know.”

Stiles chuckled at that, “well I’m obviously not super old and I hope they don’t think I’m weird.”

Cora smirked, “fat chance on them not thinking you’re weird.”

“Gee thanks Cora you’re really a huge confidence builder,” Stiles said in a sarcastic tone.

Cora smiled, “what can I say I’m pretty great,” she threw back at him and they both laughed at that. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom and text them to see where they are, I’ll be right back okay? Oh and can you watch my stuff?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah sure.”

Cora then got up and left for the bathroom leaving Stiles alone at their table in the library; he sat back in his chair and looked around the library. He saw that it was pretty empty for the most part aside from the librarian and 2 or 3 students. When he turned back to face forward he was surprised to see someone standing in front of him and not just anyone, it was Allison; he wasn’t sure how she managed to sneak up on him without him noticing. “Sorry to disturb you, I-I just wanted to talk or actually I-I really came to say that I’m sorry for everything,” she said.

Stiles grabbed the arm of his chair and held onto it tightly, “what exactly are you sorry for?”

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and looked down at her feet, “um well I-I’m sorry about what they did to you; I had an idea of what was happening and I thought that maybe you guys were friends or something and you were messing around or whatever and I guess that wasn’t the case and I should have known better, and I want to say that I’m sorry for not saying or doing anything about it.”

Stiles relaxed his grip on the arm of the chair he could hear Allison’s heartbeat and it never skipped a beat so he knew she wasn’t lying, “thanks but it’s not your fault and I don’t blame you for what happened.”

Allison gasped and rubbed her forehead, “yeah well I kind of feel like it is partially my fault, I um … I asked Scott one night if he was okay with what was going on after I overheard them talking about what they had done to you and he told me that it they were just messing around, so I … I-“

“Yeah I get it, it’s okay don’t worry about it but you should know that I’m not speaking to Scott anymore so if you’re here to try and convince me to talk to him it’s not gonna happen,” Stiles said.

“Actually um I’m not speaking to Scott either,” Allison stated and Stiles was surprised by that.

“You’re not?”

She shook her head, “no um we sort of had a falling out, last week after you talked to Scott he was pretty upset and everyone was worried about him and we couldn’t figure out why he was so upset and then he told us about your conversation and one thing led to another and the truth came out. After that I told them I didn’t want to be associated with any of them anymore and I left and I haven’t spoken to them since.”

“Bu-but Scott’s your soulmate you guys are bonded aren’t you?” Stiles asked letting his curiosity get the best of him.

“Yeah we’re bonded but that doesn’t mean we had a mating ceremony or anything, so I can stand to be without him for a while,” she said.

“But you’re eventually gonna want to go back to him,” Stiles said.

Allison hummed, “well when that happens it won’t be because of the bond it’ll be because I love him but I don’t think that’ll be anytime soon because right now I can’t stand to be around him. I don’t know how I’m supposed to look past this, I see him all the time when I’m here at school and I just run in the opposite direction because I think about what happened with you and I-I don’t know. To be honest I’m not really sure why this is affecting me so much …” she stopped herself and looked to Stiles and gasped, “Oh-oh my God I am so sorry I didn’t mean to ramble I just-“

“No-no it’s fine don’t worry about it … uh I’m sorry that this happened and I’m sorry about how I acted the first time I met you, you didn’t deserve that,” Stiles said.

Allison shook her head, “you don’t have to apologize.”

Stiles shrugged, “we-well I … I think I should probably reintroduce myself at least,” he stood up out of his chair and extended his hand. “Hi, my name is Stiles it’s nice to meet you,” he said.

Allison smiled and adjusted her bag on her arm and shook Stiles hand, “I’m Allison it’s nice to meet you too.” After the handshake they shared an awkward laugh with one another, “well I’m gonna go find a book um if you want you can join me?”

“Actually I’m waiting for someone but-but if I wasn’t I would have liked that I just can’t leave cause I’m watching her stuff,” he said pointing to Cora’s bag.

Allison smiled, “it’s fine, I guess I’ll see you around then.”

Stiles nodded and Allison walked away disappearing in the book aisles, Stiles sat back down in his seat and not even a minute later Cora returned from the bathroom, “hey okay so my brother and my sister are in the cafeteria already and they want us to meet them in there.”

“Are-are you sure, do you think we can maybe meet them outside of the cafeteria?” Stiles asked, he figured that if Boyd was still in class during their last hour he was definitely at lunch and that meant Derek, Jackson and Isaac were there too which meant Principal Thomas hadn’t gotten to them yet.

Cora seemed confused at that, “why would we meet them outside of the cafeteria when we’re going to eat lunch with them?”

Stiles felt himself clamming up, there was no way he could go in the cafeteria now without something bad happening he learned that the hard way. “Oh … we’re eating lunch with them? Oh-Okay …”

Cora nodded, “yeah why what’s up?”

Stiles shook his head, “it-it’s nothing.”

“It’s something because you smell really anxious right now, what’s the deal?” Cora pressed.

“I just …” he gasped and started taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

“Stiles what’s wrong?”

“There are people in there that make a habit out of making my life a living hell,” he started. “The first day we ate lunch in here I didn’t tell you the whole reason why I don’t eat lunch in the cafeteria I only told you part of it; the main reason why I sit in here is because every day I went into the cafeteria to eat my lunch somebody would either mess with me or they would mess with my food and they never failed at doing it. So because of that I started getting my lunch just before lunch was over to avoid dealing with them …” he said.

Cora gasped, “Stiles …

“It happens outside of the cafeteria too but I try to avoid it as best I can; I haven’t told you this yet but I have a group of people that like to bully me. Ever since last year they’ve been hitting me, spreading rumors about me, you name it and they’ve probably done it. I can’t tell you why they hate me so much because I honestly don’t know; I’m pretty sure one of them has hated me ever since they first saw me and he only hated me more when he found out I had a huge crush on his soulmate but at the time I didn’t know she was his soulmate and when I found out I-I-I just stopped pursuing her; and I thought doing that would at least get him to lay off but that didn’t happen, things only seemed to get worst as the year went on. I couldn’t go to any of my teacher’s because they would never do anything to help me and they always let them off the hook. So I … I sort of just silently endured whatever they threw at me I guess,” he smiled before saying, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been jumped or beat on or berated by them, and you wanna know something? My best friend-actually my ex best friend he hung out with them and when I told him that his friends were messing with me he said he would talk to them, do you know what he came back and told me? He told me they were just messing around and he said I shouldn’t take anything they’re doing too seriously, that was probably best joke I ever heard.”

Cora suddenly pulled out her phone and started typing something really fast, Stiles looked over at her, “what are you doing?”

Cora ran a hand through her hair and continued typing on her phone, “I’m texting my sister, I’m telling her that we’re gonna have to do lunch another time.”

“Cora no, you don’t-“

“Stiles stop, it’s done I already sent the message,” she said setting her phone down on the table.

Stiles laid his head down on the table and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You shouldn’t be apologizing in fact what you should do is tell me who exactly has been messing with you,” She said.

“It doesn’t matter Cora,” Stiles said.

“Yes it does, they can’t get away with treating you like crap.”

“Cora they’re not going to get away with it I talked to the Principal this morning and he said he was going to do something about it,” Stiles said.

“And what exactly is he going to do? Is he going to tell them to stop? That’s not enough Stiles they need to know that they can’t mess with you, they need to know-“ Cora’s phone buzzed suddenly, “damn it,” she said.

Stiles picked his head up off the table, “What?”

“My sister is coming to the library right now,” she said.

Stiles frowned, “is that a bad thing?”

Cora shrugged, “she’s kind of pushy …”

Stiles sighed, “Well hey at least I’ll get to meet her.”

Cora nodded, “yeah I guess … anyway about these losers tell me who they are.”

“It’s not worth it Cora just drop it and trust that’s it’s going to be taken care of,” Stiles said.

“Stiles I’m sure you’ll feel much better knowing that they understand that if they do anything to you they’ll get their asses whooped, so tell me who they are,” she said.

“I don’t want people fighting over me, I just want this whole thing with them to end and I want them leave me alone,” he said.

“And they will if they understand they can’t mess with, come on I’ll get my brother and he can get some of his friends to scare whoever these guys are off,” she suggested.

“Please Cora, I appreciate that you’re so concerned for my wellbeing especially since I haven’t known you that long but please just drop this,” he said.

Stiles could see that Cora was having a hard time dropping the subject, she simply glared at him hard and grunted, “fine but if I see them ever messing with you-“

“Cora?” Stiles turned to see Allison standing a few feet away from them.

“You two know each other?” Stiles asked.

“I think that’s the question I should be asking you,” Allison said walking over to their table.

“She knows my brother,” Cora said.

“Unfortunately,” Allison said.

Cora flinched, “what do you mean?”

Allison looked between Stiles and Cora, “Cora what’s going on? Is that some kind of sick joke that your brother is trying to play?”

Cora looked offended by that, “No, what are you talking about?”

Stiles looked between Allison and Cora, “what’s going on?”

“Stiles you don’t know?” Allison asked.

Stiles frowned, “know what?”

Allison pointed at Cora, “she is Cora Hale, Derek Hale’s little sister.”

Stiles heart plummeted in that moment his chest felt hollow, his mind had practically gone blank, was Cora pretending to be friends with Stiles to play some kind of a joke on him? “What’s wrong with me being Derek’s sister?” Cora asked.

“Everything,” Stiles whispered.

Cora looked so bewildered by that Stiles was willing to believe she had no idea what was going on but he couldn’t be sure about that, “what-what do you mean?” She asked.

“You really don’t know? You honestly don’t know that your brother and his friends have been bullying Stiles?” Allison asked.

Cora stood up out of her seat so quick she knocked it back, “no-no there has to be some sort of mistake my brother would never do that.”

“There is no mistake, I just found out about it last week and I cut ties with them,” Allison said.

Cora shook her head, “no you’re lying you must have heard wrong or I don’t know but there’s no way my brother would do something like that.”

“It’s true,” Stiles whispered.

“Stiles,” Cora gasped.

Stiles looked up at her, “Derek, Boyd, Jackson and Isaac they’re the ones that I was talking about, they’re the ones that have been giving me problems.”

Cora shook her head furiously, “Stiles my brother would never do something like that, ever, I know him and he’s not that kind of a person.”

“I’m assuming Stiles has told you what they’ve done to him? Listen I only knew of a few things that happened and I found out about those things because your brother and his friends were talking about it and from the sound of it they actually seemed like they enjoyed doing it,” Allison said.

“You’re lying,” Cora said.

“I’m not lying, listen to my heartbeat if you want, you’ll know I’m telling the truth,” Allison said.

Cora’s lips started quivering; Stiles could see that she was on the verge breaking down, “why would my brother be a part of something like that, it just doesn’t make sense. He’s a good guy; he’s always been a good guy I don’t understand why he would bully anyone because that’s just not something he would do.”

Stiles sighed, he knew that Cora was in denial about her brother and he knew that she wasn’t going to believe anything unless she had concrete proof that Derek played a part in all of this; and Stiles couldn’t blame her for that because after all Derek is her brother. So Stiles did something he never thought he would do he started rolling up the right sleeve of his hoodie and turned his arm over to reveal the inside of his wrist and the mark that was on it, “if you need proof then this is all I have and like Allison said if you want you can listen to my heartbeat and you’ll know I’m not lying.”

“Stiles … Stiles what is that?” Allison asked.

“Stiles,” Cora whispered with her eyes wide in shock, “Stiles is that a soul mark?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah … I hate to say this because I wish it wasn’t true but it is … your brother he’s … he’s my soulmate.”

Allison gasped and Cora just simply appeared dejected but after a moment Stiles could see that she was coming to terms with what he was saying, “Okay, is the mark on the same place on my brother?” She asked as she wiped under her eyes to catch any stray tears that might have fallen.

Stiles shook his head, “yeah but it’s on his left arm, Cora I swear I’m telling the truth.”

“I believe you,” she said and next thing Stiles knew Cora was grabbing her stuff.

“Wait what are you doing?” Stiles asked frantically.

“Nothing I’m just gonna go talk to my brother … and make him admit what he did,” Cora said.

Stiles tried to stop her but she was already making a break for the exit, “are you sure that’s a good idea?” Allison asked.

“It seems like a good one to me,” Cora threw over her shoulder.

Stiles rolled his sleeve back down and grabbed his stuff, “Cora wait!” He called but she had already exited the library.

“Come on, we can still stop her,” Allison said and Stiles nodded and walked out of the library with her, luckily someone had stopped Cora just outside of the library and Stiles could only assume the person was her sister.

“Get out of my way Laura,” Stiles heard Cora say.

“Slow down what is going on, why do you smell like you’re angry? What happened? Where’s your friend?” Laura slung a barrage of questions at her.

“I don’t have time for this Laura,” Cora said.

“Cora,” Stiles called walking over to them with Allison.

“Oh hey Allison,” Laura greeted and looked to Stiles, “and hi whoever you are.”

Cora rolled her eyes, “Laura this is my friend Stiles he’s the friend that I wanted you to meet, Stiles this is my older sister Laura. Laura I just found out that our brother has been bullying Stiles for a year now and I also found out that Stiles is his soulmate and I’m going to ask him about it.”

“Wait what?!” Laura exclaimed, once Laura’s attention was off of Cora she slipped past her and hurried towards the cafeteria.

“No, Cora wait,” Stiles called and tried to go after her until Laura stepped in his way.

“What the hell is my sister talking about? What does she mean you’re my brother’s soulmate?” She asked.

Stiles shuddered, “I-I’ll explain everything I promise, I-I just have to make sure Cora doesn’t do anything stupid,” Stiles said pushing past Laura and racing after Cora. Unfortunately for him she was already near the doors to the cafeteria, she turned back to look at him with a sheer look of determination before opening the door and walking in.

Derek's POV

Derek wondered if he should follow Laura or not but he decided against it, if anything she would be back in a few moments so it wasn’t really much of a big deal to him. “So who’s this friend Cora made?” Erica asked suddenly.

“Yeah what do you know about them?” Isaac asked.

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know, she wouldn’t tell me who it was.”

“Is it a guy or a girl?” Lydia asked.

“A guy,” Derek said.

Jackson sat up, “is he her boyfriend or something?”

Derek shook his head, “nope,” he said sounding unsure of himself, “well I don’t think so …”

“Think he might be her soulmate?” Erica pressed.

“I don’t think so,” Derek said glaring at her.

Erica held her hands up, “okay geez I was just asking, you don’t have to put your murder face on.”

“Come on guys the guy is gonna be here any minute and when he gets here you can ask him anything you want, right Derek?” Boyd asked.

“Yeah whatever,” he said looking back towards the doors of the cafeteria, one of the doors had opened and in walked Cora; Derek wondered why she was by herself but he assumed Laura must have held her friend back and was probably driving him crazy with questions. Derek raised his hand and yelled, “Cora over here!”

“Is her friend not coming?” Erica asked.

Derek looked back at Erica, “I don’t know Laura isn’t with her so maybe they’re outside or something.”

“Dude she looks kinda pissed,” Isaac said suddenly.

Derek wondered what Isaac was talking and when he turned around and saw his sister coming closer and closer he got his answer; Cora did in fact look a little upset about something but he wasn’t sure what. Derek stood up as she arrived at the table, “hey Cora what’s up, is everything okay?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine, if I ask you something do you promise to be one hundred percent honest with me?” She asked sullenly.

Derek frowned, “yeah.”

“You swear you’ll be honest with me?” She pressed.

“Yeah I swear Cora, what’s going on?” Derek asked the way she was acting was starting to make him worried.

“Hi Cora,” Isaac said randomly.

“Yeah hi,” she said without taking her eyes off Derek, “Derek do you know somebody named Stiles?”

Derek was not expecting that question at all, it completely came out of left field and hit him in the face, “I-I yeah I mean I’ve seen him around a few times.”

Cora appeared skeptical at that, “so you’re saying you don’t really know him then.”

“What’s this about?” Derek countered.

“Just answer the question Derek,” she said.

“No I don’t really know him,” technically he wasn’t lying he didn’t really know Stiles; the only thing he knew about him was that he was an irritating freak, “why are you asking me about him?”

“Did Stilinski do something to you or something?” Jackson asked.

“You know him?” Cora turned and asked Jackson.

Jackson shrugged, “yeah I guess … a lot of people know him, people like to talk about him.”

Cora rolled her eyes at that and turned to back to face Derek, “why are you asking us about him, did something happen?” Derek asked.

“You’ve never messed with him or anything right?” Cora asked.

Derek flinched back, “no-no why would you ask me that.”

“You’re lying,” she said.

“I’m not lying to you Cora, what the hell is going on?” He pleaded.

“Yeah what’s the deal Cora, why do you think Derek has done something to Stilinski?” Erica asked.

Cora looked hard into Derek’s eyes before saying, “you remember the friend I wanted to introduce you to?” She asked and as soon as she asked that Derek noticed Laura had walked into the cafeteria and she wasn’t alone; at first he saw Allison following closely behind her and behind Allison was Stiles. “My friend his name is Stiles,” Cora said reaching out and grabbing hold of Derek’s left sleeve, “and he told me something really interesting.” Next thing Derek knew Cora had ripped the sleeve of his letterman jacket off and that wasn’t the only thing that came off, the ace bandage Derek used to cover his mark had come off as well. “He told me that you were his soulmate and he also told me that you and the rest of these low life’s that you call friends have been bullying him for the past year,” she pointed at his left arm, “and it looks like he was telling the truth,” she said and threw the sleeve she had torn off at Derek.

Derek didn’t know what was going on, once Cora ripped off his sleeve it’s like he was unable to process anything. He looked down at his now exposed arm and ran his hand over his mark, “Cora it’s not what you think-“

“Really because it looks to me like you have a soul mark that looks really similar to the one Stiles has,” she interjected.

“Derek … what the hell is that?” Jackson asked standing up out of his chair.

Isaac had gotten up and stood by Derek simply because he wanted to get a better look at the mark, “Derek … is-is Stilinski your soulmate?”

Derek wasn’t really sure how to answer them, he could barely get a handle on himself, ‘this must be what it’s like to lose your mind,’ he thought.

Cora, Jackson, Erica, Lydia and Isaac each echoed his name but he couldn’t respond to any of them because his older sister had come up behind Cora looking to him worriedly, “Cora why did you do that?” She asked her sister before turning towards Derek and picking up the sleeve Cora tore off and thrown at him, “maybe Aunt Lynn can fix- “ she cut herself off suddenly when she glanced at Derek’s arm, “Derek … is that a soul mark?” She asked bewildered.

“Yes Laura that’s a soul mark and his soul mate is my friend who you just met and Derek has been bullying him for the past year,” Cora said.

Laura turned to face Cora, “what do you mean he’s been bullying him?”

“Stiles told me that Derek and his friends have been beating him up and talking crap about him for the past year, not exactly sure why but I don’t really care at this point,” Cora looked between Derek, Jackson, Boyd and Isaac and said, “but I do want to say something, if any of you try and come after him again you have to go through me and that goes for anyone else that’s been bothering him.” She looked back at Laura, “now I’m leaving, if you have any questions ask your brother I’m sure he can explain it to you just fine,” she said and walked off towards Stiles and Allison.

Laura slowly turned back to look at him, “is this true?” Derek couldn’t answer, so she turned towards the table and asked them, “Is this true?” No one said anything so she looked back to Derek, “Derek … is this true?”

Derek struggled but managed to say, “I-I … I mean …”

When he couldn’t form a coherent sentence Laura asked him again, “Derek is Cora telling the truth? Answer yes or no.”

“It-it’s now what-“

“I SAID YES OR NO,” she reiterated.

Derek felt a ball of emotions welling up inside of him and it was about to burst at any moment, he looked past Laura and saw Cora dragging Stiles towards the lunch line with Allison in tow. The sight of Stiles made him feel enraged but that rage was ceased when his sister snapped her fingers in his face, “Derek pay attention to me I asked a question, is Cora telling the truth?”

Without thinking Derek said, “Yes.”

The slap to the face came unexpectedly; it was quick and hard and painful but not as painful as the words his sister said, “go to hell Derek Hale.”

Here is a Pic of Stiles fully transformed:

Chapter Text

Stiles POV

“Did that just happen?” Stiles asked not realizing as he watched Cora walk towards him.

“Yeah,” Allison said next to him.

“I-I’m as good as dead,” Stiles stammered.

Allison grabbed hold of his arm and spun him towards her, “nothing is gonna happen to you ... not anymore.”

Stiles frowned at that, he was prepared to challenge Allison on that notion but Cora had walked up and interrupted that thought, “hey!”

Stiles turned to see her walking up to him carrying a very somber expression, “why?”

“why What?” She asked stopping in front of him and Allison.

“Why did you do that?” Stiles asked.

“Because somebody needed to or else it would have just kept happening,” she said.

Suddenly they both heard the echo from someone getting slapped hard, “go to hell Derek Hale,” Stiles heard Laura say from the other end of the cafeteria.

Cora huffed, “she’s mad now …” she said watching the argument unfold between her sister and her brother.

“Derek … DEREK, ANSWER ME!” Laura yelled as she grabbed hold of Derek’s collar shaking him furiously in hopes that he would answer her.

“This is … this isn’t happening is it? This can’t be real …” Stiles murmured.

“It’s real Stiles and it is happening,” Cora said beside him.

More and more people started to become aware of what was going on, people from the lunch lines wandered over and watched as Laura chewed her brother out; the argument seemed to have captured the attention of everyone eating lunch in the cafeteria, people were even coming in from eating lunch outside to witness what was going on.

“Oh my God you would think people in this school don’t have a life of their own,” Allison said commenting on the many spectators.

Laura had eventually turned her tirade towards Derek’s friends and started questioning them on their involvement but from what Stiles could hear none of them seemed to be willing to give her an answer. Eventually Laura got fed up with trying to get them to talk to her and put her attention solely back on Derek. Even then he still didn’t seem to be willing to say anything to Laura it was in that moment that Stiles noticed that Derek wasn’t really even paying attention to Laura at all; Stiles felt a shiver go down his spine when he realized that Derek was looking past his sister and past the many onlookers and glaring directly at him. Stiles was unable to hold eye contact for long and looked away fearfully towards the entrance of the cafeteria it was then that he noticed a few teachers waltzing in and making their way towards the source of the commotion. Stiles noticed Shelly from the front office was among the teachers going to break up the commotion, “Ms. Hale … Ms. Hale please step back,” one of the teachers beckoned.

“Ladies and gentlemen need I remind you that fighting on school grounds is cause for an immediate suspension; you would be wise to avoid doing that,” Shelly said. “Derek Hale, Isaac Lahey, Jackson Whittemore and Vernon Boyd please follow me to the front office,” she announced and started walking back towards the entrance to the cafeteria while the teachers that had come to assist her coaxed Derek and his friends to follow Shelly.

As they made their way to the front of the cafeteria towards the entrance Stiles noticed Derek was still glaring at him even as he and his friends made their way past everyone and he never once took his eyes off of Stiles. The look Derek was giving him terrified him, the amount of hatred and rage his eyes carried was bone chilling and Stiles could only figure that Derek was thinking up ways to pummel him when he somehow managed to get him alone.

“Don’t be afraid of him Stiles, he’s pathetic; don’t give him the satisfaction of intimidating you,” Cora said beside him as she watched her brother head towards the front office.

Stiles gulped but held his head high and stared Derek down until Derek was forced to take his eyes off of him and exit the cafeteria. Whether or not Derek would retaliate shouldn’t be Stiles immediate concern and he knew that; what he also knew was that Derek and his friends had just gotten taken to the front office and if that was the case then that meant Principal Thomas was sticking true to his word and punishing them for what they had done and that made Stiles feel more than a little happy. But his happiness didn’t last long because once Derek and his friends were out of the cafeteria he noticed that more than a few people scattered around the cafeteria were looking at him and whispering stuff to the people next to them.

He slumped over, “now the rumors start all over again,” he sighed.

Allison patted his back, “hey at least it’s out there now so you don’t have to worry about keeping it a secret.”

“If any of these losers try anything just let me know,” Cora said looking out at the many people in the cafeteria.

Stiles noticed Laura making her way towards them, leaving Erica and Lydia alone at their table; she still seemed peeved about the whole situation and Stiles couldn’t help but feel a little fearful about how she would approach him. She marched angrily over to them and stopped right in front of Stiles and held out her hand, “I’m Laura; I’m Cora’s older sister …”

Stiles hesitantly took her hand and shook it, “Stiles …”

She gave him a small smile, “I’m-I’m sorry about my brother,” she struggled.

“I don’t really think you should be apologizing for him, you didn’t know …” Stiles said.

Laura huffed, “you’re right I didn’t but I should have … for a while I’ve been on my sister about bullying people just trying to make sure that she doesn’t get into it considering she can be a little aggressive but clearly I was focusing on the wrong sibling.”

“It’s not your fault Laura, Derek isn’t your responsibility; mom and dad can handle him,” Cora said.

“Hey since we’re in here, why don’t we get some food and eat,” Allison suggested.

Laura looked to her, “yeah that sounds like a good idea I mean that was the original plan after all.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten lunch in here during lunch time,” Stiles said offhandedly.

Stiles could see that the comment upset Cora but Laura seemed more confused than anything, “what do you mean?” She asked.

“Derek and his friends and a few other people made sure to mess with him whenever they got the chance so he didn’t feel safe eating lunch in here,” Cora said and headed over to the lunch line.

“Oh …” Laura sighed and followed her sister over to the lunch line, Allison probed Stiles to follow and they stood and waited to get their food.

Of course the wait would not go without some added commotion and Stiles should have known something else was going to happen. While they stood in line, Erica and Lydia had made their way over to them, Erica looked extremely pissed while Lydia just appeared cold, a look she commonly sported. “What the hell did you do?” Erica asked as they got closer to them.

“Back off Erica,” Cora said standing in front of Stiles.

“Why are you defending this little freak? Did he do something to you?” Erica asked.

Allison scoffed, “Erica shut up and walk away before you make yourself look like an even bigger idiot than you already are.”

“Oh fuck you Allison you’re somebody people should look out for considering how two faced you are,” Erica spat.

“Erica,” Laura’s voice boomed, “walk away,” she said slowly.

Erica clenched her fist and Lydia stood forward, “Allison what are you doing?” Lydia asked.

“The right thing, what are you doing?” Allison countered.

Lydia couldn’t bring herself to answer that as she gnawed at her bottom lip and avoided making eye contact with any of them. She slowly began to step back and eventually she turned and walked away towards the entrance of the cafeteria. “Wait Lydia, Lydia wait,” Erica called, “this isn’t over,” she said looking back to Stiles before rushing to catch up with Lydia.

“Actually it is over you just don’t realize it yet,” Cora said in a hushed voice.

Stiles thought about what Cora said for a moment, ‘is she right? Is it really over?’ He wondered there was no guarantee but for now he can rest assured that he wouldn’t be dealing with Derek, Jackson, Isaac or Boyd for a while.

Derek's POV

Derek never felt so angry in his life; all he could think about was how much he wanted to punch Stilinski in the face. His sister’s words fell on deaf ears as she scolded him in front of the entire cafeteria, his focus was so drawn to Stilinski that he shut out everything she said. Even after she smacked him his attention only briefly diverted towards her but his attention was eventually back on Stilinski and he found that he couldn’t look at anything other than him; even as he made his way out of the cafeteria escorted by a few teachers and the woman who manned the front desk. Needless to say Stilinski was the only thing on his mind, Derek went through plenty of scenarios of how he would approach Stilinski and absolutely pummel him but he found that none of those thoughts brought him comfort the way he assumed they would. The front desk woman opened up the door to the front office and ushered Derek and his friends in; the teachers that assisted in escorting them to the office stayed outside.

“What’s going on, why are we in here? We haven’t done anything …” Jackson said.

“I’ve heard otherwise Mr. Whittemore,” Principal Thomas said walking into the front office, “you boys follow me back to the conference room now.”

Each of them obliged and followed their Principal towards the conference room, along the way Derek couldn’t help but wonder what all of this was about but when Principal Thomas opened the door to the conference room and Derek was met with the sight of his parents he got the idea that his worst nightmare was possibly becoming reality.

“Boys please have a seat, as you can see I have called all of your parents and or guardians here to meet with me as this matter is very serious,” Principal Thomas said seating himself.

Derek noticed Scott was in the room as well accompanied by Ms. McCall, he looked so ashamed he couldn’t look up from the table; Ms. McCall on the other hand did not seem too pleased by the sight of Derek and his friends and looked like she was ready to jump up and have a few words with them. As Derek made his way over to his parents he noticed his dad looking to him in a way he hoped to never see, disappointed; the same could be said for his mother and that almost broke Derek’s heart. Derek sat down next to his parents as did Jackson, Boyd and Isaac, “alright, now I have called you all in here today because I have recently found out that your children have been relentlessly bullying another student for over a year,” Principal Thomas stated.

“Who exactly is the student and why isn’t he or she here?” Jackson’s father asked.

“Stiles Stilinski, I met with him and his father earlier and he gave me a very detailed explanation of what your son and his friends have been doing to him for the past year,” Principal Thomas stated.

Jackson’s dad nodded, “then why isn’t he here to explain to us what our children have apparently been doing?”

That was just like Jackson’s dad to go into full on lawyer mode to defend his son against whatever came his way, “I figured you would take issue to that and I’m sure you’ll understand when I say that  I personally don’t think neither Stiles or his father would be very comfortable sitting in the same room with the same people who have been tormenting him for the past year; so Mr. McCall will undoubtedly vouch for everything Stiles told me earlier, is that okay with you Mr. Whittemore?”

Jackson’s dad flinched back at that, “okay I understand why you would want to keep the student out of this but his father should at least be present to-“

“The Sheriff is angry enough as it is and it’s probably best he stay away from this meeting as well,” Principal Thomas said.

Jackson’s dad sat back in his seat defeated, “of course Sheriff Stilinski is his father, I should have known that,” Derek’s mom said beside him.

“Principal I would appreciate it if you would explain to me what transpired between my grandson and this boy, Stiles,” Boyd’s grandmother said.

“Well Verna to start last week your grandson chased Stiles with” the principal then pointed to Jackson, “Jackson Whittemore hoping to physically harm him,” Principal Thomas started.

“We didn’t do anything to him, he was the one that hurt us,” Jackson chimed.

“Boyd did you not hold Stiles up against a wall while Jackson punched him in the stomach after chasing him down?” Principal Thomas questioned.

“N-no sir,” Boyd answered and his grandmother swatted him upside the head.

“Don’t you lie to the man Vernon, tell him the truth,” she ordered.

Boyd coward away from her and hung his head low and whispered, ”yes sir …”

“Jackson is this true?” Principal Thomas asked but Jackson did not answer, “Mr. Whittemore is this true?” Jackson still did not answer.

“Answer the question Jackson,” Jackson’s dad commanded.

“Y-Yes it’s true,” Jackson hesitated.

“Thank you for answering honestly, I will continue to be asking you boys about past issues that have been brought to my attention and I hope that you answer to the best of your ability and as honestly as possible,” Principal Thomas instructed, to which all the boys nodded in unison. “Mr. Lahey, is it true that you and Mr. Whittemore have ganged up on Mr. Stilinski to beat him?” Principal Thomas asked.

“I-I don’t … I don’t know …” Isaac struggled.

Principal Thomas turned to Scott, “Mr. McCall is it true?”

Scott kept his head hung low, “yes it’s true.”

Isaac’s dad sat up, “now hold on … I want my son to say it, I want him to tell me that he did it,” Isaac’s dad said before turning to him and asking him, “Isaac did you do what the Principal is accusing you of?”

“On more than one occasion,” Principal Thomas added.

Isaac couldn’t bear to look his father in the eye, “yeah it’s true.”

Principal Thomas turned to Jackson, “Jackson?”

Jackson didn’t respond at first but then his mother pinched him and told him, “answer the question now Jackson,” in a hushed voice.

Jackson nodded and said, “Yes it’s true.”

Isaac’s dad leaned back in his seat and shook his head in disappointment, both of Jackson’s parents scooted their chairs away from him a little, “Mr. Hale is it true that you have stolen Mr. Stilinski’s homework on more than one occasion?”

Derek looked to his parents and in that brief moment he saw a glimmer of hope in their eyes that quickly faded after he answered, “Yes.” After that the disappointed looks returned and he turned to face Principal Thomas unable to look at his parents.

“Is it true that you have harmed Mr. Stilinski on more than one occasion?” Principal Thomas asked.

“Depends on what you mean by harmed,” Derek spat.

His mother grabbed hold of his arm and gripped it hard, stealing all of his attention, “you answer him with respect and be polite about it,” she warned.

Derek shuddered in his seat and turned back to look at Principal Thomas, “yes Sir I-I have harmed him more than once.”

Principal Thomas nodded, “have you harmed Mr. Stilinski after finding out that he was your soulmate?”

Derek wasn’t surprised by the collective gasps that came from just about everyone in the room, “wait … its really true?” Isaac tried.

Scott leaned forward on the table his eyes wide and filled with disbelief, “You … you’re his soulmate?!”

“This is a joke right?” Jackson wondered.

‘Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up,” Derek chanted in his head, he just couldn’t fathom that today’s events were his reality; one of his worst nightmares coming to light all because of Stiles Stilinski.

“You found your soulmate?” His father gasped.

Derek turned to face his parents and he couldn’t believe how indignant they appeared towards him; “You were bullying your-“ his mother tried but Derek wouldn’t hear what she had to say.

“No,” he turned back towards Principal Thomas, “no I didn’t hurt him after finding out he was my soulmate.”

“Wait you’re actually serious about this, Stilinski’s really your soulmate?” Jackson asked.

“But-but how … when?” Isaac struggled.

“You piece of … how-how long have you known?” Scott asked but Derek did not feel the need to answer Scott’s question so he ignored him staring straight ahead at Principal Thomas, “how could you do this to him?” Scott pressed.

“Oh pipe down McCall, I didn’t see you go out of your way to stop us from what we were doing, matter of fact most of the time we talked about Stilinski you laughed at some of the stuff we said about him … and you claimed to be Stilinski’s best friend, what a joke.” Jackson countered.

Scott looked towards Jackson and appeared as if he were ready to hop over the table and pounce on him, “shut up Jackson.”

Jackson leaned forward onto the table and smugly asked, “What’s wrong is the truth too much for you?”

Scott growled and shot up out of his seat prepared to throw down with Jackson, Jackson mirrored his action standing up but also allowing his eyes to glow. “Jackson, sit down and shut up right now,” Mrs. Whittemore said.

“But mom-“

“Sit down Jackson,” she growled and Jackson obliged hurrying to take his seat.

“Sit down Scott,” Mrs. McCall said and Scott sat back down angrily.

“Are we finished?” Principal Thomas asked looking between Scott and Jackson who were glaring at one another; both of them nodded and Principal Thomas turned his attention back onto Derek. “Derek I’m going to ask you again, did you or did you not harm Mr. Stilinski after finding out he was your soulmate?”

“No,” Derek answered truthfully which was shocking even to himself; he hadn’t realized before but ever since the day Stiles presented and their soul marks appeared he hasn’t touched him or gone out of his way to hurt him since.

Principal Thomas held Derek’s gaze for a moment and Derek could tell that the Principal was having a hard time believing what he said but the truth could be heard in his heartbeat and Derek knew that it did not falter when he answered. “Alright I just have a few more questions to ask you boys and again I want you to continue to answer to the best of your ability and as honestly as possible, understand?”

Derek nodded as did Jackson, Scott, Isaac and Boyd, “Okay, Mr. Whittemore and Mr. Lahey is it true that you and a few of your friends stalked Mr. Stilinski around school and ultimately wound up hassling him?”

“I don’t know,” Jackson said smugly.

“I … I-I don’t understand …” Isaac said.

“Fine let me rephrase the question, is it true that you Mr. Lahey along with Mr. Whittemore followed Mr. Stilinski around school only to beat him up and eventually lock him into one of the school lockers?” Principal Thomas asked.

“Can’t remember,” Jackson answered in a snarky tone but just after Jackson gave his answer his mother swatted him upside the head.

“You will answer him respectfully and honestly,” Mrs. Whittemore grumbled.

Jackson became noticeably fearful in that instance; he looked to his mother who was glaring at him subjecting Jackson to her indignation. It was a surprise even to Derek to see that Mrs. Whittemore wasn’t going out of her way to defend her son, Derek had always assumed Jackson could commit murder and regardless of that fact his parents would side with him and coddle and defend him but apparently that wasn’t the case, “yes sir it’s true …” Jackson answered.

“How many times have you done this?” Principal Thomas asked.

Jackson shrugged, “once or twice …”

Principal Thomas turned to Isaac,” Isaac?”

Isaac shrunk down into his seat before answering, “We did it two times …”

Mr. Lahey sighed next to Isaac and hung his head low, “I don’t understand why you would do something like that Isaac.”

Principal Thomas wrote something down in his notebook, once he was finished he looked up and over to Boyd, “Boyd have you ever harmed Mr. Stilinski before what transpired last week?”

Boyd frowned at the question, “you better answer him honestly Vernon,” Boyd’s grandmother said next to him.

“Yes sir …” Boyd answered honestly much to his grandmother’s disappointment.  From then on Principal Thomas threw multiple allegations their way and they all knew there was no point denying what they had obviously done and they couldn’t lie about it no matter how much they wanted to. Principal Thomas brought up plenty of past instances where they had wronged Stilinski; surprisingly some of the things Principal Thomas mentioned Derek didn’t remember doing or hearing about. After about 30 minutes of being interrogated and answering questions, Principal Thomas finally stopped asking questions and fell silent, the entire room was quiet, Derek refused to look at his parents and by the looks of it so did Boyd, Jackson and Isaac. Mrs. Whittemore appeared to be absolutely fed up as did Mr. Whittemore, Mr. Lahey looked extremely disappointed, “Principal Thomas if I may,” Boyd’s Grandmother said breaking the silence. “I would like to personally apologize for my grandson’s behavior and-“

“Verna I’d hate to interrupt you but you shouldn’t be the one to apologize to me and I’m not going to let you because you have nothing to apologize for,” Principal Thomas said.

“On the contrary Principal Thomas I am the one who raises my grandson and I’d hoped that I had raised him to know better than to partake in something like this,” Verna said.

“I feel the same …” Mr. Lahey chimed, “Isaac personally knows what it’s like to be bullied because he’s dealt with one in grade school, he was miserable for months because of it and I never thought that after going through something like that he would do it to someone else,” Mr. Lahey said.

“My job keeps my away from the house a lot as does my wife’s but we always made sure to instill into our son the differences between right and wrong and in this case he should have known that what he was doing was wrong,” Mr. Whittemore said.

“Dad it’s not that serious we were just joking,” Jackson tried.

“Jackson as I see it you are already in a world of trouble, your car your video games and your TV are already going to be taken from you but if you repeat what you just said again I will not only take those things from you, I will sell them as well,” Mrs. Whittemore said.

“Mom-mom but-but …” Jackson struggled Scott huffed at that and that caught Jackson’s attention, “what are you laughing at McCall?”

“Jackson shut your mouth and sit there and be quiet,” Mrs. Whittemore said. Hearing her icy tone sent a shiver down Derek’s spine.

“This entire situation is unfortunate,” Derek’s mother said suddenly, “I think that as parents we expect the best out of our kid’s and we always hope that they’ll never do anything wrong … but unfortunately our kids have done wrong and whether it be because of the way we raised them or some other reason, the results of their actions do fall back on us as they should know better than to do something like this. So Principal Thomas, Ms. Verna was right to offer you an apology for what’s happened and while it’s disappointing I would like to ensure that it will never happen again.”

“If I may,” Ms. McCall said, “I personally know Stiles very well, he practically grew up in my house and it hurts me to know that he went through what he did … and while it is nice to hear the parents show disapproval for this entire situation I personally would like to ask each of you boys a question, why, why Stiles? What exactly did he do to any of you to warrant this kind of mistreatment?”

“He tried to take Lydia from me … he was trying to figure out a way to break my soul bond with Lydia,” Jackson answered angrily.

Mrs. Whittemore scoffed and covered her face with her hand in embarrassment, “Jackson please tell me you don’t honestly believe that.”

“Mom it’s true,” Jackson tried.

“No Jackson that’s not true, only an idiot would believe that it was possible to break a soul bond,” Mr. Whittemore chimed.

“Jackson don’t pretend like you don’t know that breaking a soul bond is impossible because you know very well that it is impossible to do, you found that out the day you realized Lydia was your soulmate.” Jackson seemed dumbfounded by his mother’s words, “IT WAS EXPLAINED TO YOU REPEATEDLY THAT DAY!” Mrs. Whittemore shouted out her frustration.

“Was that really the reason you went after Stiles?” Ms. McCall asked suddenly.

Jackson appeared fearful in that moment when he looked to Ms. McCall, he looked back at his mother who was glaring at him out the corner of her eyes. Jackson shuddered before answering, “ye-yes I mean at least it was for me, I don’t know about them.”

Mr. Whittemore grumbled in the seat next to him, while Mrs. Whittemore rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, “Vernon do not tell me that is the reason you went after that boy …” Verna said looking to Boyd.

Boyd ducked his head down unable to deal with the guilt, Isaac looked to his dad who looked back at him with a questioning look. “Isaac, that wasn’t the reason you went after that kid right?” his father asked.

Isaac shuddered before answering, “It was … I think.”

“You don’t know why you started messing with this Stilinski kid?” His father asked.

Isaac looked defeated and looked down at the table, “yes sir … that was the reason.”

“Vernon,” Verna said getting Boyd’s attention, “was that the reason you started messing with this boy.”

Boyd ducked his head again and said, “yes mam.”

Verna leaned back in her seat and adjusted her purse on her lap, “I hope you like taking the bus because you won’t have a car for the rest of the year.”

Derek chanced a glance at his parents who were looking to him expecting him to say something, his mother finally broke the silence and asked, “Is your reason the same as theirs?”

 Derek looked around the table, first at his parents then at Scott and his mother, Principal Thomas, Jackson and his parents, Isaac and his dad and finally at Boyd and his grandmother before he finally answered, “no.” He was telling the truth for the most part, Jackson’s petty reason behind messing with Stilinski was not the initial cause behind Derek messing with him; he honestly found Stilinski to be annoying and he couldn’t stand how spastic he seemed. Back when he shared a class with him every little thing Stilinski did irritated Derek to no end and he felt that he had gotten to the point where he needed to let his frustration out, at least that’s what Derek likes to tell himself because it’s the easiest thing to believe.

“I had different reasons for going after him and that’s all there is to it,” Derek finished.

“What were those reasons Derek?” His mother asked but Derek didn’t bother answering as he wasn’t up for explaining himself.

“Derek answer you mother,” his father said.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Derek said and in that moment he realized the one reason why he didn’t want to talk about it was because he wasn’t exactly sure of the real reason behind his disdain for Stilinski.

Principal Thomas cleared his throat and leaned forward on the table, “I’m going to go over a few more things and Mr. McCall I am still expecting you to validate whether or not some of these things are true, understood?”

Scott nodded, “yes sir.”

“Good,” Principal Thomas said; Jackson grunted and rolled his eyes at that. Principal Thomas then started going over more past instances that had happened between everyone and Stilinski and they all did their best to answer the questions to the best of their ability. Scott helped jog their memories every now and then by detailing exactly what happened in regards to the incident Principal Thomas specified and Derek was surprised at that, he had no idea that Scott had been so perceptive or that he would remember incidents that Derek had forgotten.

“Jackson is it true that you depantsed Mr. Stilinski in the lunchroom last year?” Principal Thomas asked.

“I-I don’t know I don’t remember doing that,” Jackson answered honestly.

“It’s true,” Scott answered for him.

Principal Thomas looked to Isaac and asked, “Mr. Lahey is it true that you and Mr. Whittemore have dumped Mr. Stilinski into the school dumpsters on more than one occasion?”

Isaac nodded, “yes sir.”

“I thought we only did it once,” Jackson tried.

“It was two times, the first time before the last day of school last year and the second time was our first week back this year,” Isaac said.

“Thank you for answering honestly Mr. Lahey,” Principal Thomas said.

“Mr. Hale and Mr. Boyd, is it true that the two of you stole the starter to Mr. Stilinski’s jeep and taped it to his locker after school with a message saying …” Principal Thomas looked at his notebook, “have a nice walk home freak.”

Derek looked to Boyd who looked back to him, “yeah it’s true,” he answered.

Principal Thomas went over a few more instances after that to which the boys clarified their involvement, eventually he put his notebook away and Derek assumed that Principal Thomas was done asking questions. By this point the room reeked of shame and guilt, Derek never thought he would see Jackson look guilty about anything that involved Stilinski but he was surprised to see that he held that exact look, as did Boyd, Isaac and even Scott. “I hope you boys understand that the actions you took against Mr. Stilinski are vile and actions only the lowest of our society would commend. Hearing some of the things you’ve done I should expel you right here and now …” Derek sat up straight eyes wide at that.

“But-“ Jackson tried but Principal Thomas held up a hand cutting him off.

“But I believe in second chances and I believe that you can change … at least I hope you can. So instead of going to the school board to seek approval for your expulsion which I am more than certain I would receive, I am suspending you for the rest of the day and when you come back to school tomorrow your three week stay in in-school suspension will begin.” Principal Thomas said, “Do the parents have any objections to this?” He asked looking to the Whittemore’s first.

“No … after everything we’ve heard that actually seems lenient in this regard,” Mr. Whittemore said.

Principal Thomas turned to Mr. Lahey, “I am completely okay with this punishment,” Mr. Lahey said.

Principal Thomas then turned to Verna, “I have no objections to that.”

Finally he looked to Derek’s parents, “is there something else?” Derek heard his mother ask.

Principal Thomas cocked an eyebrow, “actually there is, while serving their in-school suspension the boys will be banned from all school activities meaning no football and no homecoming, should they have a field trip with one of their classes they will not be eligible to go.”

“That seems a little more appropriate and I am completely okay with that,” Derek heard his mother say.

Derek chanted every curse word he could think of in his head repeatedly, all he could think about now was how much he wanted to kick Stilinski’s ass. “Alright then, I believe that concludes our meeting if there are no further questions from the parents than I would like to say Mr. Lahey, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Whittemore and Mr. Hale, I don’t want to see you back in my office and I suggest you shape up and learn from this because if you continue to go down the path you’re on I can assure you, you will not like where you end up; do you understand me?”

“Yes sir,” Derek, Boyd and Isaac said simultaneously.

“What about Scott?” Jackson asked.

“Jackson, worry about yourself,” Mrs. Whittemore said.

“I believe your Principal asked you a question,” Mr. Whittemore said.

Jackson looked to Principal Thomas and sighed, “Yes sir I understand.”

“Than if you have no questions for me you may leave, Ms. McCall and Mr. McCall please stay behind for a minute,” Principal Thomas said.

Each of the parents thanked Principal Thomas and stood up to leave; Derek was the first one out of the conference room followed closely by his parents, he marched down the hall to the front office and barreled out of the front office door, “Derek slow down,” he heard his mother say behind him.

When he didn’t respond his father called him and he used the tone he only used whenever Derek was in serious trouble, “Derek Hale stop!”

Derek stopped the minute he heard his father and slowly turned around to face his parents; his mother walked up to him and Derek could swear that if they weren’t at school right now she would probably be seething and ready to lay down some serious punishment on him, “what were you thinking when you decided to do this? Do you realize who this boy’s father is?” she asked waiting for an answer to which Derek could not give. “He is the sheriff of this town and I work closely with him time and time again, do you realize that I now have to face that man knowing that my son has been tormenting his son repeatedly?!” She said and Derek flinched back a little at that, of course with his mother being the DA she works closely with a lot of Sheriff’s around the county.

His father walked up behind her and held on to her hand as a way to calm her down, “Derek … why did you do this?”

Derek thought over his father’s question but he couldn’t really come up with an answer, he wasn’t in the right state of mind and he couldn’t think straight no matter how hard he tried. He was still trying to convince himself that he wasn’t having a horrible nightmare, “I-I don’t know …”

“I suggest you figure out a reason before we leave,” she said pulling out her cell phone and dialing a number.

“Who’re you calling?” His father asked.

His mother let go of his father’s hand and walked away but not before saying, “the sheriff.”

Derek listened in as the phone rang he heard a woman answer the phone, “Thank you for calling the Beacon Hills Police Department this is Nancy how can I help you?”

“Yes hi Nancy, this is Talia Hale I was wondering if Sheriff Stilinski was in?” Derek’s mother asked.

“Yes mam I will put you through, one moment please,” Derek heard Nancy say.

It only took a moment before Derek heard a man answer the phone, “Good afternoon this is Sheriff Stilinski how may I help you today?”

“Yes hi John … it’s … it’s Talia Hale I um … how are you?” Derek had never in his life heard his mother sound so small and unsure of herself and he knew the reason behind that was because of what he did and he had to admit he felt a little bad about that.

“I’ve been better Mrs. Hale, how can I help you?” Derek heard the Sheriff say.

“I wanted to apologize to you for what my son-“

“I don’t think that’s necessary mam,” the Sheriff interjected.

“Well … I happen to think that some form of apology is necessary in this matter and I wanted to say that I am sorry for what my son did to your son …” she said.

The Sheriff was silent on the other end of the line for a moment before he finally spoke again, “you know of their situation correct?”

“If you’re talking about the soulmate situation then yes I do know I found out during the meeting with the principal and I wanted to say that I completely understand if your son wants nothing to do with my son and I will support whatever your son decides to do.“ she said.

“Thank you …” the sheriff said and then he fell silent for a moment, “but there’s something else you need to know and it’s best I tell you in person it’s quite important,” the sheriff said.

“I-I can meet you for lunch and-“

“I have a pretty busy day and its best that you and your husband are present for this,” the sheriff interjected.

“Then how about you come by tonight for dinner and tell us there?” Derek’s mother offered.

“It might be best I come by after you’re finished eating, my deputy and my son will be with me and considering the situation I don’t think my son will be up for eating dinner with yours,” the sheriff said.

“I understand; then come by around 8 p.m. does that work?” Derek’s mother asked.

“Yes I will see you then and thank you for calling,” the sheriff said and then the line went dead.

Derek watched his mom take the phone from her ear and drop her hand to her side and heave a heavy sigh, “that was one of the hardest phone calls I’ve ever had to make,” she whispered to herself before turning around to face Derek, “Derek I am going to ask you one more time and I want you to answer me honestly, why did you do this?”

Derek thought about the answer to her question for a moment and he had a pretty good idea in his head why he started messing with Stilinski but he wasn’t entirely sure that was the reason so instead of giving her a straight answer he said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

His mother sighed again and said “when we get home I want your car keys on the table, you can have them back when I feel like giving them back to you and you’re not allowed to hang out with your friends outside of school until I say it is okay, do you understand me?”

Derek huffed and didn’t answer her, “Derek answer your mother.” His father commanded.

“Mom, dad?!” Derek heard his sister yell and turned to see Laura heading over to them.

Derek watched his mother turn to face Laura and the utter look of shame and disappointment immediately erased from her face and was replaced with a warm welcoming smile and Derek had to admit seeing that stung like nothing ever before. He watched as his mother and father met Laura halfway and greeted each other, “Laura, honey why are you out of class?”

“It’s our lunch hour, mom … Derek he … he’s been bullying Cora’s friend and …“ Laura tried.

“I know your father and I just came from a meeting with the Principal,” she paused a moment before continuing, “Did you say Cora’s friend?”

“Yeah,” Laura said and Derek noticed her turn around when he looked in the direction she was looking in he saw Cora accompanied by Stilinski and Allison.

Cora had started walking over to meet their parents while Allison and Stilinski stayed behind, “hey mom, hey dad.”

“Hi sweety,” Derek heard his father say as he kissed her head.

“Cora your friend is the one that Derek has been troubling?” His mother asked.

“Yeah … you know what happened?” Cora questioned.

“We just met with the Principal and discussed the situation,” Derek noticed that his mother nodded her head in Stilinski’s direction, “Cora, is that your friend over there?” his mother asked.

Cora turned back and looked at Stilinski, “yeah that’s him over there,” she said turning to point at Stilinski. “Mom did they tell you that Derek and his friends were messing with him for over a year?”

Derek watched as his mother looked on to Stilinski, “Yes Cora everything was explained to us in the meeting,” she paused for a moment before looking back to Cora, “do you think your friend will be up for meeting us right now?”

Cora shrugged, “I … I don’t know that’s up to him but he shouldn’t have a problem with it though …”

Derek watched his mother nod, “okay then can you introduce us please.”

“Ye-yeah,” she said before turning around and leading their parents over to where Stilinski was standing. Derek noticed that Laura had stayed behind and when their parents were within a few feet of Stilinski she took her attention off of them and directed it towards Derek.

Her face was a mask of anger and she wasted no time walking over to Derek to scold him, “Derek I know somewhere deep down you feel bad about this so why don’t you try being a decent person and apologize to Stiles …”

Derek grunted, “No …”

“Derek please you have to know that what you did was wrong and-“ she tried.

“And what, I don’t care if it was wrong or not, it happened and that’s that.” Derek interjected.

“But you have to feel some kind of remorse for doing it don’t you? The things you and your friends did ... you have to at least feel bad about some of it,” Laura said.

Derek noticed the doors to the front office opened and he saw his friends poor out one by one, first Boyd and his grandmother, then Isaac and his father followed by Jackson and his parents. The sight of them made him think back to everything that had happened between them and Stilinski and he had to admit in that moment he felt nothing for what he had done and he wasn’t sorry about it and he wasn’t about to lie and admit he was and there was no way in hell he was going to beg for Stilinski’s forgiveness, “I don’t feel anything because I don’t care.”

“Derek I know you’re better than this, please just tell him you’re sorry and maybe-“

“But I’m not sorry Laura!” He shouted, “You sound like a freaking broken record; that little shit what was coming to him and that’s all there is to it and you’re not going to change my mind about that!” He said before turning around and walking out the front doors to the school leaving his sister standing there stunned.

Stiles POV

Stiles wasn’t sure what to do with himself after the confrontation he ate lunch absent minded often zoning out of the conversations going on around him between Cora, Laura and Allison. He couldn’t stop thinking about the look Derek had given him as he was escorted out of the cafeteria, the sense of dread that overcame him was overwhelming, “what’s he going to do to me when he gets a hold of me?” he wondered.

“Hey Stiles … Stiles, hey are you okay?” Cora asked as they were walking out of the cafeteria after finishing their lunch.

Stiles snapped back to reality and looked to her, “ye-no … no I’m not okay.”

“Obviously, you smell terrified,” Laura said.

“And I think I should be considering the circumstances,” Stiles said.

“Stiles don’t worry about anything, nothing is going to happen to you, not now or anytime soon at least,” Allison said.

“But what if-“ he tried.

“But nothing Stiles, Derek and his pack of goons aren’t going to lay a finger on you so long as I have something to say about it so stop worrying and just focus on the fact that the situation has been handled;” Cora said.

“I wouldn’t consider calling him and his friends out in front of everyone in the cafeteria, handling the situation,” Stiles said.

“Yeah well it’s a start,” Laura said.

“You say that like you’re planning on doing something else,” he said.

“I just might be,” Laura replied.

“And she’s not the only one,” Cora added on.

“Seriously don’t make this worse than it already is,” Stiles tried.

“Look Stiles all of this wouldn’t be happening if Derek and his friends were decent enough people to treat you with respect and not bother you; but because they couldn’t do that they have to deal with the consequences of their actions and that isn’t your fault,” Laura started. “And to be honest with you it’s not only the fact that what they did to you was so wrong it’s practically unforgivable, it’s also the fact that my brother is your soulmate. I haven’t even known you for an hour and I hate the idea of you being meant for my brother because I think you deserve better than that.”

Stiles was a bit surprised by Laura’s confession, “th-thanks.”

“Stiles this is basically an all-around crappy situation that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy and the fact that our brother happens to be one of the villains in all of this sucks but he needs to learn his lesson one way or another,” Cora said.

“Okay but-“ Stiles tried.

“Stiles listen … they’re right, it might not seem that way to you but in their own way they’re doing this in order for Derek to learn something.” Allison said putting her hand on his shoulder, “I know it might seem bad for you now but in the long run it probably might be a good thing; besides they know Derek better than anyone so they know how to handle him.”

Stiles thought that over for a moment, yeah Laura and Cora do know Derek better than anyone but that doesn’t mean he wants them to go out of their way just to handle this situation; but he knew he couldn’t argue with them to leave the situation alone no matter how hard he tried so he let it go, “fine … whatever, if I get killed because of you guys I’m coming back to haunt you.”

“Oh stop being dramatic,” Cora said.

By then they had made their way to the main corridor and they weren’t too far away from the front office when suddenly Laura started to speed walk ahead of them and Stiles heard her say, “Mom, dad?” He looked in the direction she was going towards and the first thing he saw was Derek and he was speaking to two older people. As they turned to face Laura Stiles could guess that the two people that Derek was talking to were in fact his parents, he bore a striking resemblance to the man and had a few similar features to the woman. As Stiles got a closer look at the woman he quickly recognized who she was but he wasn’t sure where he knew her from. Cora quickly followed behind her sister leaving Stiles and Allison to their own devices.

“That’s their parents,” Allison pointed to the man, “that’s their dad Jeff Hale,” she then pointed to the woman “and that’s their mother Talia Hale.”

Upon hearing the name he remembered coming across her when he was younger, “I think she works with my dad,” Stiles said offhandedly.

“What does your dad do?” Allison asked.

“He’s the sheriff of this town,” he answered.

Allison looked surprised at that but quickly controlled her reaction and looked back towards the Hale’s, “probably she is the DA after all, she used to be a prosecutor but she eventually made her way up the ladder.”

Stiles watched the Hales chatter amongst themselves and he did his absolute best not to eavesdrop on their conversation. Allison tapped his arm, “hey are you nervous or something?” she asked.

Stiles shrugged, “I’m not sure what I am to be honest.”

Allison smiled at that, “are you worried about their parents or something? Don’t be they’re actually really great people at least from what I know of them.”

Stiles nodded, “yeah … I bet,” he said with a hint of uncertainty.

“But I’m not sorry Laura!” Stiles heard and turned to see Derek yelling at Laura, “You sound like a freaking broken record; that little shit got what was coming to him and I’m not sorry about that and I’m not about to pretend that I feel any ounce of remorse for what I did because I don’t and that’s all there is to it and you’re not going to change my mind about that!” Derek said before turning around and walking out the front doors to the school.

Stiles noticed that Cora and her parents were looking awestruck at Derek’s retreating figure and then out of the corner of his eye he noticed Boyd, Jackson and Isaac and presumably their families were all now standing outside in front of the office looking in his direction, “I guess I should probably start planning my funeral,” he said before turning to Alison, “you’re more than welcome to come if you want Allison; I’m sure it will be a very small occasion,” Stiles sighed.

Allison frowned at him, “Stiles stop, it’s gonna be okay …” she turned back towards the Hale’s and inclined her head towards them, “hey look I think they’re coming over here.”

Stiles glanced back at the Hale’s and sure enough he saw Cora leading them over, of course he wasn’t really prepared to meet them and he wasn’t sure what to expect but at this point he no longer cared, the day was already shot to shit and it couldn’t get much worse than it already was. Stiles clammed up the minute the Hale parents were only a few feet from him, both Jeff and Talia greeted Allison. Afterward they turned to Cora looking to her expectantly as she readily introduced Stiles to them, “mom, dad … this is my friend Stiles.”

Stiles fidgeted a little but he sort of calmed down when he saw the warm smile Talia was giving him, “hello Stiles, I do believe we’ve come across each other a few times in the past,” she said offering to shake his hand.

Stiles hesitated but eventually took her hand, “ye-yeah I think so at the station right? It was a while ago.”

She nodded back to him, then the man Jeff cleared his throat and offered his hand to Stiles, “Hello Stiles, I’m Jeff Hale, it’s nice to see that my daughter has found someone outside of the family she can tolerate.”

Cora scoffed next to him but didn’t comment on what he said, “Stiles … I would like to apologize to you for my son’s behavior, if I had of known this was going on I would of …”

“It’s not your fault,” he whispered.

Laura eventually made her way over and joined them, she tried to offer Stiles a smile but he could see the smile didn’t make it up to her eyes and it only made her appear upset and Stiles couldn’t help but feel a little sad about that.

“As a matter of fact it kind of is,” Talia said bringing Stiles attention back to her, “if I was paying more attention I would have-“

“It’s fine um …” Stiles blurted out, he couldn’t believe how nervous he was just having this conversation. “I’m sorry I just …”

“This must be a little overwhelming for you,” Jeff said, Stiles didn’t miss the small frown on his face.

“No it’s just … I mean it is a little but … it’s just that … I didn’t actually ever expect for this conversation to ever happen so I don’t really know what to say or do,” he stammered.

“Right of course, well no pressure, we just wanted to apologize to you first hand and let you know how sorry we are for what you’ve had to go through,” Talia said sincerely.

“Our son should know better and we are fully prepared to make that he understands the consequences of his actions,” Jeff said.

“Good luck trying to crack that thick skull of his,” Laura grunted.

“Laura,” Talia said her name in warning.

“Mom he’s being weird, I haven’t ever seen act like that before and I don’t understand why he’s being this way now. You know that when he does something wrong he’s always the one that’s ready to take responsibility for his actions,” Laura said.

“Yeah well it doesn’t sound like he wants to be responsible for what he did to Stiles,” Cora sighed. “People change Laura sometimes it’s for better and sometimes its worst and obviously in Derek’s case he didn’t change for the better.”

“But people don’t change overnight Cora,” Laura reminded her; “there has to be a reason he’s acting this way.”

“Whatever the reason is Laura, it’s up to your father and me to find out and you know we will find out one way or another,” Talia said rubbing Laura’s shoulder in comfort.

“I’m sure you kids have to get to class so we won’t hold you up any longer,” Jeff said stepping back. “Stiles I believe we will see you later, your father said that you guys would be coming by to discuss something else with us; we look forward to your visit.”

Stiles was a little stumped by that, he didn’t hear anything from his dad about going to the Hale household but he presumed that it was recently planned and he didn’t know about it yet. “Okay … I guess.”

Talia gave him another warm smile before saying, “alright then we will see you later and again we apologize profusely that this happened to you.”

Stiles smiled awkwardly at that and waved them off reiterating that they didn’t need to apologize; before they left Cora and Laura became preoccupied with speaking with their parents it was in that time that Stiles noticed that Boyd and an older woman were heading in his direction. He wasn’t sure what to expect but he had a pretty good idea that he was probably going to get punched in the face. As they got closer the elderly woman was the first to speak, “Hi my name is Verna and Vernon here is my grandson and he has just informed me that you’re the one that he has been mistreating you for some time now,” Stiles could hear disappointment ringing in her voice.

Stiles couldn’t seem to find his voice so he simply nodded, “well I just wanted to make sure you heard this from him personally because he owes a thousand and one apologies and many more and I feel like now is as good a time as any to start,” she said and something about the way she said it intimidated Stiles to no end, he knew right then and there that he did not want to be on her bad side.

“I’m sorry …” Boyd said quietly.

Verna swatted Boyd hard upside the head, “say it again and this time make sure he can hear it.”

Boyd looked visibly shaken but righted himself and stood tall looking down on Stiles and said, “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you.”

Stiles stood staring up at Boyd gawking, the bell had rung and snapped him out of whatever daze he fell under he nodded at Boyd not particularly forgiving him just more so acknowledging that he’s heard his apology; he then looked to Boyd’s grandmother, “thank you I appreciate it.”

Verna nodded at Stiles, “I don’t expect you to accept his apology now but trust me when I say he will earn your forgiveness.”

Stiles was sure that she meant what she said as he could hear the promise in her voice but at the moment he wasn’t sure how he could ever forgive what was done to him; he gave her a small smile, “I better get to class, it was nice meeting you.”

“Same to you, you have a nice day,” she offered and Started heading out of the school, Boyd couldn’t seem to stand to look at him anymore and followed his grandmother out of the school without offering another word.

As they headed out Stiles noticed Jackson bolting for the exit, Isaac wasn’t too far behind him calling his name frantically. Stiles got the bright idea to look back towards the office and he was surprised to see who he presumed were Jackson’s parents heading his way along with Isaac’s father.

The Whittemore’s were the first to say something as they approached him, “hello forgive us for eavesdropping I heard your name is Stiles correct? You’re the sheriff’s son and the one that Jackson was going after correct?” She asked.

Stiles nodded his head, “um ye-yeah”

The woman who appeared cold even when she smiled had introduced herself, “my name is Nancy Whittemore and this is my husband David.”

David stepped forward, “We would like to apologize on Jackson’s behalf for his involvement in what transpired with you.”

“I would have much rather my son apologize himself for what he’s done but … clearly he did not wish to join us in this conversation,” Mrs. Whittemore said looking a bit dismayed.

Stiles noticed who he presumed to be Isaac’s father walk up next to the Whittemore’s, “Hello,” he said shyly, “I’m Kevin Lahey, Isaac’s father … sorry to butt in on your conversation but I too would like to apologize on my son’s behalf and I would like to assure you that this won’t ever happen again.”

Stiles was a little put off by how forward he was but he shook off the odd feeling and nodded, “o-okay … thank you.”

“Please give your father our regards,” Mrs. Whittemore smiled, Mr. Whittemore nodded to Stiles and together they headed out of the school with Mr. Lahey following closely behind them.

“Well that was … interesting,” Allison said.

Stiles sighed and decided that now was as good a time as any to head to class, “yeah …” just then his phone buzzed and he could guess that it was a message from Parrish to check in on him; after giving him the A-OKAY he shoved his phone back in his pocket, “I think I’ve had all I can take today so I’m gonna get out of here.”

“Aren’t you going to wait for Cora and Laura?” Allison asked.

Stiles glanced back at the Hale’s who looked deeply involved in their conversation, he then shook his head, “they look pretty preoccupied with their parents and I don’t really want to interrupt them.”

Allison nodded, “ri-right um well if you want I’ll walk to class with you.”

Stiles shrugged, “yeah sure if you want.”

“Okay let’s go,” she said giving him a full on smile revealing her cute dimples. They then headed towards their respective classes to finish out the rest of their school day.

Derek's POV

Derek’s mind was racing at a mile a minute, he no longer felt like was trapped in his worst nightmare, he had given in and accepted that this was in fact his reality and he was going to have to live with it whether he liked it or not. He thought about how Cora looked utterly disgusted with him and the absolute shame that riddled Laura’s entire being. He thought about his parents and how he had never seen them look so disappointed in him in his life especially after they found out that the guy he was bullying was in fact his soulmate. The thoughts that passed through his head weren’t exactly things he should think about while driving, his foot pressed the gas pedal harder than necessary, he wasn’t sure how fast he was going but he knew he was going fast and he knew that he just wanted to get away; he wanted to run away from everything and pretend none of this ever happened. But just as soon as he was willing to accept that running was the better option Stilinski’s miserable face flashed before his eyes and a sense of rage overwhelmed him and he slammed on the breaks.

“Fucking Stilinski,” he whispered to himself leaning his head against his steering wheel.

How had Stilinski managed to screw everything up for him in such a short amount of time; not only had he basically ensured that Derek would never get laid so long as he lives he’s basically gotten his family to turn their backs on him.

“Why,” he whispered, “why, why, why, WHY?!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.

He wanted to know why his worst nightmare was coming to light, he wanted to know why Stilinski was his soulmate, he wanted to know a lot of things but he had no answers. His phone buzzed on his passenger seat as it did for the last 10 minutes, he presumed that it was his parents calling him trying to figure out where he was but when he picked up his phone he was surprised to see that Isaac was the one calling him.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Derek, where are you?” Isaac asked.

He looked around at his surroundings and he recognized that he was just on the outskirts of town next to one of their favorite hangout spots. “I’m up by the lake,” he said.

“We’ll be there in 10 minutes,” Isaac said before hanging up his phone. Derek wondered who was with him but he didn’t dwell on the thought too long, he took his foot off the brakes and continued heading towards the area by the lake.

When he arrived he got out of his car and sat himself on a rock not far from where he and his friends like to cliff jump into the lake. He didn’t have to wait there long because just as Isaac said he arrived in 10 minutes with Jackson in tow and he like Derek didn’t look any too happy, “what’s up guys?” Derek greeted them.

“I want to kill Stilinski,” Jackson said.

“Jackson chill out we’re already in enough trouble as it is and considering we ran off from our parents I think we’re only digging the hole deeper for ourselves,” Isaac reasoned.

Jackson snorted, “Who fucking cares Isaac, it’s like you said we’re already in enough trouble, how much more trouble will killing Stilinski get us in?”

Isaac growled, “Are you even listening to yourself?”

The last thing Derek wanted was to see a fight break out between his friends, “stop,” he said and Isaac and Jackson looked towards him. “Isaac’s right Jackson we can’t afford to do anything else it’ll only cause more problems for us.”

“This is all Stilinski’s fault though and you know what its Scott’s fault too, he was basically snitching on us throughout that entire meeting!” Jackson said.

Derek’s phone buzzed and he saw he had a text from Boyd.

Boyd: Did you go home?

Derek quickly responded informing him that they were up by the lake.

Boyd: I’ll be there soon.

Boyd responded, Derek looked up from his phone at Jackson and Isaac, “listen this sucks but we’re going to have to wait it out before we make our move on Stilinski,” Derek said.

Isaac stepped forward, “Derek no, we can’t do anything else this has gone far enough.”

“Shut up Isaac, if you want to be a little wuss go be a wuss somewhere else,” Jackson barked. “Stilinski has to pay for what he’s done and you know that.”

“We’re gonna have to figure out what we’re gonna do with Scott too,” Derek suggested.

“He gets whatever Stilinski gets and a little more for stabbing us in the back,” Jackson said.

“So this is what we do? We get back at people for coming at us?” Isaac asked.

“Exactly,” Jackson growled.

Derek heard Boyd’s car pull up from a distance, “Boyd’s here.”

“Good at least he might see our side of things and can probably talk some sense into you Isaac,” Jackson said.

Boyd didn’t take long to make it up to them, he greeted each of them one by one but the look on his face worried Derek, he had never seen him so despondent, “you okay?” Derek asked as Boyd came up to greet him.

“Not really,” Boyd said.

“Well cheer up,” Jackson suggested, “we’re thinking about how we’re going to get back at Stilinski and Scott.”

Boyd appeared puzzled at that, “for what?”

“For getting us suspended, for getting us in trouble with our parents, everything that just happened is their fault!” Jackson said.

“No it’s not … it’s our fault,” Boyd said.

“He’s right, if we hadn’t of done anything to Stilinski in the first place none of this would have ever happened,” Isaac said.

“HE STARTED THIS,” Jackson screamed.

“It was a misunderstanding!” Isaac clarified.

“According to who?” Jackson refuted.

Isaac sighed, “according to Scott,” he said and Jackson flinched at that, “you know the guy that used to apparently be Stilinski’s best friend.”

“What is with you?” Jackson asked, “why are you all of the sudden having a change of heart?”

“BECAUSE …” Isaac started but simmered down, “because … my dad, what he said about me dealing with a bully in elementary school … I basically turned into the guy I hated.”

“This is different,” Jackson said.

“How?” Boyd questioned.

“Because Stilinski is a freak of nature and it’s only right that we remind him of that,” Jackson reasoned.

“You sound exactly like the guy who kept messing with me,” Isaac said.

“Who gives a shit?” Jackson asked.

Derek sighed, he really didn’t want to listen to them go back and forth on the matter, “alright then Isaac, Boyd what do you suggest we do about our current situation?”

“Nothing,” they said simultaneously.

Derek was a little taken aback by their answer, “what do you mean nothing?” Derek asked.

“I mean we don’t do anything about this,” Boyd pointed at each of them including himself, “everything that’s going on now, is because of us. We made the choice to mess with Stilinski and now we’re paying for it,” he said.

“Then we need to pay him back for this,” Jackson said.

“No we don’t Jackson, I know I’m already in so much trouble and I can’t imagine what my dad is going to say when I get home,” Isaac shuddered.

“We got lucky with the punishment Principal Thomas gave us but my ma’s itching to make sure I understand what I did was wrong. When I go home my car is gone, I can’t hang out with you guys unless it’s at school, I can’t talk to Erica outside of school; she’s taking away my TV …” Boyd sighed, “I basically screwed myself out of everything that I like.”

Jackson’s rage seemed to quell upon hearing Boyd’s punishment outside of school, “I-my mom said I’m losing basically the same thing you are …” Jackson said.

Silence fell upon the group as they each took in the reality of their punishment, “you see?” Isaac asked breaking the silence, “if we do anything after this we’ll just be in that much more trouble … and” he paused swallowing heavily, “who’s to say next time we don’t get in trouble with the law? His dad is apparently the sheriff of the town after all …”

 Derek gasped at that, he didn’t know why but a sudden chill ran down his back, “damn …” he whispered.

“I vote that we just let this go and we stop whatever issue we have with Stilinski right here and now,” Boyd said. “You don’t have to like him but no more messing with him or anyone else for that matter,” Boyd said sharply.

Derek could sort of understand why he was adamant about letting the debacle with Stilinski go, Boyd was now going to be separated from his soulmate for a large portion of time. Usually Erica and Boyd spend basically the entire week with one another in and out of school; it’s as if they feed off of each other’s presence and now that they were going to be forcefully separated for a large portion of time that had to suck.

“I’m in,” Isaac said, “I basically turned into the guy that bullied me and I don’t want to be him.”

Jackson sighed, “Fine … I’m in.”

“Jackson you have to be serious about this, think about it, you already can’t see Lydia or any of us outside of school for a while; if you get involved in something else next time your punishment might be that much worst,” Isaac reasoned.

“I said I’m in alright?!” Jackson growled.

The three boys then looked to Derek, “Derek what about you? You have it worse than any of us after all …” Boyd said.

Derek wasn’t so sure about that statement but then again Boyd might be thinking about something that Derek hasn’t caught on to yet. Derek looked at each of them and then at the ground, as badly as he wanted to get back at Stilinski he knew that if he were to do something to him again the result of the matter could be terrible for him especially since now it is known that Stilinski is his soulmate not to mention his baby sister’s friend. He once again thought back to her face in the cafeteria and how she hardly looked like she could stand him; and then he thought about Laura and his parents and that was enough reason for him to say, “I’m in …”

“I can’t believe this shit,” Jackson said.

Derek sighed again, “so we’re being forced to do nothing, for now …” he thought. He started to think about how his parents would react when they found he wasn’t home and that was enough to get him to stand up and start walking back to his car.

“Where are you going?” Isaac asked as Derek walked past him.

“Home, my mom and dad are already mad enough at me as it is, there’s no sense in pissing them off even more,” he said.

“Good point,” he heard Boyd say from behind him.

The group collectively made their way back to their vehicles but before they got in they each looked at one another and shared a silent moment, “this is going to be the last time we see each other outside of school for a while …” Derek said.

“Oh please I give it about a week before we’re back to hanging out like we usually do,” Jackson said smugly.

“I doubt that,” Isaac whispered.

“Yeah there’s no way in hell ma’s going to let this go in a week …” Boyd said frowning and another moment of silence was shared between the group, “I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.” Boyd said getting in his car.

Derek leaned forward onto his car, “yeah … see you tomorrow,” he said quietly before getting in his car and starting it up and driving home. His mind was riddled with thoughts of how his family was taking the news of what he had done; question upon question upon questions filled his head and thinking about it was giving him a headache so he had no choice but to block the thought entirely and just focus on driving. He made it home in a little under 25 minutes only to find his mom standing outside on the porch and Derek had no doubt in his mind she was waiting for him. “Get in the house,” she said the second he got out of the car, Derek sighed and closed the door to his car and walked up onto the porch but before entering his house his mother stopped him and held her hand out “your car keys,” she said.

Derek had no choice but to take his car keys off of his key ring and drop them into her hand, “you can have these back when I feel you’ve earned them.” She said walking into the house ahead of him.

“Derek, come into the living room now,” his father called the second he stepped foot into the house.

Derek dropped his bag by the door and walked over to the living room, his heart was hammering against his chest; he couldn’t remember the last time he was so fearful to face his parents. When he stepped foot in the living room he was surprised to not only see his father there but his uncle Peter as well as his Aunt Lynn. “Have a seat son we need to have a serious discussion,” his father said.

As Derek went to go and take his seat on the couch across from where his family was sitting his uncle thought it was the perfect time to offer him a snarky comment, “bullying people in school that’s awfully low of you Derek.”

Derek didn’t think to say anything back to him, he knew if he did it would just result in an argument and more trouble for him. As soon as he got himself comfortable on the couch his mother walked in and took a seat next to his father, “You wanna tell us how this all started?” His father asked.

Derek didn’t say anything for a moment, “it started …”

His mother grabbed hold of his father’s hand, “don’t mouth off to us Derek, just tell us why this happened.”

Derek shrugged, “I honestly can’t give you an answer.”

“Talia do you remember what mom and dad used to do to us as children to punish us should we step out of line?” Peter asked.

His mother glared at him, “of course Peter although I think the younger generation would consider that a little barbaric.”

“It might’ve been barbaric but it was necessary to instill proper discipline and in this case I’m feeling that it just might prove useful,” his uncle said and something about the way he said it made Derek shiver in fear.

“Honey stop you’re scaring him,” Derek’s aunt said.

“I wonder if this is how your soulmate felt whenever you or your friends messed with him,” his father said.

Peter leaned forward and looked over to his father, “you didn’t mention the boy was his soulmate.” He looked back to Derek and looked as impassive as ever. “Oh Derek, it’s one thing to bully a random person but it’s an entirely different situation when it happens to be your soulmate.”

“I didn’t know he was my soulmate at the time,” Derek defended himself.

Peter shrugged, “but the fact is now he is your soulmate and you have a history of harming him, that’s not a good look on you wouldn’t you agree?”

Derek huffed and sat back into the couch, “Derek please try and be reasonable here and explain to us what caused this,” his aunt tried.

Derek shrugged and looked away from his family, “I don’t know, one day he pissed me off so I got back at him.”

“Lie,” his mother and father said at the same time.

“It’s the truth,” Derek tried.

“Apparently you don’t understand the severity of the situation that you’re in so,” his mother shot up off of the couch and walked over to him, “give me your phone and go to your room. You have until the end of the day to explain to us why this occurred until then I’m sure you have some homework that will keep you preoccupied.”

Derek looked up at her and saw an expression he never thought his mother would direct towards him, it was a combination of disgust, disappointment and anger he remembered seeing it frequently directed towards people she was prosecuting when he was younger. His hand shook as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and hand it to her; “now go to your room.”

When he stood he could barely maintain his balance, he looked around the room to see that his mother wasn’t alone in giving him some kind of look of disapproval, his father, aunt and uncle all shared the same expression and that sight hurt Derek more than anything. “How bad did I screw up?” He wondered as he made his way over to the door to grab his bag and headed up to his room.

He sat in his room lost in thought, the day seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye; he heard when his sister’s got home from school, they were clearly not over what happened as they had nothing but bad things to say about him the second they got into the house. Derek turned over on his side and curled in on himself the day only went from bad to worst and it looked like it probably was going to remain that way for a while. Eventually his mother had called him down for diner but he didn’t feel he could face any of his family so he opted out and avoided going downstairs; he was willing to shut himself in his room for a week if it meant that he could get his family to change their minds about him and not look at him like he was a failure.

But that plan was scrapped to hell the second he heard someone knock at the door, “sheriff thank you for coming,” his mother said upon opening the door. In a matter of seconds the familiar scent that enslaved Derek’s wolf overwhelmed him and he shot up out of his bed and out of his room; he was tempted to run downstairs but he managed to gain control over himself and stopped himself at the top of the staircase.

“Good evening Talia, this is my Deputy Jordan Parrish and I do believe you’ve already met my son Stiles,” the sheriff said offering up introductions.

His mother shook the deputy’s hand, “hello deputy,”

“Mam,” the deputy said shaking her hand.

She then turned to Stiles, “hello again Stiles.”

“Um- h-hi …” Stiles said awkwardly.

“STILES!” Cora screamed and ran up to give him a hug

Laura wasn’t too far behind her and gave him a high five when she saw him, “welcome to our house.”

Derek couldn’t help the pang of jealousy he felt seeing the interaction going on between them, “why don’t you boys please come join us in the living room, girls’ could you give us a minute?” His mother asked.

“Actually mam it’s best if you and your family are present for this,” the deputy said.

“Okay should I be worried?” Derek’s mother asked.

“Not at all,” the sheriff said.

“Okay … girls come on in and get seated,” his mother said and Derek could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

As they each filed into the living room Stilinski was the last one to go in, Derek noticed that he was looking around for something but he wasn’t sure what. He watched as Stilinski took a whiff of the air and his eyes immediately found him at the top of the stairs, and he immediately became fearful as he turned to face him. Derek didn’t break eye contact as they held each other’s gaze, he could feel his wolf coming to the surface and the change was quickly starting to overcome him starting with his eyes. He had no idea why he felt an overwhelming need to touch Stilinski but he did and he hated it, he completely lost control over himself and slowly started to step down the stairs making his way towards the fearful Omega until the deputy came into the mix and grabbed hold of Stiles shoulder.

“Hey are you feeling okay,” the deputy asked Stilinski; upon seeing him Derek bolted back upstairs as quietly as he could and he hoped he went unnoticed.

“Ye-yeah sorry …” Stilinski stammered and Derek thanked the stars that he wasn’t noticed by the deputy. He sat against the banister by the stairway and did his best to regain full control over himself.

“Why are you just standing here?” Derek heard the deputy ask Stilinski.

Derek hoped that Stilinski wouldn’t rat him out and he was relieved when he heard Stilinski say, “no-no reason I just spaced out that’s all.”

Derek sighed and completely missed whatever the deputy said next, “Why can’t I stay in control around him?” Derek wondered.

“Hey,” Derek heard and he immediately sprung up, the deputy was now standing at the top of the stairway and Derek had no idea how he didn’t hear him come up. “You must be Derek Hale,” the deputy said.

Derek tried to labor his breathing but he was having trouble, “maybe, what’s it to you.”

A dark expression fell over the deputy’s face, “stay away from Stiles if you know what’s good for you,” he said looking down at the floor when he lifted his head Derek was presented with crimson red eyes, “I really don’t want to have to hurt you.” He threatened.

“You couldn’t if you tried,” Derek refuted.

In a flash the deputy was right in front of him resting his arm on Derek’s shoulder, “actually I can.”

Derek wasn’t sure what to think or do, he struggled to comprehend what was going on. “How did he get in front of me so fast?” An icy chill overtook Derek; he knew he was seconds away from pissing himself.

“If you ever come near Stiles again without his permission I will be forced to find you and I will make sure you understand that you should listen to me the next time we speak,” the deputy said. He then left Derek standing in the middle of the hall and made his way back downstairs.

“What-what the hell was that?” Derek wondered. He then managed to carry himself back into his room only to throw himself onto his bed riddled with even more questions than before.

Stiles POV

Stiles pretty much zoned out for the rest of the school day after he was confronted by his enemies parents; something was going on around school but Stiles couldn’t seem to bring himself to care about whatever it was he was too focused on his situation. He did remember to text Parrish every time he checked in on him but other than that anything that didn’t have to do with his situation didn’t really matter at the moment. He was pretty much out of it when he got home too, Parrish and his father had come home and he hadn’t known until his dad had come up to his room to check on him.

“Hey did you hear me calling you?” His father asked upon walking into his room.

Stiles startled, “he-hey dad … when did you get here?”

His dad rubbed the back of his neck, “we just got in not five minutes ago,”

Stiles blinked, “oh,” he looked around his room and noticed that the sun had already set, “what time is it?”

“It’s almost 8 o’clock we kind of need to head over to the Hale’s house; we’re supposed to be meeting with them …” his dad said.

“Ab-about what?” Stiles stammered.

“We think it’s best that their family knows that you’re an Omega,” his dad said.

“Why?” Stiles wondered.

“That Derek kid is your soulmate unfortunately and while I hope nothing should ever happen between the two of you it’s best that his family at least knows what you are so they aren’t surprised later on down the line;” his father explained.

Stiles could understand that but he was certain that a relationship between him and Derek was out of the question and would never happen, “but I don’t accept Derek … I probably never will.”

“Regardless of that fact Stiles, you’re still his soulmate and its best that his family knows about what you are especially if they feel the need to come around and start asking questions about you.” His father said.

Stiles nodded, “okay,” he knew his dad had a point, soul marks only appear on people that have already presented; it was a wonder to him that neither Cora nor Laura ever bothered asking him about his presentation and what he presented as.

His dad nodded, “alright get your shoes on we need to be over there by 8,” his dad said exiting the room. After throwing his shoes on he ran downstairs and greeted Parrish; from there they each filed out of the house and into his dad’s cruiser and proceeded to drive over to the Hale house.

Along the way Stiles hadn’t really thought about the idea of going to the Hale house he was still reeling through the events of the day; it was only until Parrish mentioned “if something happens I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure his safety,” that Stiles realized he was going to the Hale house, the Hale house that housed Derek Hale, one of his most hated enemies. His breathing picked up as did his heartrate and his father and Parrish both caught on to that, “calm down Stiles if there’s one thing you don’t need to be worried about it’s this, nothing is gonna happen to you.” Parrish said.

“Don’t forget I still have my gun, if anything happens I can’t promise I won’t use it,” his father said.

Stiles nodded he knew it was stupid to worry, Derek wasn’t the only one living there, his mother, father and sisters would be there as well and Stiles took comfort in that thought. Another 10 minutes passed with his dad behind the wheel and they had arrived at the house but upon first glance Stiles would say the word house was an understatement and the correct term should be manor, “look at the size of this place,” he said offhandedly.

“They’re definitely well off aren’t they,” Parrish said looking out the passenger window.

“Come on let’s get this over with,” Stiles father said as he got out of the cruiser not showing any signs of interest in the manor before him. Parrish followed suit as did Stiles, “Stiles this isn’t going to last long, we are only here to talk to them about your situation and then we’re leaving.”

“Dad before you go in you should know something …” Stiles hesitated. “I’m friends with Cora and maybe Laura too I’m not sure yet we just met today …”

Parrish and his father both turned to look at him, “and they are?” His father asked, eyebrow raised in question.

Stiles looked to the ground, “they’re Derek’s sisters.”

His father sighed and looked to Parrish who looked to be deep in thought, “it’s not a problem if they aren’t anything like their brother,” he said.

His dad looked back to him, “how long have you been friends with these girls and why didn’t you tell me about them before?”

“Well I was friends with Cora first we’ve been friends for about a month now and in the beginning I wasn’t sure where it was going but she’s really nice and I just met her sister today and she seems nice too,” Stiles explained quickly.

His father scrutinized him for a moment, “fine,” he sighed. “I’m not entirely fond of the idea of you being friends with them considering their relation to that little miscreant but if you feel they’re good people I will not stop you from being friends with them.”

Stiles relaxed a little at that, “thanks dad …”

His father nodded and turned back towards the porch of the Hale manor, “let’s go,” he said and walked up the steps and knocked on the door with Parrish at his side.

Talia did not take long at all to come to the door, “sheriff thank you for coming,” she greeted them with a warm smile.

“Good evening Talia,” his father said shaking her hand as he entered the house; he quickly turned to offer introductions, “this is my Deputy Jordan Parrish and I do believe you’ve already met my son Stiles,”

Mrs. Hale shook Parrish’s hand, “hello deputy,” offering him a warm smile as well. She then turned to Stiles and the warm smile faded and turned sad, her eyes seemed full of pity and sorrow; “hello again Stiles.”

Seeing her that way made Stiles worry that she was in fact putting the blame for what happened on herself when that shouldn’t be the case, “Um h-hi …” he struggled.

Stiles noticed someone behind Talia and that’s when he heard a familiar voice yell, “STILES!” and Stiles saw Cora running up to him only to steal a hug from him.

Laura wasn’t too far behind her and gave him a high five when she saw him, “welcome to our house,” she said greeting him.

“So what’s the big thing you guys have to tell my parents?” Cora questioned.

“Yeah how come we don’t get to know?” Laura asked.

Talia seemed to notice that the girls’ were ganging up on Stiles, “why don’t you boys please come join us in the living room,” she said before turning to both Cora and Laura, “girls’ could you give us a minute?”

Laura and Cora both groaned but were willing to comply that was until Parrish spoke up, “Actually mam it’s best if you and your family are present for this.”

“Okay should I be worried?” Talia asked.

“Not at all,” the sheriff said.

She seemed a little hesitant at first, “Okay … girls come on in and get seated, boys follow me this way” she said ushering the girls’ into the living room, “boys if you will,” she said. His father was the first to go in followed by Parrish, Stiles was about to walk in but he couldn’t shake a certain feeling that someone was watching him. Whoever it was it felt like their eyes were piercing his soul and he knew whoever they were they were somewhere nearby, ‘I presented so my sense of smell should be a lot better now,’ he thought and decided to scent the air. He immediately caught onto the scent of someone else and it was coming from … the top of the stairs, when he opened his eyes he was only a little surprised to see none other than Derek Hale standing at the top of the staircase resembling a deer in headlights.

Stiles focused in on him and took a step back, he could feel his heart racing in his chest; his breathing became shallow as he started to feel like the walls were closing in on him. ‘No,’ he thought, ‘I’m not scared, I’m not scared ...’ he tried chanting but to no avail. He watched Derek closely never breaking eye contact with him as he slowly began to make his way down the staircase, one step at a time. His eyes flared crimson red and the sight brought an immediate reaction out of Stiles causing him to freeze in place. With each step Derek took he started to look more and more like a predator stalking its prey, preparing to strike.

Suddenly Stiles felt a hand on his shoulder, “Hey are you feeling okay?” Parrish asked.

Stiles jumped a little upon hearing Parrish’s voice, “ye-yeah … sorry,” he said and looked back up at the staircase and noticed that Derek was nowhere to be seen.

Parrish followed his line of sight and looked back to him, “why were you just standing here?”

Stiles shook his head nervously, “no-no reason I just spaced out that’s all.”

Parrish eyed him suspiciously and Stiles knew that he knew he was lying, “right … why don’t you head on in, I’ll be there in a second don’t start without me.”

Stiles nodded, “right,” he said; ‘what exactly is he going to do?’ he wondered. He wound up doing as Parrish told him and walked into the massive living room, the size of it was basically the size of the entire downstairs portion of his house. He looked around in awe at the well-furnished living room trying his best not to gawk but failing miserably. The Hales were all gathered on one sofa Cora and Laura sat next to one another as did Jeff and Talia.

“Stiles,” Talia called from one of the fancy sofas, “why don’t you have a seat next to your father.”

Stiles nodded and quickly walked over with his head down; upon seating himself he noticed that they were joined by two other people he was not familiar with; a man bearing a similar resemblance to Talia and a very pregnant woman who Stiles assumed was his wife. Not two minutes later Stiles noticed Parrish walk into the living room he quickly made his way over to the sofa and took a seat next to his father. “Sorry about that, shall we?” Parrish asked looking to Stiles dad?

Stiles father looked to him for approval and Stiles looked on at the Hales before him and nodded, “okay …” he whispered.

“Well then I don’t think I need to tell anyone that the situation that happened between our son’s was … not ideal,” the sheriff began.

Talia and Jeff nodded, “be honest it sucks,” Cora blurted out.

“Cora please let the man speak,” Talia warned.

Stiles caught the small smile on his father’s face, “yes it does suck … I want you to know before anything is mentioned that the only reason we are telling all of you this is because Derek is unfortunately my son’s soulmate.”

“Sheriff you make it sound like what needs to be said is top secret information,” the man Stiles didn’t know said.

“As a matter of fact Peter this is a situation where the information you’re about to hear cannot be discussed with anyone outside of this room; should you violate that you will be in fact breaking federal law and potentially endangering someone’s life,” Parrish said.

“Parrish,” the sheriff said in warning.

The man who Stiles now knew as Peter looked visibly shaken by that and sat up from his relaxed posture and leaned forward into a more serious one, “go on,” he said.

“Hold on you said endangering someone’s life? Sheriff you told me I didn’t need to be worried,” Talia said.

“None of your lives will be in danger but my son’s will so I need you to promise me that you won’t speak a word of this once we tell you,” the sheriff said.

Talia looked to everyone and nodded before looking back to the sheriff, “you have our word.”

“Not too long ago Stiles went through his presentation,” the sheriff started. Stiles noticed both Cora and Laura looked to him suspiciously.

“Congratulations your son is like everyone else in the world get on with it” Peter barked.

The woman sitting next to him swatted his arm, “Peter stop it,” she said.

“Sorry Lynn,” Peter said and motioned for the sheriff to continue.

“As I was saying, not too long ago Stiles presented; his presentation wasn’t exactly … a normal presentation;” the sheriff struggled.

“What do you mean it wasn’t normal?” Talia asked.

“Hold on ...” Cora interrupted, “you presented? Is that why you missed school Monday?”

Stiles shook his head, “no, that was something different but it was related to my presentation,” he reasoned.

Cora nodded, “Okay?”

“Stiles is um … he’s very, very special; he uh-“ The sheriff tried but Stiles found himself getting a little irritated with how his father was beating around the bush.

“I’m an omega,” he blurted out.

“Stiles that isn’t something you just tell people without a little forewarning,” his father sighed.

Stiles looked to his dad, “well you weren’t exactly doing a good job at telling them so I figured I should just do it myself.”

“An Omega,” Talia’s voice was layered in disbelief.

“Impossible if you were an Omega you’d be the next big news story,” Peter said.

“Sheriff if this is some kind of scheme to get back at us I can assure you that this isn’t funny,” Jeff said.

Stiles looked to Cora and at first she held a look of suspicion but then it was as if she put two and two together and realized that Stiles was in fact telling the truth, “That’s why you smelled so good when I first met you … it was because you presented right?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah, the day we met not too long before that I presented and the smell was a side effect.”

Talia turned to her daughter baffled, “Cora?”

“You can’t be serious about this,” Lynn said next to Peter.

“Stiles why don’t you show them,” Parrish suggested.

Stiles nodded and started concentrating on shifting, all he needed to do was shift his eyes and the Hales would have all the proof they needed to know he was in fact an Omega. He didn’t have to concentrate too hard in fact it only took a few seconds for the shift to take over, he could tell by the reaction the Hales were giving him.

Jeff stood from the sofa in awe as did Peter, “this is …” Jeff started

“Impossible,” Peter finished.

Stiles reigned himself in and willed his eyes to go back to normal, “holy freaking crap,” Cora said.

“Your eyes are so,” Lynn started.

“Beautiful,” Talia finished.

After a moment Stiles allowed his eyes to shift back to their natural honey brown color; it took a moment for the Hales to process what they had seen, no one said anything for at least five minutes then Laura broke the silence and asked, “If you’re an Omega why aren’t you all over the news like the other guys?”

Parrish went on to answer her question as thoroughly as possible explaining part of the reason why Stiles had to keep his Omega status secret and why it was imperative that the Hales keep his secret as well. Any other questions the Hales asked were either answered by Parrish or the sheriff; overall the outcome of Stiles revealing his Omega status to the Hales turned out better than he could have possibly imagined of course he never actually imagined ever telling them. Eventually Stiles father and Parrish had fallen into a deep conversation with Peter and Derek’s father, in that time Stiles noticed that Talia, Cora, Laura and Lynn seemed to be unable to look at anything else other than him. Cora, Laura and Lynn each looked like they were dazed but Talia looked like she was plagued with sadness, “Um … is-is everything okay?” Stiles questioned Talia.

She looked down at the ground and sighed, “no but it will be … I hope,” she said.

Whatever his father and Parrish were discussing with Peter and Derek’s father immediately came to a halt, “Talia?” Derek’s father looked to her worriedly.

Talia looked around the room and finally back at Stiles, “I just can’t help but thinking what if Stiles was found out to be an Omega and word got out that he was being terrorized by my son and his friends, my son … who also happens to be his soulmate … and I-and I … I just think of what the world might say and how they would perceive it …” she gasped.

“I doubt that would have happened,” Derek’s father said.

“You don’t know that Jeff, if it did happen it could have been bad for all of us, his actions would have reflected on each and every one of us especially you and me Jeff since we are his parents;” Talia said.

“He probably doesn’t even know that the boy is an Omega,” Peter said.

“Act-Actually he does …” Stiles stammered and all of the Hales looked to him with wide eyes, “he’s known since I presented that I’m an Omega,” Stiles mentioned and Talia only seemed to get more agitated upon hearing that; “but-but even if something were to happen and if news of me being an Omega got out I wouldn’t tell them about what happened, they don’t need to know.”

“But people in school know Stiles, especially after what happened today at lunch, they may not know that you’re an Omega but majority of the school has an idea that Derek is your soulmate and they know that he was messing with you. And if someone who isn’t us ever found out that you were an Omega who’s to say they won’t tell people around school or outside of school?” Laura said.

“And if those people were to go to the media and inform them of your soulmate situation …” Peter said.

“I’m sure you can imagine the reaction would not be good,” Talia said clasping her hands together.

“I think you all should calm down,” Parrish said. “You’re looking at this from the worst case scenario and clearly that has not happened and we cannot allow that to happen because while it might be bad for you it will be even worse for Stiles.”

“I know you told us that his life would be in danger but I am certain that a bunch of media attention is not going to kill him,” Lynn said.

“It’s not the media that we’re worried about …” the sheriff said.

“Then what is it? There’s something that you’re not telling us,” Talia said.

Silence fell upon the room but eventually Parrish spoke up, “The actual reason why Stiles can’t reveal his Omega status isn’t just because he wants to avoid the media but also because there is a group that have been going around and kidnapping Omegas worldwide. The condition of most of the kidnapped Omegas is unknown but we know that the group will do whatever it takes to ensure that they retrieve the Omega they’ve targeted.” Parrish said.

A collective gasp came from the Hales, “If something like that were happening it would be all over the news, you can’t honestly expect us to believe that,” Peter scoffed.

Parrish scrutinized Peter, “When was the last time that you heard anything about the two male Omegas?” Parrish looked around the room, “That goes for anyone else, when was the last time you heard something about the male Omegas?”

Of course the question helped the Hales realize that Parrish was indeed telling the truth, Stiles found it odd how similar their reactions were to his father’s; once they got past their initial disbelief they had started asking questions like how long these events have been going on, who was responsible and how Parrish knew of all this information; of course Parrish had to reveal that he was actually a government agent whose job was to protect Stiles at all cost. Eventually they asked Parrish what kind of danger Stiles was facing and Parrish gave them a realistic answer, “if news of his Omega status were to ever get out there’s no doubt in my mind that the group will make Stiles their #1 priority.”

Talia, Laura, Peter and Jeff were quick to offer up aid in defending Stiles which came as a surprise to him as he had only just met them that day. Cora also added that she would do whatever she could to ensure Stiles safety much to her family’s disapproval. Parrish felt that it was unnecessary for the Hales to put their lives on the line but Talia felt it was the least they could do for what Derek had done to Stiles.

“I appreciate you wanting to defend my son but from my understanding this group is extremely dangerous; and I understand that you may feel some sort of obligation to help us out and while what your son did to mine was horrible it does not mean that you need to stick your neck out for us,” the sheriff explained. “None of you owe us anything and we don’t want you to feel like you do.”

“Then why tell us any of this,” Jeff asked.

John sighed, “it’s like I said before the only reason we are telling you any of this is because your son happens to be my son’s soulmate and we felt it’d be best that you know this information now just in case something were to happen between them in the future … which hopefully it doesn’t ... no offence.”

“None taken,” Jeff said.

“It’s better that all of you know now so none of this is a surprise to any of you in the future, and it’s also best that you know this because I now see your son as a threat to Stiles and because of that I implore that you make sure he stays as far away from him as he can,” Parrish said.

Talia looked a little taken aback by that, “I will make sure that my son never harms Stiles again … and I guess I can understand your reasoning behind telling us but I don’t understand why you will not accept our help; if this matter is as dangerous as you say then it sounds to me like you could use all the help you can get,” Talia said.

“If you go against this group and they unsuccessfully retrieve Stiles, they will without a doubt make an attempt to capture him again and because you went against them the first time, they will make sure to take you out to ensure they achieve their goal,” Parrish said and his words seemed to have gotten through to the Hales as they each looked at one another worriedly.

“Remember what I said, you don’t owe us anything and there is nothing that has been done to warrant you putting your lives on the line for my son,” the sheriff said standing up off of the sofa. “I will worry about my son and his safety and in the mean time you all should worry about your growing family.”

“John please,” Talia pleaded.

“Stiles, Parrish, I think we’re done here,” the sheriff said.

Stiles had to admit that he felt a little bad that his father was cutting the conversation short but he understood why he was doing it. The Hales appeared to be adamant about wanting to help defend Stiles if need be which really threw Stiles off. Parrish was the next one to stand up, “thank you for inviting us into your home and remember everything that we’ve discussed must not leave this room otherwise there will be consequences.”

“Stiles,” his father called and Stiles looked up to him, “it’s time to go.”

“Ye-yeah …” Stiles said and ungracefully stood up off of the couch, he looked to the Hales who all seemed a little unnerved, “thank you for listening.”

“Anytime,” Talia said and for some reason, Stiles felt that she actually meant that; “I’ll see you out,” she said standing from the couch and heading towards the front door with Parrish, the sheriff and Stiles in tow.

The rest of the Hales had gotten up to see them out as well, each of them offering a farewell. Cora and Laura gave Stiles a hug before he walked out of the door while the rest of the Hales waved them off; both Jeff and Talia mentioned that they’re welcome back anytime but unsurprisingly Stiles knew his father wasn’t too thrilled about that idea. As they made their way back to the cruiser Stiles couldn’t help but feel that unwavering feeling that he was being watched again and he had a good idea that Derek was probably the one watching him from somewhere. As he got in the cruiser he turned to look back at the Hale manor, he looked around the massive house until his eyes landed on the one room of the house that had no lights on; it was there that he saw the crimson red eyes glowing brightly in the dark in his direction and he found himself unable to look at anything else. As his father pulled away from the Hale manor Stiles continued to stare at the two red eyes until he was unable to see them anymore.

Scott's POV

Scott managed to get off without much punishment at all simply because he agreed to account for everything that Derek and his friends had done to Stiles, he did however get 3 days of after school detention but that was a lot better than being suspended for half a day and then 3 weeks of in-school suspension as well as no school activities during those 3 weeks of in-school suspension. But even after he helped get Derek, Jackson, Boyd and Isaac in trouble for what they had done he had still felt like garbage about the entire situation; his best friend was still upset with him and that was because he in a sense he played a part in his torment, not to mention the fact that Allison still wanted to have nothing to do with him. He had spent the rest of the school day trying to figure out how he would approach the two of them but he didn’t manage to come up with anything because while approaching them would be difficult, getting them to listen to him would be even harder.

Something else was bothering him as well, shortly after leaving the Principal’s office he noticed that quite a few people seemed put off by him; he eventually found out that Derek and his friends had been exposed by Derek’s sister’s at lunch. At first, Scott was confused as to why people would care so much about what Derek and his friends were doing to Stiles but then he found out that Derek’s sister’s revealed that Stiles was his soulmate and that was the main reason why people seemed so upset over the matter. The news spread throughout the school like wildfire, Scott noticed that in his last few classes people were talking about Derek and his friends like dogs and voicing their sympathy for Stiles. But that wasn’t the only thing that was being talked about, while Scott was in his Government History class taught by Mr. Bolin the woman who had worked at the front desk in the front office had come in during the middle of class and had taken him somewhere while someone else came in to teach the class in his stead. Eventually Mr. Bolin had come back to class just before it ended and he looked extremely pissed but that wasn’t what everyone would eventually talk about, it was the fact that he came back into class only to clean out his desk and eventually inform his students that he would no longer be their teacher from that day forth before being escorted out of the classroom by school security.

Just after class ended Scott was able to find out what was going on and he was surprised to find out that not only had Mr. Bolin been fired but two other teachers as well, Mr. Peter’s and Mr. Clark. Nobody had any idea why they were fired and people could only speculate as to what the reason was. Talk of the teacher’s only got worse when another one had up and quit following the 3 teachers being fired, upon entering his final class Scott found out that it was his English teacher, Ms. Bellflur as she was replaced by a sub. No one could figure out what was going on no matter how hard they tried, eventually, school ended and Scott spent his first day in after school detention thinking about the events of the day.

Chapter Text

Derek's POV

Derek watched as the cop cruiser pulled away from his house, his body was aching to go after the vehicle and retrieve the Omega inside of it but his mind was telling him otherwise. ‘That damn Stilinski,’ Derek thought, he wanted so badly to punch the kid in his face but with the way his body reacted anytime he was near him he figured that wasn’t an option for him and he had a good idea that his wolf had something to do with that. Once the cruiser was out of sight Derek could feel as his eyes shifted back to normal and he became more aware of his surroundings; that was when he heard his mother downstairs yelling at his father, “I CAN’T BELIEVE HE WOULD PUT US IN THIS KIND OF SITUATION!”

Derek could hear his father and his uncle try to reason with her so that she would calm down but they only seemed to be making her angrier than she already was. Seconds later he heard someone running up the stairs and he was surprised when his bedroom door crashed open and in walked Laura. To say that she looked anything short of pissed would be an understatement, “Laura what the hell?” Derek asked picking himself up off of his bed.

Laura must have felt that he wasn’t worth talking to because as soon as Derek was fully standing, she quickly made her way over to him and punched him square in the jaw. Derek fumbled back after the hit and held a hand to the area her fist had connected with, “WHAT THE HE-“ Derek tried but Laura was quick to shut him up with another punch to the face this time hitting him in the cheek.

Derek looked back to Laura eyes wide taking in her overall aura, she was seething at the mouth, “What the hell were you thinking Derek?!” she growled out.

“I don’t-“ Derek was cut off once Cora came into the room, “what’s going on?” he asked her.

Cora appeared sullen, “what’s going on? Are you seriously asking that question Derek?”

“What happened?” Derek asked, he had a good idea that it had something to do with whatever Stilinski and his dad and the deputy had come over to speak with his family about. Derek mentally berated himself for not listening in on the conversation but he was so unsettled by his run in with the deputy that he couldn’t really think of anything to do other than hide in his room.

Cora huffed and looked close to tears and in a moments time she walked over to Derek and pushed Laura aside only to smack him across the face. “I hate you,” she said scornfully before walking out of his room.

Derek watched his baby sister leave his room without a second glance, there was no hitch in her heartbeat when she admitted that she hated him, which meant that she was telling the truth. That morning before they had left and went to school they shared an unconditional love that can only be shared with family; family who happens to be close. Now that love was gone and Derek felt like he could literally feel his heartbreaking in his chest.

“You wanna know what happened?” Laura asked and Derek looked to her with wide eyes pleading for an answer. “Stiles told us he was an Omega and he said that you knew … did you do anything to him after finding out he was an Omega?”

“NO,” Derek shouted.

“Did your friends do something to him after he became an Omega?” Laura pressed.

“Wh-why does it matter?” Derek wondered.

“Because Derek-“ Laura started only to be cut off by their mother.

“It matters because if it were to ever get out that he was an Omega the whole world would be watching him; they would be interested in his every move and his entire life before he became an Omega. If the world found out that you, HIS SOULMATE, were terrorizing him for the past year for some unknown reason, can you imagine the image that would place on our family?” she asked in a dangerously calm manner that frightened Derek.

 Derek never really thought of something like that only because he never thought that Stilinski would be his soulmate and he definitely didn’t think that Stilinski would turn out to be an Omega of all things. He imagined that the outcome of that news getting out would not be good at all for him or his family, the world would look down upon them if they found out everything Derek and his friends had done to Stilinski.

“Of course not mom, Derek’s clearly too selfish to think of anything other than himself,” Laura sneered as she turned to leave his room.

“Laura,” Derek tried.

“Don’t talk to me, I don’t want to have anything to do with you,” Laura said as she exited his room brushing past their mother.

His mother remained in the doorway scrutinizing him, “do you have an answer for me Derek?” she asked.

Derek was about to ask her what she was talking about but he figured that wasn’t the best idea and instead just thought back to her most recent question before saying, “it wouldn’t be good …”

“Exactly,” she said stepping further into the room.

“Laura asked you if your friends did anything to Stiles after you knew he presented, answer the question for me, did they?” She asked.

Derek shuddered, “ye-yes.”

His mother ground her teeth together, a thing she commonly did when she was extremely angry about something; next thing he knew she was nodding her head, “okay why did you start messing with this boy, Derek?”

Derek shook his head, “I-I don’t want to-“ his mother had gotten in front of him in the blink of an eye and smacked him upside the head before he could finish the sentence.

“I don’t care what you don’t want to talk about Derek, answer my damn question!” She said furiously allowing her eyes to bleed red.

Derek cowered away from her a little, “mom I …”

“Derek,” she seethed, “answer me now.”

“Talia you have to calm down,” Derek heard his father say from the doorway. “I know you’re angry but you can’t let yourself lose control over something like this.”

Derek watched as his mother turned to look at his father, “Control is the last thing you need to be worried about when it comes to me Jeffrey,” she said before turning back to face Derek. “Derek, what is the reason that made you feel obligated to go after Stiles?”

“Because … because I was mad one day and I needed someone to take it out on and he was there so-so I just sort of took it out on him and … and I realized I felt better after what I did to him so it-it just kind of kept happening from there and-“ Derek was cut off by his mother smacking him upside the head again.

“Half-truths aren’t going to save you in this situation Derek I want you to tell me why you relentlessly tormented that boy without a second thought and I want you to tell me why you let people mistreat him even after finding out he was an Omega and your soulmate!” His mother yelled.

“Derek just answer the question and be honest, why did you do this?” His father pressed.

Derek could feel the mental shell that hid all of his fears and worries cracking little by little, the way his mother stood before him enveloped in a blind fury was crippling. “I-I …” he tried, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes and the shell was broken, “almost a year ago I thought I lost everything … or well … it felt like I lost everything. I think it was maybe Monday or Tuesday … um I went to school and the first thing I did was find Paige, it’s-it’s what I did every morning;” he said as a tear escaped out of his left eye, “anyway I remember there was about 10 or 20 minutes before class started and I had this big plan to ask her to … to-“

“You were going to ask her to be your mate,” his father said and Derek nodded. “I remember you talking to me about mates and soulmates, you asked me if you felt that someone was your soulmate but you didn’t have any proof that they were, was it still possible they could be your soulmate; and I told you it was possible but the only way you would know if they were your soulmate would be to have matching soul marks.”

Derek nodded again and gasped a few tears spilled out on to his face, “yeah … well I was gonna ask her if she would be my mate but I never got around to it,” he said.

“Why?” his mother asked.

“Just before I was going to ask her she started talking about a guy she had run into, she was saying how he was really spastic and apologetic for running into her; then she started talking about their short conversation they had and she said that he was really funny and dopey and just random and … she couldn’t believe that based off of that one conversation they had she could tell all those things about him. She said that he was probably someone really amazing in his own way and that’s how she pictured her soulmate, just like him;” Derek grunted recalling the memory. “She started saying that if she didn’t know any better he was her soulmate, then she started talking about how she wished she knew him better and that it was too bad that she was moving away at the end of the following week. I-I felt like I had to figure out who this guy was, so I asked her what his name was and she said he had some weird name and she thought it was fake but he told her it was a nickname because his real name was way too hard to pronounce; so I asked her what it was and she said …”

“Stiles,” his mother answered.

Derek nodded, “and I knew that name … I knew it because I used to tell Jackson that he was a douche for messing with him but then I-I … I don’t know I guess in that moment I kind of understood why Jackson was doing what he was doing; Stilinski was literally taking away-“

“Taking away what Derek? They had one conversation … ONE,” she yelled putting one finger up; “you’re telling me that you’ve have been angry at that boy because you felt that based off of one conversation that he was stealing Paige from you? Do NOT let that be the reason Derek because that is a stupid, STUPID reason to get involved in what you did to him!”

“Mom you don’t understand-“

“No I don’t understand Derek, I don’t understand you and I don’t understand your reasoning behind doing what you did! Why, why, WHY would you think that tormenting someone based off of a conversation is an okay thing to do?” His mother asked.

“There has to be something more to this son, if there is you need to tell us;” his father said.

Derek sighed, “It wasn’t just that one conversation … that same day I figured that I would hold off on asking her about the mating thing until lunch time but when lunch came around Paige was nowhere to be found; I tried texting her and I even called her and I got nothing. Then I found out Paige wound up spending basically all of lunch with him. She said she ran into him on her way to the cafeteria and they had got to talking and time had gotten away from her; I remember when I finally saw her she looked so happy and-and great and she started saying how she thought Stilinski seemed sad about something and she for some reason felt obligated to cheer him up and so she did … she did because she’s a good person and after that she couldn’t stop talking about Stilinski and it made me feel … lost and sad and a little angry.”

His mother was quick to jump in and accuse him of not giving them all the details, “That still doesn’t explain why you-“

“She was supposed to move away the next week,” Derek said cutting her off, “because of what happened to her brother and sister … after she told me about seeing Stilinski again during lunch I couldn’t get up the nerve to ask her the rest of the day so I-I told myself that I would ask her on Friday right before school; I figured that Stilinski wouldn’t be a thought in her head by then.” Derek huffed, “Friday came and Paige was nowhere to be found she didn’t answer the phone all day, I had no idea what happened to her and it freaked me out more than anything. I remember that same day I tried talking to Stilinski in our Biology class, I said hi to him and he pretty much ignored me and just sat down at his desk; I figured he might have saw her or something … and now that I think about it I’m not sure why I thought that. Anyway school ended and Paige was still nowhere to be found so right after school I went over to her house and her parents said that she wasn’t home and that she was probably at the store or something; so the first place I went was to her favorite store in town, the antique store … and she wasn’t there; then I checked the market place she wasn’t there either, I even tried the local toy store and I couldn’t find her there and finally I wound up in that coffee shop that’s down the street from the toy store and that’s where I found her and she wasn’t alone … she was with Stilinski, I saw them talking in the corner and it looked like they might have been on a date or something and  I don’t know what happened after that … I freaked out and left, I didn’t talk to Paige that entire weekend and then Monday came around and I found out she left earlier than expected and I got mad. Then I saw Stilinski in Biology and that was when-“

“Enough, I’ve heard enough Derek … so you’re telling us that the reason behind you doing what you did to Stiles is because of Paige?” His mother asked.

Derek had been blindsided by his father, he came up quick and held him by the back of the neck, “Derek do you have any idea of what you have done? Ignore the fact that this boy is your soulmate and an Omega and simply think about the things that you and your friends did to him. Think about how other people would react knowing the things that you did to him … are you thinking about it?”

Derek nodded, “ye-yes.”

“Yes?” His father asked.

“Yes sir,” Derek clarified.

“What do you think people would think if they knew that you were another modern day bully?” His father asked.

“They wouldn’t really like that,” Derek answered as quickly and as honestly as possible; he knew whenever his father was set off the best thing to do was answer accordingly so he wouldn’t get any angrier.

“That’s right Derek they wouldn’t like that … because nobody likes that, not even me …” his father said pointedly releasing his hold on him and stepping back from him. “This mess you’ve caused is on you because I know that I didn’t teach you that what you were doing was right, neither did your mother. Hell TV shows and movies describe the bully as the big bad villain waiting to be taken down a peg or two and this Derek …” his father motioned between himself and his mother, “us finding out about what you were doing, you getting in trouble at school, suspended from all activities, that is you being brought down and you have no one to blame but yourself.”

Derek hated what his father was telling him, he was having a hard time swallowing his words and accepting anything coming from his father’s mouth but no matter how much he tried to deny it he knew more than anything that his father was right. “Now I want you to tell me how people would feel if they found out that you weren’t only bullying some random unsuspecting kid but a kid who happens to be your soulmate and an Omega … A MALE OMEGA AT THAT. How would they feel Derek? You remember when you were 14 or 15 years old and your mother’s firm was working that case where a Beta was being abused by her soulmate Alpha? Do you remember how people talked about that Alpha like he was garbage, a piece of trash that needed to be thrown out? People calling for his head, do you remember that, do you remember how that case became a national news story and they drug that Alpha’s name through the mud?” His father pointed at him and asked, “Do you remember how much you hated him, do you Derek?”

Derek did remember the incident there was no way he could forget it, it was one of the major cases in his mom’s career; some douchebag Alpha had been abusing a Beta who happened to be his soulmate for quite some time nobody knew why; witness testimonies claimed that they had been the perfect couple up until a certain point then the Alpha lost his mind and started abusing his soulmate. Derek remembered seeing a news panel speaking on the matter, every news correspondent trashed the Alpha like his was worthless, a sub-species that didn’t deserve to exist. There were plenty of online articles about the Alpha as well and the comments section of those articles were riddled with hate comments, multiple people threatening to take the Alpha’s life if they ever caught a glimpse of him. Derek even remembered making snide comments about the Alpha and he also remembered swearing to himself that he would never wind up like him. But there was one aspect of the story that Derek remembered that brought some form of redemption for the Alpha, a few years after his mom put the Alpha away he wound up appealing his case and he won; “but-but they proved that he was given something that made him do that stuff,” Derek said.

“And I’m hoping you’re going to tell me the same thing,” his father said.

“What?” Derek asked bewildered.

“I want you to tell me that you were put under the influence of something against your will and that’s what caused you to do this,” his father said.

“Dad I didn’t know he was my soulmate when this all started, I-“

“It doesn’t matter Derek, tell me you were under the influence of something and that’s why you did what you did,” his father said.

“I … I can’t,” Derek murmured.

There was a long bone chilling silence that followed, Derek starred at his father whose face looked to be a mask of anger and disappoint mixed into one. He wasn’t sure how long him and his father stared each other down but it felt like an eternity; Derek desperately wanted his father to say something to him, it could be anything so long as his he spoke, the silence was killing him. “That right there is what makes you just as bad as that Alpha you despised so much,” his father growled. “You and your little punk friends hassled that kid for God knows how long over stupid, unbelievable reasons that should never have driven any of you to do what you did! Derek I can’t even fathom why you would even do something like this, again, never mind that he is an Omega, never mind that he is your soulmate, he’s still a person and a he is a person that did NOTHING wrong to you and didn’t deserve what you did to him.” He said angrily and Derek couldn’t help but cower away from his words, “So you did this because you thought he was stealing Paige from you? How childish Derek, you don’t even know if there was anything going on between them; your reasoning is pathetic.”

“Dad …” Derek tried.

“You’re grounded for the rest of the year,” his father cut in.

“No dad wait-“

His father suddenly swatted him upside the head, “don’t talk back to me Derek. Grounding you is a light punishment for what you did, I don’t care if your friends did something worst, you still did something and you did it repeatedly and you knew what you were doing was wrong. Your initial reasoning might have been Paige and your friends reasoning might have been because whatever idiotic reasoning they came up with but you and I both know the only reason you guys kept going back to torment that kid was because all of you were on a power trip and you got off tormenting him.”

Derek wasn’t sure how to respond to that, “but-but I … but I …”

“Would you have kept doing it if we hadn’t found out about this?” His mother asked finally breaking her silence.

“N-no …” Derek tried but even he could hear the lie.

His mother scrutinized him, “were you still planning on doing something to him even after the mess this has caused?”

Derek clenched his fist tight popping his knuckles in the process, “I just …”

“What Derek? You just what? You think you need to get even with him because he told on you? You think this is all his fault don’t you?” His mother asked.

“It is,” Derek growled.

“NO IT’S NOT,” his mother yelled, startling him a little. “If you and your friends had never put your hands on him or gone out of your way to belittle him we would not be in this situation right now. Stiles is the victim, you and your friends are the perps that were harming him, NOT the other way around,” she said pausing for a moment to gauge Derek’s reaction to her words but Derek hardly reacted and after seeing that she asked, “Why are you acting so hardheaded about this? Why are you acting like this at all? You’re breaking my heart Derek …”

Hearing those words come out of his mother’s mouth is what broke through to him and made him realize that he screwed up and he was still screwing up even after shit hit the fan; the situation was already bad but Derek was only making it worst for himself. “Mom …”

“Figure out what you wanna do Derek? Do you want to continue going down this rebellious path and disappointing me and your mother or do you want to be the son that we raised you to be? The one that we can be proud of, the one that knows the difference between right and wrong, and the one that treats everyone fairly because that’s how he wants to be treated?” His father asked while voicing his expectations of him.

Derek stood frozen in place looking between both of his parents, “for your sake and ours I truly hope you pick the latter,” his mother said. “And if this isn’t enough to curb you from doing what you did, answer me this, how do you think Paige will respond if she catches you bullying Stiles? Because after the way you explained it, it sounds to me like she grew quite fond of him quickly and being that she’s moving back to Beacon Hills within the next month I think you might want to get your act together so she doesn’t wind up resenting you.”

“Pa-Paige is coming back?” Derek asked dumbfounded.

“Yes Derek she’s coming back, she called this morning hoping to speak with you but you had already left for school,” she said. “But that should be the least of your concerns, what you need to be concerned with is how you’re going to fix this entire situation; because you screwed up Derek … and you screwed up bad and I am so disappointed in you for letting this happen,” she said and walked out of his room without letting him say anything in return.

“Derek before I leave this room I want you to fully understand the gravity of the situation that we’re in,” his father said suddenly. “I know your mother just briefly went over this but I’m going to tell you again just in case you didn’t hear everything she had to say. You understand how the world views male Omegas, don’t you? You’ve seen the media circus that surrounds the two that we know of, you’ve seen how their entire lives are spilled to the world because of it. Can you imagine what would happen if they ever found out about Stiles? They would want to know everything about him, what he likes to do in his spare time, his favorite school subject, who he has a crush on and considering he has a soul mark they’ll definitely want to know who his soulmate is especially considering from what I know he’s the only known male Omega to have found his soulmate. If they found out about his soul mark they’ll eventually find out about you and if they found out about you they’ll most likely find out what you did to him and if that happens … the world would turn against you but not just you, they would turn against all of us, ESPECIALLY your mother and I because we were responsible for raising you. Your poor decisions will reflect badly on every single one of us and you could very much be responsible for ruining our lives, Derek.”

His dad, better yet his entire family might have all been thinking on the broader aspects of things, and now that it was put into a clear perspective for him Derek realized just how bad this entire situation could potentially be. It now exceeded his worst nightmare and was quickly becoming his own personal hell, if the world were to find out what he and his friends had done they’d be looked at just like the world looked at the Alpha that was abusing his soulmate; ridiculed at every wake and turn, scrutinized by strangers and ostracized by majority of the world, that wasn’t what Derek wanted. He stepped back and looked at his hands, the same hands that helped him get into the mess he was in now; he brought them up to his face and covered his eyes, “what did I do?” he gasped out.

“At least now it seems like you realize what you got yourself into,” his father said coldly. “Let it sink in Derek and learn from this and make sure you never let this happen again!” His father growled before storming out of his room and leaving him alone to suffer in silence.

Stiles POV

Struggle, that’s how Stiles would describe his morning; after the events of yesterday, he found it incredibly difficult to find some kind of motivation to go to school. He worried what people might think if they found out that he was the reason for Derek and his friends getting in trouble; but thankfully after a self-pep talk, he convinced himself that it wasn’t a big deal whether or not people knew because he did the right thing. But there was one major problem he forgot about and that was that the word was out about him and Derek being soulmates and he was promptly reminded of it when he arrived at school and parked his jeep in its usual spot. He had hopped out and turned around to grab his bag and that was when he was ambushed by a group of girls, “hey you’re Stiles right?” one of the girls asked.

He startled and turned around quickly, “ye-yeah …” he answered.

“Is it-is it true that you’re Derek Hale’s soulmate?” Another girl asked.

Stiles processed the question in his head for a moment and realized that he had two options, he could answer their question and tell the truth and just let the word out like that or he could ignore the question and deal with whatever rumors people start up. “Uh … I … um” Stiles started, fumbling over his words as his nerves got the best of him.

“Well is it true or not?” One of the girl’s pressured him.

Stiles simply turned around and grabbed his bag and closed the door to his jeep and left; the group of girls had called after him but he wasn’t prepared to admit that Derek was in fact his soulmate and he didn’t feel that he owed anyone an answer as to whether or not he was.

Cora found him as soon as he entered the school and dragged him towards the library without so much as an explanation; Allison and Laura were both waiting for them there. “What’s going on?” Stiles asked.

“Laura you tell him,” Cora said.

Laura sighed and scratched the side her head, “okay well … our little outburst in the cafeteria yesterday is probably going to cause a few problems for you,” she said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Stiles wondered.

“People are talking …” Cora said in the vaguest manner and it kind of irritated Stiles.

Allison must have felt the same way as she scoffed and just blurted out what was going on, “basically word got around pretty fast yesterday because of what happened and it has more than a few people interested in what’s going on with you and Derek and your soulmate situation.”

“But that’s not it …” Cora said.

“What there’s more?” Stiles asked dumbfounded.

“Well some people are saying that you and Derek can’t be soulmates because apparently according to the school and what’s going around on the rumor mill … you aren’t able to present …” Laura said cautiously.

Allison sighed, “So basically there are a few people wondering whether or not you presented.”

Stiles heart stopped for a moment, if people were calling into question his presentation they were going to want proof and while there are more than a few ways to prove that he presented without revealing he is an Omega there’s still the possibility that someone will ask him specifically what he presented as and if he could flash his eyes for them, “shit.”

“But it’s okay because we’re totally doing a rumor shutdown,” Laura said quickly.

“A what?!” Stiles blurted out.

Cora shushed him, “Stiles keep your voice down; we’re trying to keep this under wraps. Anyway we’re shutting down the rumors that you and Derek are soulmates …”

“Hey wait hold on … the only problem here is that people don’t believe that Stiles presented and obviously he did considering he has a soul mark so why don’t we just have him come out and tell them that he’s a … a beta …” Allison stopped and looked between Cora, Stiles and Laura, “why are you guys looking at me like that?”

Cora and Laura both looked towards one another and then to Stiles, “it’s complicated …” Cora said.

“Maybe now wasn’t the best time to have this conversation,” Laura said looking apologetically at Stiles.

Stiles mind was reeling, he felt like he was literally backed into a corner and didn’t have any other option than to reveal what he was. He thought about how dangerous his situation will become if his school were to find out that he was an Omega; he thought about what could potentially happen to his father and even Parrish if word got out about his Omega status. He thought about a lot of things in regards to this situation and there was one thing he was certain about and that was nothing good could possibly come of this. “What’s going on … I feel like I’m missing something,” Allison said her face shrouded in worry.

“Sorry Allison there’s just something that we can’t exactly tell you … um,” it was obvious Cora was struggling to come up with a reason as to why they couldn’t tell Allison.

It was in that moment that Stiles made a decision, he made a decision to trust Allison with his secret not because he felt forced to tell her but because for some reason while he only knew her personally for a little over 24 hours for some unexplainable reason he felt that she was someone he could trust. And while the decision might be a little hasty, impulsive and impetuous it was still Stiles decision to make, “It-it’s not that we don’t want to tell you it’s just-“

“Laura let me handle this,” Stiles cut in. “Allison I know we haven’t personally known each other for a long time or anything but I need you to promise me that you can keep a secret; I really, really need to know that I can trust with this.”

Allison looked quite flabbergasted but she nodded and said, “Yes I can keep a secret.”

Stiles couldn’t hear a tick in her heartbeat, “Stiles are you sure?” Cora wondered.

“Shouldn’t you talk to your dad about this or something?” Laura asked.

“Considering the direction this conversation has gone I don’t really have a choice,” Stiles said looking at Allison and then around the library. “Alright Allison come with me …” he stood up from his chair and walked over towards the book aisles.

Allison quickly followed suit, “wh-what’s going on?”

Stiles made his way to the area that he and Cora used to sit and read and eat their lunch at, when he finally got there he came to an abrupt stop and checked around to make sure there was no one else that could see them, he turned around and spoke in a low voice, “you promise you will keep this is a secret, right?”

Allison nodded slowly a little stunned, “yeah …”

“My dad would kill me if he found out I told you this … Parrish might too …” Stiles said letting his thoughts trail elsewhere.

“Who’s Parrish, Stiles what’s going on?” Allison asked.

“Oh um … he’s just my dad’s deputy,” Stiles said; he thought it best to keep his identity as a government agent a secret. “Anyway …” Stiles trailed off when he noticed someone walking up behind Allison.

“It’s just me,” Cora said, “Laura is watching out at the end of the aisle to make sure no one comes over here. I just checked around and made sure that no one could see what was going on,” she said.

“Th-thanks,” Stiles said.

Cora shrugged, “it’s the least we could do especially since we practically forced you into this situation.”

“Okay are you guys going to tell me what’s going on or am I going to have to figure it out myself?” Allison asked as she looked between the two of them.

Stiles looked over to Cora and she nodded to him, he looked back to Allison sighed and closed his eyes and allowed his wolf to come to the surface. All he needed to do was transform his eyes and that would be proof enough as to what he was; when he opened his eyes Allison gasped and Cora quickly reacted and put a hand around her mouth to keep her quiet until her initial shock went away. Stiles closed his eyes and willed them to transform back to their normal whiskey brown color, when he opened them again Cora was still holding on to Allison.

“You need to relax Allison this absolutely cannot get out, understand?” Cora asked keeping a firm hand over Allison’s mouth.

Allison simply nodded and visibly relaxed in Cora’s grasp, when Cora seemed certain Allison wouldn’t say or do anything she let go of her mouth, “Oh … Oh my God, I can’t … I can’t … Stiles you’re-“

Stiles shushed her quickly before she could say anything, “yeah I am and I need you to keep that a secret because if it gets out I’m gonna be pretty screwed.”

Allison nodded her head anxiously, “okay but …” Allison ran a hand through her hair, “this is …”

“Crazy right?” Cora finished for her.

“Yeah it’s just … I-I can’t believe this,” Allison said.

“Yeah we just found out about him last night,” Laura said as she approached them; “Allison you do understand you can’t mention this to anyone, right?”

“Yeah but why don’t you want people to know?” Allison wondered.

“I don’t want my life to be put out for the world to see 24/7, I don’t want people constantly asking me questions or doing weird things for me and … and … the other reason is …” Stiles trailed off not sure of how to address the major reason behind him keeping his status a secret.

“The other reason is because it’s dangerous for him to reveal what he is because of certain people in the world and that’s all I’m going to say about that,” Cora said.

Allison looked to Cora and then back to Stiles for an explanation but she must have realized that she wasn’t going to get one, “alright I understand. So we’re going to tell people that you presented as a Beta and that we’ve seen proof, that way nobody questions it.”

“Wait what?” Stiles asked.

“Me, Laura and Cora will go around and tell people that you presented as a Beta and if they ask whether or not Derek is your soulmate we can either answer them honestly or let them guess,” Allison suggested.

“It’s not a bad idea, I mean if they hear that we saw for ourselves that you were a Beta then they wouldn’t question whether or not it’s true,” Laura said thoughtfully.

“And if we tell them that Derek is his soulmate they’ll have to believe us considering me and Laura are his sisters and Allison is his friend,” Cora said.

“Was his friend,” Allison quickly corrected.

“I’m pretty sure people don’t know that you guys aren’t friends anymore, so we’re going to use that to our advantage,” Laura said.

Allison sighed, “fine I guess you’re right.”

“But what if people find out you’re lying about the Beta news?” Stiles asked quietly.

“They won’t we won’t exactly tell them you’re a Beta, we’ll just imply it that way no one will catch us in a lie,” Allison suggested.

“Then it’s settled, we’re gonna spread a few rumors,” Laura said.

“Are we confirming whether or not Stiles and Derek are soulmates?” Cora asked.

“Might as well, if you don’t people are going to keep asking questions,” Stiles mentioned.

“Do you really want people to know?” Allison asked.

“Not really, I’d rather not have to walk around and have people labeling me as Derek’s soulmate because … because you know … I sort of hate him.” Stiles said. “But I don’t really have a choice now and if we don’t say anything people are always going to wonder about it and beside that I’m sure some people know that Derek and I are soulmates considering they probably overheard most of the conversation that went on in the cafeteria yesterday.”

Laura and Cora both looked a little upset at that but said nothing, “well if we are definitely confirming that you two are soulmates I’ll mention it to a few people in my first class and hopefully they’ll spread it around to a few other people and you know … hopefully it eventually gets around school and people lose interest in what’s going on with Stiles.”

“Yeah … I’ll do the same,” Laura said with a frown on her face and looked apologetically to Stiles, “Stiles I’m … we’re sorry about putting you in this position,” Laura said.

Stiles shrugged, “It’s fine it was probably bound to happen anyway.”

“We better get to class,” Cora said.

“Yeah … see you guys at lunch?” Allison asked.

“Yeah we can all meet in front of the library,” Laura said.

Cora looked to Stiles and nodded, “okay we’ll see you then.”

With that they each headed off to their respective first hour and Stiles hoped that the situation would only get better from there. But his hopes for the situation getting better were quickly dashed as he and Cora arrived at Mr. Harris’s classroom, Lydia had been standing just outside of the room and when she spotted Stiles and Cora she immediately made her way over to them, “I need to talk to you,” she said.

“Really, about what?” Cora said stepping in front of Stiles.

“Not you Cora, I need to talk to him,” Lydia said looking to Stiles.

“Well if you need to talk to him, then talk,” Cora said.

“I’d prefer to speak with him in private if that’s okay with you,” Lydia said.

“It’s not,” Cora said.

“What do you want?” Stiles asked suddenly, he was surprised at how cold he sounded; he knew who he was talking to, Lydia Martin, the girl that he used to think was the love of his life. The same girl that turned out to be Jackson’s soulmate and stood by and watched as her boyfriend tormented him, he knew she was someone he didn’t need to show respect for.

Lydia looked to him abhorrently, “I just want to ask you if you’re proud of what you did?”

She was going to ask something else but Stiles quickly cut her off, “Am I proud of what I did? You mean telling someone about what your boyfriend and his friends were doing to me? Yeah I am proud because I finally spoke up.”

Lydia had the nerve to appear offended by what Stiles had said, “Oh good for you but you speaking up inadvertently screwed me over when I have never done anything to you,” Lydia said snidely. “My best friend won’t even look at me and now I can’t see my boyfriend outside of school for who knows how long, hell I can’t even see him in school since he has to serve that stupid punishment that he was given thanks to you.”

“You never did anything to me?” Stiles asked skeptically ignoring everything else Lydia said.

Cora turned around and gave Stiles a once over, “hey let’s just go into class and forget about this.”

Stiles shook his head at Cora, “no screw that,” he said and maneuvered his way around her so that he was standing in front of Lydia. “You’re a smart girl and you just proved that even smart people make errors every now and then, but I’m going to help you fix that error right now; it’s not that you did anything to me besides laugh at what your boyfriend was doing to me sometimes; it’s that you never did anything FOR me! You stood by and watched while I dealt with your boyfriend and his crap excuse for friends; you knew what was going on and you didn’t do anything to help me … so screw you and your situation, you brought it on yourself! Maybe if you weren’t so selfish and didn’t have your head so far up your own ass you could realize that,” he said with no amount of remorse in his voice.

Lydia stood before him a little shaken up, if this were any other day he would take everything he said back and worship the ground that she walked on just to earn her forgiveness. But it wasn’t just any other day it was a new day and today is the day that Stiles decided to stop putting up with peoples shit; so instead of apologizing to Lydia he brushed past her and made his way into Mr. Harris’s class with Cora following closely behind him. “Stiles it’s nice to see you, is everything okay?” Harris asked.

Stiles nodded and smiled, “yes sir everything’s fine.”

“Glad to hear that,” Harris returned.

Stiles made his way back to his desk and sat himself down and got his stuff together, Cora on the other hand stayed standing starring at him as if she were waiting for something, “what are you doing?” Stiles asked.

“I don’t know you tell me,” she said.

“I’m getting my stuff out,” Stiles answered bewildered.

“Okay but what was that just now?” Cora asked.

“What was what?” Stiles wondered.

“Outside with Lydia, what was that? You totally grilled her … I just didn’t really think you had it in you to do that,” Cora said and sat herself down.

Stiles sighed, “I just … I’m sick of people walking all over me, it’s not fair and I’m really freaking tired of it. Besides she tried to make it seem like everything that happened was my fault,” he said.

“Yeah I know I just wasn’t really expecting you to go off like that, that’s all … but good job, I think she got what you were trying to tell her, she looked pretty upset,” Cora said.

“Yo Stilinski can I ask you something?” Greenberg asked walking back to their table.

Stiles clammed up a little but didn’t entirely retreat from having any interaction with Greenberg, “su-sure I guess,” he said.

“Is it true that … you know, you and Hale are Soulmates?” Greenberg asked quietly.

“You’re gonna have to specify which Hale you’re talking about,” Cora curtly said.

“Oh-oh right yeah um sorry,” Greenburg said hesitantly before looking to Stiles, “is it true that you and Derek are soulmates?”

Stiles should have figured that was what Greenberg wanted to know, he sighed and relaxed a little and leaned back in his chair and looked over to Cora who nodded to him, “yeah it’s true,” he said quietly and he hated admitting it.

“Really?” Greenberg asked looking to Cora for clarification.

Cora rolled her eyes and answered him, “yes my idiot older brother is his soulmate.”

“Dude …” Greenberg said looking down at Stiles with sad eyes, “I’m sorry.”

Hearing that come out of his mouth shocked Stiles, “what?” he blurted out.

“It’s just that … you know ... it has to suck knowing he’s your soulmate after everything that’s happened … I mean practically the whole school knows that he hates your guts,” he said.

“The feelings mutual,” Stiles said flatly.

“Yeah I bet …” he said and stood there awkwardly looking around, “Well for what it’s worth I’m sorry for making fun of you, I know it was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it. Oh and I guess since you and Derek are soulmates that means you presented so congrats on that too.”

Stiles gawked at Greenberg for a moment, “th-thank you …”

 Greenberg smiled at him and nodded before walking back to the front towards the table he sat at, Stiles turned and looked to Cora with wide eyes, “that was different.”

“Different seems pretty good right?” Cora asked.

Stiles shrugged, “I’m not complaining,” Stiles said. If he were being honest it felt a little weird hearing Greenberg apologize to him, it was especially weird because Stiles could tell that he actually meant his apology.

Cora had started saying something to him but he didn’t catch what it was as he had gotten side tracked by Lydia entering Harris’s classroom; the second she walked in her eyes immediately locked with his and Stiles was surprised to see that she genuinely looked upset. She didn’t keep eye contact with him for long, instead she ducked her head and allowed her hair to cover her face to shield herself from Stiles view. “You must have really gotten to her,” Cora said.

“It’s weird … before if I had of done anything like that I would have felt bad and immediately apologized and begged for forgiveness …” Stiles went quiet for a moment and thought about his words; “actually I wouldn’t have done something like that at all …” he admitted. “Is it wrong that I don’t feel bad about doing it?”

“No,” Cora said quickly, “she deserved what you told her and to be honest she needed to hear it.”

Stiles looked to Cora and nodded and then looked back towards the front of the class; soon after the final bell had rung and Harris had begun to teach class.

Surprisingly class ended rather fast and Stiles assumed that it was because most of the time he was spaced out thinking about his little confrontation with Lydia. As he exited the classroom and made his way down the hall with Cora at his side he noticed that many of the students in the hallway were staring at him, “Is it me or is pretty much everybody staring at us?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re staring at you,” Cora corrected him.

“Wow Cora thanks for making me feel better about this, I really appreciate it,” he said sarcastically.

Cora sighed, “oh please you’ll get over it,” she looked around at everyone starring their way, “besides I bet you the reason they’re all staring at you is because they’re interested in the fact that you may or may not be a Beta and you’re my idiot brother’s soulmate,” she said loudly and pushed him along down the hall.

 Stiles was going to respond to that but opted not to, he hadn’t caught on right away but he eventually figured the reason Cora did that was to get people off of Stiles back about his situation and he couldn’t help but feel thankful for that. As Cora pushed him along down the hall they eventually made their way into the main corridor to which Cora stopped pushing him and spun him around to face her, “alright so you know what to do right?”

“What to do about what exactly?” Stiles questioned stupidly.

Cora scoffed and rolled her eyes, “about your situation idiot, if someone asks you what’s going on with you what are you going to tell them?”

“Oh um you know … whatever you guys are telling them,” Stiles answered.

“Which is?” Cora pressed.

Stiles sighed and whispered, “that I’m most likely a beta and …”

“And?” Cora asked.

“Ugh do I have to say I’m his soulmate? Can’t I just like imply it or something?” Stiles wondered.

Cora ran a hand through her hair, “Okay I know you hate my brother and I know you hate that you’re his soulmate but if you don’t want people asking anymore questions you’re going to have to let them know that you are his … soulmate.”

Stiles frowned but nodded to Cora expressing his understanding, “alright …”

“Alright well I’m going to head to class, we’ll meet in the same place we always do for lunch,” Cora said.

Stiles nodded again, “okay, see ya.”

“Later,” Cora said and made her way to class.

Stiles sighed and had started to make his way to his French class, weaving his way through many of his peers; he didn’t have to look around to know that there were plenty of people staring at him. It was in that moment that he thought about his old routine and how he would always take the best route with the least amount of people to get to class even if it meant going the long way; but now it seemed to be the exact opposite and he wondered when he become brave enough to do that. With his advanced hearing he could hear many people talking about him as he passed by, girls and guys alike all in disbelief that he managed to present and not only present but score Derek as his soulmate. A lot of them didn’t believe the latter part, some of them said that he only said Derek was his soulmate in order to get some kind of popularity in school; others were still questioning whether or not he had presented.

He had been so busy listening to what people were saying that he stopped paying attention to where he was going and nearly ran into a girl; “I-I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention …” he said frantically.

The girl had flashed Stiles a smile that was probably capable of stealing a dozen and one hearts, “it’s totally okay I wasn’t paying attention either,” she said.

Stiles nodded, “oh well I-I should have at least been paying attention so that … you know,” Stiles tried to reason.

The girl placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “you don’t have to try and reason with me, it’s okay, accidents happen all the time.”

Stiles nodded and was prepared to leave and rush to class, “actually,” the girl said halting Stiles in his place, “I was wondering something …” she said.

Stiles wasn’t surprised by that, “yeah?”

“You’re Stiles Stilinski right?” The girl asked.

Stiles nodded, “yeah,” he answered cautiously.

The girl nodded and took her hand off of his shoulder, “my name is Braeden and um … I-I know that I don’t know you or anything and this might be sort of a loaded question coming from somebody that you don’t know but I’ve sort of been hearing that you and Derek Hale are soulmates … is that true?”

Stiles wanted nothing more than to run from this conversation but running away now wouldn’t help his problems they would probably only make them worse; so he stood his ground and swallowed his pride and answered, “yeah … unfortunately.”

Braeden appeared a little taken aback by the answer, “oh-oh … um how-how long have you known?”

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know maybe two or three weeks I think …”

“So wait … both of you have been aware that you’re each other’s soulmates?” Braeden questioned.

“Yeah, but like I said it’s unfortunate and I wish it wasn’t true just like I’m sure he wishes it wasn’t true; I hate him, like I really, really hate him and I don’t want to have anything to do with him and if I knew of some way to get this stupid mark off of me, I would do it just so I don’t have to be labeled as his soulmate,” Stiles said going off on a little mini rant.

Braden had seemed to get more and more upset with each word Stiles spoke, “I’m … I … I don’t know what to say, I-I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone regretting finding their soulmate.” Braeden said and waved her hand in front of her face to get herself back on track, “But that’s beside the point I um I have to tell you something and I’m not telling you to upset you it’s just that I think you deserve to know this but me and Derek almost hooked up this past weekend and-“

“It’s fine you can have him if you want him, I don’t want to have anything to do with him,” Stiles said frantically.

“No-no listen I-I didn’t know he had a soulmate at the time and when we were about to hook up something happened and it was like he wasn’t able to go through with it; he started puking up this black ooze and there were these awful black veins protruding from his left arm and then he just ran off and he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. I tried to get him to tell me something but he just shut me out so I did a little research and I found out that stuff like that only happens when someone who’s mated attempts to … you know … cheat on the person their mated to and generally this only happens with soulmates who have completed their soul bond through a mating ceremony.”

Stiles looked at Braeden with narrowed eyes expecting to hear more, “okay and?”

Braeden’s eyes widened, “if that happened to Derek then that means that you guys have already done your mating ceremony and-“

“No,” Stiles cut her off, “there has been no mating ceremony, there won’t be a mating ceremony, I hate him, what don’t you get about that?”

Braeden looked around trying to make sense of Stiles words, she clearly knew he wasn’t lying and Stiles could only assume that it was throwing her off, “alright … okay I-I shouldn’t have bothered you with this and I’m totally overstepping and I’m sorry about that. It’s just that I sort of heard about you yesterday when Laura was going off on her brother and after hearing he had a soulmate I couldn’t help but figure that the reason he got all weird when we were … you know, was because of that.”

“It doesn’t matter, I hate him and he hates me and that’s all there is to it, we might be soulmates but we’ll never be together, not in this lifetime or the next. If you want him you can have him, he’s on the market and ready and available if he’s interested. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to class,” Stiles said and walked off leaving a very stunned Braeden behind gawking at his back.

It was needless to say that there were a few people in his French class that wanted info on his situation, three guys had stopped him just outside of class and asked him about Derek and if it was true that they were soulmates to which Stiles answered honestly while reminding them that he wasn’t happy about it. The boys that had stopped him backed off after that seeming pretty upset about his answer, Stiles recognized one of the boys from the football team and he was definitely on the lacrosse team last year he also happened to be one of the people Jackson talked into tormenting Stiles once. It was him out of the 3 boys that looked the most upset, what Stiles didn’t understand is why they were so upset.

Aside from being confronted before he got into class, French class went along smoothly the absence of Boyd’s presence did not go unnoticed and Stiles was more than happy about it. Nobody seemed to pay Stiles any mind and that made him happy, the bell ringing signifying the start of lunch took Stiles by surprise, mostly everyone in the classroom was out as soon as the bell rang leaving only a few stragglers behind Stiles being one of them. “So I hear that you may or may not have found your soulmate, congratulations,” Ms. Morrell said as Stiles was getting ready to leave her classroom.

Stiles paused in front of her desk, “it’s not exactly something I’m happy about and I highly doubt me and my soulmate will ever actually get together, not that I’m complaining.”

“Sounds to me like you have a lot of animosity pent up inside of you for this person,” Ms. Morrell said observingly.

Stiles shrugged, “I think it’s justified.”

Ms. Morrell nodded, “I didn’t say it wasn’t …” Stiles noticed that she had looked behind him and when he turned to see what she was looking at he noticed that the classroom was now empty, “so I’m correct in assuming that your soulmate is in fact Derek Hale?”

Stiles turned back at looked at her skeptically, “you heard?”

Ms. Morrell leaned back in her chair, “yes, I heard more than a few students talking about it in the hallways.”

“Yeah well I don’t like it,” Stiles said.

“That’s understandable but that’s not the reason I stopped you; the real reason I stopped you was to remind you that if you need to talk you can always speak with me anytime you like; this was my last class for the day so I’ll be in the councilors office for the rest of the day if you need to find me,” Ms. Morrell said.

Stiles nodded, “yeah I might take you up on that, thank you,” with that he walked out of class and made his way to lunch.

Stiles was none too surprised to hear from Cora that people were talking about him but he was surprised to find out the things they were saying about him weren’t necessarily bad. Apparently after revealing the semi-truth about Stiles situation people completely changed their tune about him, Cora even went as far as to say that some people actually seemed like they felt bad for Stiles. When they met up with Allison and Laura they told him pretty much the exact same thing; Stiles wasn’t sure why people were reacting to the news the way they were but he couldn’t really say their reactions were a bad thing, they were just really unexpected.

Although Stiles wasn’t really sure what to expect from this situation as he never thought about it actually happening, he would have guessed people would have felt sorry for Derek and tried to make up some stupid excuse for why he did what he did but it seemed like the opposite was happening; the situation only seemed to be taking one unexpected turn after the other.

While Stiles was in the lunch line getting ready to get his food he was approached by a girl and not just any girl but the beta that had messed with him the day he presented; she kept her head hung low and apologized to him profusely for what she did to him, to which Stiles accepted her apology and sent her on her way. After ordering his food and some convincing from Laura and Allison, Stiles sat down and ate lunch in the cafeteria for the first time in a long time and while the situation was a plus for Stiles he couldn’t help but shake the feeling of people watching him. He took one glance around the cafeteria and he wasn’t surprised to see there were people staring at him the only thing was they looked sad and that baffled Stiles.

As lunch ended Laura, Cora and Allison each promised to figure out whatever they could about Stiles ever changing situation, letting him know that they would keep him updated. When they each separated and made their way to their respective classes, Stiles ran into someone he hadn’t expected to run into, “St-Stiles … I … I’m … hey,” Scott tried.

Stiles gave him a hard look and nodded to him but didn’t say anything, to be honest he was surprised to see Scott out and about, he had expected him to get in trouble with Derek and the rest of his friends. When he tried to make a move to pass Scott, Scott grabbed hold of his arm, “wait please … Stiles I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry for everything, I know you probably don’t believe me but I’m serious, I didn’t realize what you’re going through and I didn’t realize how much you were going through and-“

“It doesn’t matter Scott, it’s already happened and it’s too late for apologies,” Stiles said flatly.

“I know, I just … I just wanted you to know that-that I’m sorry and I miss you,” Scott said.

Stiles felt cold not feeling anything towards Scott’s words but who could blame him after everything that’s happened, “like I said, it doesn’t matter.” He said and yanked his arm out of Scott’s grasp and tried to walk away.

“I told the principal everything, everything I could at least … I … I vouched for most of what you told him about Derek and his friends and-“

“And what Scott?!” Stiles turned around furiously, “you think that’s going to make things better? You think I should feel good because you finally stood up for me? It’s too late Scott, the damage has been done; the only reason you spoke up for me was probably because you felt guilty which made you feel obligated to do something” Scott’s eyes widened after hearing that, “and I’m telling you that no matter what you did or do in the future it doesn’t matter, you’re too late.”

“I’m not too late to change things between us though,” Scott said.

“You can believe that if you want,” Stiles said unimpressed.

“I do believe it, I’m going to fix this Stiles I promise,” Scott said.

Stiles turned to walk away, “yeah well I think I know better than to believe anything you promise me,” he threw over his shoulder and headed towards his next class.

The last thing he wanted was to get riled up over Scott, especially when he was going towards his most hated class taught by one of his most hated teachers Mr. Peters. He had been so distracted by his conversation with Scott that when he arrived at his AP Government and History class he was surprised to see a new teacher waiting for him. She was an older woman who went by the name Ms. Bellflower, as soon as she started class she informed everyone that Mr. Peters would no longer be their teacher and she would be their sub for the remainder of the year. Stiles was thrilled upon hearing the news it only further proved that the principal had stuck to his word about handling things; Ms. Bellflower turned out to be a welcomed replacement for Mr. Peters, overall she seemed like a fun spunky woman and Stiles very much enjoyed her class, so much so that class seemed to have passed by in the blink of an eye.

As he exited the room, Stiles took out his phone and checked his messages as he had done throughout the day to ensure that he was checking in with Parrish; he had 3 new messages one from Cora, and 2 from a number he did not recognize:

Cora: So I might have heard some things but I don’t know how you’re going to react to it :/ and I gave my sister your number so she can text you, hope that’s okay?

Stiles smirked at the message, of course he didn’t mind if Laura had his number, he closed out of Cora’s messaged and checked the messages from the new number:

Laura: Hey, Cora gave me your number, so I have news, there’s a handful of people that are planning to come apologize to you and get this, apparently they’re all from last year’s lacrosse team and there’s even some football players that want to apologize to you too. I guess some of these guys got coaxed into messing with you by Derek and his friends and they feel guilty about it. But that’s not everything I kind of asked around to see what people might be saying about you and everything going on with my idiot brother and basically like everybody I asked feels super bad for you, I mean I did only ask about 7 or 8 people but still, I guess it wasn’t really a secret to a lot of people that my brother was messing with you and now that they know that you and him are soulmates they feel bad for you and kind of think my brother is despicable.

Stiles read the message twice to make sure he read it right, people were actually feeling sorry for him, he couldn’t believe it; that kind of information should be shared in person rather than through a text message because at least then he would be able to tell if Laura was lying or not. But why would she lie about this situation? She had no reason to and Stiles trusted her for the most part, so he believed she was telling the truth; he looked back down at his phone and checked the other message she sent:

Laura: Can I give Allison your number?

Stiles sighed and responded with a simple “Yes,” and saved Laura’s phone number into his contacts; afterward he texted Parrish to let him know he was “A-Okay,” and opened Cora’s message again and responded to her letting her know that Laura might have told him everything he needed to know to which she responded by saying her sister had a big mouth. Allison eventually texted him and told him what she found out which was similar to what Laura had texted him; once he had gotten everything squared away and saved Allison’s number in his phone he finally looked up and decided to head to his last class for the day; he figured that if people were going to apologize to him they could just go ahead and do it but he knew not to expect anything it was the best way to save himself from any disappointment.

Derek's POV

Derek’s day had started out bad and had only gotten worse as it progressed; when he woke up he planned to leave the house as quickly as possible so he didn’t have to face his family but when he was about to leave and walk out of his house expecting to drive himself to school he was hit with the harsh reality of his decisions when he realized he could no longer drive his car whenever he wanted to, he couldn’t drive it at all. As soon as the realization hit him he found himself stuck in front of the front door, he wasn’t sure what he should do his mom and dad were obviously awake in the kitchen as well as Cora and Laura. He could hear his mother preparing breakfast, while Cora and Laura chatted away; his father was most likely reading the paper at the table; Derek opted to try and run back upstairs to avoid speaking with any of them but just as soon as he turned around he was faced with his Uncle Peter.

“Good morning nephew, where are you off to?” His uncle asked.

Derek ducked his head trying to avoid eye contact, “nowhere,” he answered softly.

Derek didn’t have to look up to know that there was most likely a smug smirk plastered on Peter’s face, “I figured as much especially given the fact you don’t have a car to drive yourself anywhere anymore.” He said mockingly and then unexpectedly wrapped his arm around Derek’s shoulder’s and started to lead him into the kitchen, “why don’t you come into the kitchen and join the rest of the family for breakfast?”

Derek wanted nothing more than to fight his uncle off and to run back upstairs but he knew that probably wasn’t the best idea. The second they walked into the kitchen Derek was met with 3 sour looks and one somber look; Laura and Cora immediately stopped their conversation and looked to him distastefully. “Mom hold off on the breakfast I’ll just eat at school,” Cora said getting up from her chair at the counter and walking out of the kitchen.

“Same here,” Laura said, following her sister out of the kitchen.

Derek watched as they both exited the kitchen sparing him no second glance and he had to admit that his heart broke a little more at the sight. He then turned to look at his mother who offered a somber, “good morning,” Derek could only nod at that as he was afraid to say anything to anyone at this point just to avoid setting anyone off.

Derek then looked at his father at the table who only spared him a short glance before returning his gaze to his newspaper, “Derek,” his father said in greeting.

Derek gulped, “morning dad,” he said shakily; his father had never shown such a cold demeanor towards him.

“Peter,” his Aunt said from behind them, “let him go.”.

His uncle immediately took his arm from around his shoulders, “Lynn when did you get out of bed?”

Derek silently thanked his Aunt for sneaking up on them it allowed him a way out of this very awkward situation but just as soon as he was about to leave the kitchen his mother stopped him in his tracks, “Derek do you have a ride to school?”

“Ye-yeah I-I can just go with Laura and-“

“MY CAR IS FULL,” Laura yelled from upstairs.

Derek was ready to argue but he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere, he grunted and bit his tongue; “I guess I don’t have a ride …”

His mother nodded, “sit down, you can eat and then I’ll take you to school,” she said and while that was the last thing he wanted to do he had no choice but to listen. So he sat down and ate the bacon and eggs his mother made for him and soon after suffered the long awkward silent drive to school with his mother. When they got to school Derek was prepared to bolt out of the van but the second he reached for the handle his mother locked the door on him, “I expect you to be on you best behavior today and don’t even think about trying to get back at Stiles, do you understand me?”

Derek turned to look at his mother for a moment before nodding, “I’m not going to mess with him anymore,” he promised.

His mom looked to him for a long minute as if she was trying to ensure that he was telling the truth when in reality it could be heard in his heartbeat, “fine, go find out where you’re to serve your suspension; make sure you do all your work. When school is over your father will be here to pick you up; have a nice day Derek,” she said but her words lacked emotion and that put Derek off.

He opened the door and got out of the van and headed into the school and straight to the front office, on his way there he ran into Erica; “Derek, hey, how are you?” She asked worriedly

Derek shrugged, “Not as good as I want to be …”

Erica frowned, “I was hoping you were going to say that your parents cut you some slack and didn’t punish you too harshly.”

Derek scoffed, “yeah right, my car got taken for God knows how long; my sisters don’t want to have anything to do with me and my mom and dad are like super pissed at me. I can’t go out after school, I can’t do anything; I’m pretty much screwed.”

Erica huffed, “Are you kidding me? It was just a few stupid pranks that you pulled on Stilinski, that doesn’t warrant that kind of treatment.”

Derek shook his head, “no it wasn’t just a few stupid pranks, it was something that went too far and eventually got out of hand …”

“Derek please, you honestly don’t believe that,” Erica tried.

“No I don’t but I have to start telling myself that because my entire family thinks I fucked up massively and I don’t think they’re going to let me forget it,” he said.

Erica ducked her head down, “You’re all basically repeating the same tune,” she whispered. She looked up to him suddenly, “Boyd, Isaac and Jackson are already at the office so you better get over there and is your phone off or something?”

Derek shook his head, “no, why?”

“Well check your phone, we’ve been trying to get ahold of you; but I understand given the circumstances that checking your phone was the last thing on your mind,” Erica said.

“I wasn’t trying to ignore anybody Erica, my mom took my phone away last night and she barely gave it back to me this morning,” Derek reasoned.

“Yeah? Well the boys need you right now Derek … you’ll understand when you see them;” she said sounding as if she were getting upset. “I’m gonna head to class so I’ll see you later or something,” she said as she turned away and walked down the main corridor.

Derek wondered what she meant by ‘he’ll understand when he sees them,’ with that in mind he turned and made a break for the front office passing many acquaintances and ignoring their hello’s to him. The second he got to the front office he saw Boyd, Isaac and Jackson and he had to admit they all looked absolutely miserable. “Guys?” Derek said.

Each of them looked up to him and sighed heavily, “dude where have you been?” Isaac asked.

“We’ve been trying to get ahold of you all night,” Jackson said.

“I think we screwed up bad Derek,” Boyd said.

Derek frowned, “what happened?”

“Our parents happened,” Jackson said stepping forward, “dude I didn’t think my parents were going to freak out about this but they totally did. My mom took everything from me and when I tried to leave to go cool off she flipped out on me … and my dad … he … he called Sheriff and begged him for forgiveness, I heard him; as soon as he got off the phone he flipped out on me too.”

Derek couldn’t help but feel defeated for Jackson because he knew exactly what he was going through, “my dad wouldn’t even talk to me, he didn’t say anything at all even when I tried to talk to him … all last night he just ignored me. He took me to school this morning and before I got out of his truck he tells me, ‘your brother would be so disappointed in you,’ … who does that, man?” Isaac asked as a single tear made its way down his cheek. “I know I screwed up but … damn,” he gasped.

Jackson moved to comfort Isaac, “ma let me know that she was disappointed and angry and everything in the book; she said that I have to apologize to Stilinski every day from here on out until he accepts my apology and she said she was going to make sure that I do it because if I don’t then … yeah you know, she’s just going to punish me that much more.” Boyd said.

They all went quiet for a moment, “What about you?” Jackson asked breaking the silence, “I can’t imagine that your parents were any better than ours.”

“My parents are pissed, like really pissed … I’ve pissed my dad off a few times when I was younger but never to this extent; my mom she … she’s so mad at me; I’m pretty sure my sisters hate me now and my aunt and uncle are just as disappointed as everyone else,” Derek explained.

“Wait your whole family is mad at you?” Jackson asked surprised.

“It makes sense … Stilinski is his soulmate after all,” Isaac said.

“Oh … yeah I forgot about that,” Jackson said.

The front office door suddenly opened and out came Principal Thomas followed by a woman Derek didn’t recognize, “Gentlemen this here is Ms. Blake, she’s going to be watching over you while you serve your In-School Suspension and while you’re serving this punishment I implore you to follow the rules because if I hear that any one of you steps out of line I won’t hesitate to broaden the extent of your punishment. Do I make myself clear?”

All of them nodded their head and said, “yes sir,” at the same time.

Principal Thomas looked to Ms. Blake, “good, Ms. Blake they’re all yours,” he said and walked back into the front office.

“Hello boys my name is Jennifer Blake and I’m going to be your teacher for the next three weeks,” she said and something about the way she introduced herself sent a chill down Derek’s spine. “Before we head over to our assigned room I’m going to tell you the rules of ISS, because this is a punishment and not a vacation you’re not to talk at all unless I say you can; when you’re in the classroom you will do all of your assignments, if you happen to finish all of your work I will find something for you to keep you busy. When it’s time for lunch you have 20 minutes to eat when you’re done eating you will go around the cafeteria and the eating area outside and pick up all the trash. Then we will find our lovely custodian Rick and help him with whatever he needs help with, afterward we will return to class and you all will finish up any assignments you have. All assignments that are due the day of will be turned into me an hour before school lets out, should you not finish that assignment when it’s due you will be docked points for it being late and you will stay in class until your assignment is finished even if it means holding you after school. All homework that is to be completed at home will be turned in the next day or whatever due date your teacher specifies and it will be placed on my desk the second you walk into class. Should you fail to turn in any homework assignments you will spend another day in ISS; after failing to turn in three assignments you will be forced to see Principal Thomas and he will determine your punishment,” she said with an almost cruel smile on her face. “If you choose to rebel against any of these rules I won’t hesitate to send you down to the office; so I expect that you boys do everything you’re asked; do I make myself clear?”

“Yes mam,” Derek and his friends said simultaneously.

Ms. Blake quirked an eyebrow at them, “good, then follow me to class.”

Jackson tried to protest, “But we still have 10 minutes before-“

“New rule, you will be in class before the first bell rings otherwise you will be marked late,” Ms. Blake cut in.

Jackson didn’t even try to argue with her, he simply gave up and shut his mouth which was surprising to Derek because Jackson usually never backed down from anything. Ms. Blake began to walk down the main corridor and Derek followed suit as did the rest of the boys; as they went along they passed many acquaintances, who were looking on at them suspiciously. There were others that starred at them as well and whispered amongst themselves; seeing the many eyes that were on them made Derek feel slightly uncomfortable, it’s not that he wasn’t used to a lot of people starring at him at school, it’s just he wasn’t used to people looking at him skeptically, it made him feel extremely self-conscious. Derek eventually caught on to a conversation being had by 3 girls that were looking their way, “hey did you hear that Derek Hale and his friends were bullying his soulmate?” Derek heard one of the girls say.

“I heard that the guy wasn’t actually his soulmate but just pretending to be and that’s why Derek and his friends were messing with him,” another girl said.

“No way I totally heard that the guy is actually Derek’s soulmate and it happens to be that Stilinski kid, you know the one that everyone says is on some kind of crazy drugs? Well you remember the day he got wheeled out of here and taken to the hospital? Somebody got a picture of his soul mark …” another one of the girl’s said.

“Yeah I saw that picture but it was totally blurred, you couldn’t make out his mark even if you photoshopped that picture to get a clearer view,” the first girl said. “But that’s beside the point because yesterday at lunch Derek’s sister’s pretty much spilled the beans … I mean I’ve only heard certain things since obviously I don’t have the same lunch as them but there’s a lot of people going around saying the same exact thing and that’s that Derek and Stilinski are soulmates and Derek and his friends were totally bullying Stilinski for God knows how long.”

“That’s horrible,” one of the girls said.

“Why would they do that to him though? Is it because he’s on drugs? Oh my God what if they’re his drug dealers and Stilinski totally bailed on paying them and they were trying to get him back?” Another one of the girls said.

“Oh please, do either one of you even know if Stilinski was actually on drugs?”

“Well no but … okay what about that one rumor that was going around about Stilinski trying to come up with a way to steal someone’s soulmate?”

“That’s stupid, I’m pretty sure nobody actually believed that because anybody with a functioning brain knows that it’s literally impossible to break a soul bond.”

“Ugh, then why else would they bully him?”

“Because people can be really shitty for no reason other than to just be a shitty person,” Derek heard and after that he tuned out the conversation, he felt that if he kept listening he would wind up feeling even worst for himself than he already did.

Ms. Blake led them upstairs and all the way across school and showed them into an empty classroom, “this is where you’re going to be spending all of your time for the next 3 weeks, find a seat and get comfortable and get ready to do your work. And no you may not sit next to one another so make sure you space yourselves out.”

Derek took a seat in the middle of the classroom in the back row, Jackson was on the far left of the room sitting in the middle and Isaac was opposite of him, Boyd sat towards the front, a row over from Derek. Ms. Blake walked over to her desk and that’s when Derek noticed a stack of paper’s sitting atop the desk, “when I call your name you’re to come up and get your assignments for the day,” she said and began calling them off one by one. Derek was displeased to find that he had a lot of work to do but he wasn’t complaining considering he would rather be busy doing homework than possibly cleaning the boy’s bathroom with the custodian. So he made himself busy doing all the work that was assigned to him, making sure to finish the work that was due the day of rather than focusing on the take home homework. Derek had gotten so wrapped up in his work that time seemed to have slip by and before he knew it Ms. Blake was releasing them for lunch, she escorted them to the cafeteria and Derek wasn’t surprised to see that they were the only ones in the lunchroom, “considering the fact that you’re technically suspended, you’re to remain separated from the rest of the student body for the duration of your punishment, this means you will eat lunch after everyone else has.” Ms. Blake explained.

“This freaking bites,” Jackson whispered.

“You’re more than welcome to take your complaints up to the front office Mr. Whittemore,” Ms. Blake said sharply.

  Jackson visibly cringed, “sorry Ms. Blake.”

She nodded, “you boys go get your food and eat, I will be back in 20 minutes and we will start trash duty.”

They each went off and waited to get their food, the lunch ladies gave them a hard time for the simple fact that because of them they were forced to work just a little longer but in the end they were grateful for the overtime so they served them an extra helping of food. They sat down at their usual table and started going to town on their food, everything was relatively okay until Jackson suddenly stopped eating and seemed like he was completely stuck on something, “Jackson, you okay?”

“Jackson looked up at them and then back down into his lap, “gu-guys … check your phones,” he struggled.

Boyd pulled his phone out as did Isaac, Derek took his out of his pocket and turned it on; “what the hell?” Boyd said.

“Oh fuck …” Isaac whispered.

Derek was antsy to figure out what was going on but his phone seemed like it was taking forever to turn on, finally his phone booted up and next thing he knew he was being flooded with text messages; “what the hell is this?” He looked to see that Erica had started a group chat with all of them, including Lydia and basically gave them a run down on everything they should know.

Erica: Hey guys I hope ISS is treating you well L

Erica: You probably can’t text I’m not really sure why I started this.

Lydia: Chances are they can’t use their phone … ever

Erica: Yeah, I should have figured …

Erica: I’m hearing some rumors going around school about the boys and it isn’t good.

Lydia: ‘Isn’t good’ is an understatement, try DEFCON 4

Erica: There’s a lot of people that are super pissed at you guys especially you Derek

Erica: People basically know Stilinski is your soulmate (that sounds so weird saying that) and they know you were messing with him.

Lydia: A few of the guys on the football team want an explanation, they cornered me after 2^nd hour trying to get answers out of me.

Erica: Danny, Greenberg, Matt and a few other guys that play Lacrosse with you are wanting to know what the hell is going on too.

Erica: Cora is going around telling people that Stilinski is your soulmate

Lydia: So are Laura and Allison …

Erica: Random people are asking me if I know what’s going on and if you guys are capable of doing something like that …

Derek exited out of the message and started to mildly freak out, “oh shit …”

“D-Danny is messaging me,” Jackson said.

“Me too,” Isaac said.

“Same here … I got one from Greenberg and Matt too,” Boyd said.

Derek looked back down at his phone and checked his messages again, sure enough he had a message from Danny:

Danny: Please tell me the rumors I’m hearing are bogus?

Danny: Please tell me Derek Hale and Stilinski are not soulmates …

Danny: Please tell me you guys were not fucking around with Stilinski

Danny: DEREK YOU FUCKING ASS HOLE!

Derek exited out of the message after that and looked through his unread messages only to see that most of them were either angry messages or people asking questions that weren’t any of their business, “Why are all these people that I barely talk to texting me trying to figure out what happened?” Jackson wondered.

“I’m pretty sure what we did is now the hot topic of the school and probably anyone who’s anyone will be talking about it,” Isaac said. “3 guys from the football team want to jump Derek and the rest of the team wants to have a meeting to ensure that this is all false information … a lot of people are having a major issue with Derek and the fact that he was possibly bullying his soulmate.”

“We didn’t even know he was his soulmate at the time,” Boyd countered.

“Apparently that doesn’t really matter to people and no one is willing to believe that especially after what was heard in the cafeteria yesterday,” Isaac said.

“Derek, dude your sisters put us in a really shitty position,” Jackson said.

“No we put ourselves in a shitty position,” Isaac countered.

“What?” Jackson asked baffled.

“If we hadn’t of done anything, Derek’s sister’s wouldn’t have had a reason to confront him in the cafeteria,” Isaac said.

“If we hadn’t of done anything we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Boyd added.

“Yeah but …” Jackson looked down at the table defeated.

“We can’t blame Cora and Laura for what they’re doing because it’s not their fault, it’s ours and we need to take responsibility for that,” Isaac said.

“Okay but what about Allison,” Jackson stupidly asked.

Isaac and Boyd both sighed, “it doesn’t matter Jackson, quit looking for someone to blame,” Boyd said.

“Derek, you okay?” Isaac wondered.

Derek shook his head, “no …” he looked down at his cell phone again and looked over the many messages that were sent to him from different people that he usually only talked to in passing. There was one message in particular that stood out amongst the many and that message was sent from someone very special to Derek, he didn’t know when the last time he spoke to her was but seeing her name among the many messages gave Derek some kind of hope:

Paige: Hey Derek, I know it’s been a long time since we’ve talked to each other, I think the last time I called you was when I got to the airport … anyway I just wanted to let you know that I’m coming back! I tried to call you yesterday to let you know but your mom said that you left for school already, I thought you might call me after school but you were probably busy. I can’t get used to this east coast time zone and I can’t wait to be back on the west coast. Everything with me and my family turned out fine and it wasn’t really something me or my family should have freaked out about and my dad definitely agrees with me when I say we should have never left; I miss you Derek, I hope you’re doing okay, great even … how’s school life without me? Have you found your “one” yet? Probably not, I mean they can be anywhere in the world right? XD I have so much to tell you when I get back and speaking of coming back I was supposed to tell you straight away that I’ll be back in about 4 weeks, well 3 and a half maybe sooner but you get the point. Anyway see you soon, miss you.

Derek smiled at the message he was eager to respond to her but then he remembered his situation and everything going on with him and he couldn’t exactly tell her at the moment; so instead of responding he shoved his phone back in his pocket and let out a sigh of frustration, “what’s bothering you besides the obvious?” Jackson asked.

“Paige is coming back,” Derek said.

“That’s great man you’ve been crushing on her for …“ Boyd cut himself off mid-celebration speech and glanced at Derek’s left arm. “So-sorry …” he said.

Derek glanced at his left arm, “yeah …”

“It’s not like he still can’t be with her, right Derek?” Jackson asked Derek, “I mean you and Stilinski haven’t had your mating ceremony and probably never will hopefully, so you and Paige can get mated and …” Derek knew Jackson could see that his words were not ringing true, “and I’m totally missing something right?”

Isaac’s eyebrows furrowed, “Jackson’s right isn’t he Derek?”

“Not exactly,” answered Boyd.

“Wait what?” Jackson wondered.

“I don’t think I can mate with anyone besides Stilinski,” Derek spit out.

 “What?!” Jackson exclaimed.

“Derek … just because you guys have soul marks doesn’t mean you can’t mate with other people unless you already mated and have formed your soul bond,” Isaac informed.

“Yeah I know that,” Derek said angrily, “apparently it doesn’t work that way with me and him.”

“But you hooked up with Braeden-“ Jackson tried.

“He never actually got with Braeden …” Boyd interrupted.

“I tried to and in the process I … I-I don’t know … my body literally rejected the entire act, just as we were getting into it I started puking up this black stuff and-and my mark got bigger,” Derek said.

“Dude, did you go to a doctor or something?” Jackson asked.

“Yeah I did, me and Boyd went down to Beacon memorial and the doctor pretty much told me there’s nothing I can do about it … I’m never gonna know what it’s like to be in love with someone and for them to feel the same about me, I’m never gonna have a family of my own … Stilinski basically shit on everything for me,” Derek said and ran his hands frustratingly through his hair.

Silence fell on the table for a few moments, “Man you really must have jipped somebody bad in your past life to get this kind of shitty luck,” Jackson said.

“Jackson you’re such an ass hole sometimes,” Isaac blurted.

“Sometimes?” Boyd questioned and both Boyd and Isaac shared a laugh, the sight was quite comforting to Derek considering in such a terrible situation they still found a way to smile about something.

Ms. Blake came back into the cafeteria a few minutes later and told them to finish up and to get ready for trash duty; and so they did, Derek wasn’t sure how long they spent picking up trash, he would say for at least 20+ hours but in reality only an hour went by. Once they were finished they found the custodian Rick, in the gymnasium polishing the basketball court, “Oh hello there Ms. Blake how are you settling in?” Rick asked as they entered the gym.

“It’s not so bad, it’s definitely a lot different than my last school but … obviously that school was for delinquent kids and juvenile offenders …” Ms. Blake said.

Rick laughed, “Oh well I can imagine this is definitely a change of pace, so what can I help you with? You’re not teaching in here right now are you?”

“No, I’m actually not teaching yet I won’t start for another 3 weeks, I actually have these four boys in ISS that I’m watching over until their punishment is fully served; anyway we’re actually here to help you. I see you’re polishing the gym floor and I was wondering if there was anything else you had to do, my boys would be more than happy to help you out, right boys?” She turned and looked to them expectantly.

“Yes mam,” they all said.

“Well … I do have to go around the school and clean out some of the gutters, there’s only about 7 or 8 of them that need cleaning and there all on this side of the school but if you boys don’t mind doing that for me that would be great,” Rick said.

“They don’t mind at all,” Ms. Blake said.

“Great, there are some ladders in the janitors closet that you all can use to get up there and clean out those gutters; make sure you boys get yourselves a pair of gloves while you’re at it. I left the door open so you all can walk right on in and get everything you need,” Rick said.

Ms. Blake smiled, “thank you Rick,” she turned to Derek and his friends, “you boys heard the man, go get everything you need and get to work,” she said coldly.

Derek nodded, as did Isaac, Boyd and Jackson and turned around and made their way to the janitors closet which was located near the boy’s locker room. “Hey Ms. Blake you got a second?” Derek heard Rick whisper.

“Sure what’s going on?” Ms. Blake said

“Did you hear about some kid beating up his soulmate? I heard a few students talking about it when they were walking back to class from lunch … I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I kept hearing people speaking of the matter and figured I’d ask what’s going on?” Rick asked.

Derek cursed underneath his breath, news of what happened was really getting around; “well Rick I did hear about that … but from what I know the student wasn’t aware that the other student was his or her soulmate at the time of the occurrence and while that still doesn’t make it right it does mean that this person unintentionally harmed their soulmate and that’s not something anyone can hold against them;” Ms. Blake said and Derek couldn’t help but feel relieved at hearing her answer.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Ricky said.

“But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that the person did harm somebody else and they did it repeatedly for who knows how long or what reason, that action alone is still terrible and this person or people that were involved should feel horrible for the stupid decisions they made,” Ms. Blake said and with that answer the relief Derek felt was shot and he was back to feeling bad all over again.

“Ah I see … well Ms. Blake you should go along and watch them boys of yours and keep them out of trouble,” Rick said.

Derek tuned out the rest of the conversation afterward, “even that old bastard has heard about what happened,” Jackson whispered.

“I’m pretty sure a lot of people are gonna hear about it Jackson,” Isaac said.

“Yeah but they’re spinning the story,” Jackson whispered angrily.

“It doesn’t matter right now, we can figure out a way to clear this mess up after we get out of ISS,” Boyd said.

“Boyd’s right,” Derek said, “we probably should be grateful that we’re in ISS right now … who can guess how people would react to us if we were still in class.”

“Yeah especially you,” Jackson blurted, and Derek growled at him in warning.

The boys got to the janitors closet and saw that there were only three ladders because of that each of them agreed that one person would be responsible for picking up whatever gets thrown down from the gutter and putting it in a trash bag, they also agreed that they would rotate that position just so no one felt that they were doing more work than the others. So they went out and made their way around part of the school and cleaned out all the gutters, the task took them about a half hour; when they were finished Ms. Blake brought them back to class where they sat and did their work in silence for the rest of the day. When the final bell rang releasing them from class, Ms. Blake collected all of their work that was due that day before she released them from class. “Looks like you boys follow the rules well, you’re all dismissed, I will see you back here before the first bell in the morning;” she said. “Derek please stay behind, I would like a word with you,” she added.

Derek looked over to Boyd, Isaac and Jackson and nodded to them as they left the room, he then walked over to Ms. Blake’s desk, “uh … what’s up?” he wondered.

“Well I wanted to talk to you about why you’re in here,” she said.

“Okay but … I know why I’m in here,” he said.

“Of course you do but I wanted to be sure of something,” she said looking him over, “Principal Thomas filled me in on everything I needed to know and I just wanted to be certain that you never harmed your soulmate after you found out that he was in fact your soulmate?” she questioned.

Derek sighed, “no … I-I didn’t do anything,” he said.

“Did your friends do anything?” Ms. Blake asked.

Derek stiffened at the question, “um …”

Ms. Blake scoffed, “considering the way your heartbeat is speeding up I think I have my answer, so let me ask, did you know your friends were still messing with your soulmate?”

Derek looked everywhere trying his best to avoid making eye contact with Ms. Blake, “yes mam,” he whispered.

“And you did nothing to stop them?” She questioned.

“No mam,” he said.

“Derek look at me when I’m speaking to you,” she said and Derek struggled to oblige but he managed. “You did nothing to stop your friends from messing with your soulmate?” she questioned again.

Derek grunted and shook his head, “no mam,” he said.

Ms. Blake nodded, “that’s a little cold of you don’t you think?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Do you understand how fortunate you are to have found your soulmate? Do you know how many people in the world would kill just to figure out who their soulmate was? There are plenty of people on this planet that spend their entire lives looking for their soulmate only to be disappointed in the long run. But let’s forget about the world for a second, let’s just think about the country, our country in particular, do you know that 17% of the people in this nation have been fortunate enough to find their soulmate; 17% Derek, that’s a low percentage don’t you think?” Ms. Blake eyed him and Derek nodded.

“Well that percentage is even lower when you apply it worldwide, I’ve seen bonded soulmates and unbonded soulmates and I can tell you for a fact that they cherish one another more than anything because they understand they were fortunate enough to find each other. I’ve seen people who you thought hated each other’s guts turn around and fall head over heels for one another and-“

“That’s not gonna happen, not with me at least …” Derek said, he wasn’t sure what she was getting at but he didn’t like the direction the conversation was going. “Look you don’t know our situation,” Derek said.

“You’re right I don’t but I’ve heard a little bit about it,” Ms. Blake responded.

“Alright, well then you know that I don’t like him and he doesn’t like me; I don’t care how other people in this world feel about their soulmates alright? I don’t like mine, I’m allowed to not like him and you and everybody else can’t say a thing about it,” Derek countered.

Ms. Blake nodded, “you’re right, I overstepped speaking on the whole soulmate situation especially given the fact that I just met you today. But Derek, just because you don’t like someone that doesn’t mean that you can go out of your way to cause them misery.”

Derek looked down at the ground, “yeah I got that …”

“Do you?” Ms. Blake asked and Derek looked up at her ready to answer her, “I’m just saying, you’re a junior right?”

Derek nodded, “yes,” he said.

“And you’re an Alpha correct?”

“Yes,” Derek answered.

“Then you know that next year in the latter part of your senior year you’re going to go through the pack dynamics course. That class will teach you everything you need to know about a pack, how to build it, how to expand it and how to lead it; just from watching you and your friends today I can tell you for a fact that your friends look to you as their leader. Your future pack will follow your direction … would you be okay if you found out your pack was ganging up on some helpless person?” Ms. Blake asked.

“No,” Derek answered quickly and assuredly.

“So then you’re not okay with the fact that you and your friends tormented someone for a considerable amount of time? Someone who obviously wasn’t capable of standing up for themselves especially given the fact that he was apparently unpresented” She questioned.

“That-that’s different,” Derek said.

“How is it different?” Ms. Blake asked.

“We had our reasons,” Derek answered.

“Does your reasoning really justify what you and your friends did?” Ms. Blake pressed.

Derek wanted nothing more than to lash out and tell Ms. Blake to shove it, but that action would probably result in him having to spend more time in ISS; “look I … my dad is waiting for me outside so I should go,” Derek settled on.

“Right I guess you do have to go … but Derek do me a favor? Think about what we talked about,” Ms. Blake requested.

She didn’t really have to ask because her questions were reeling on repeat in Derek’s mind, “yeah sure, see you tomorrow,” he said and walked out of the classroom.

Jackson and Isaac were waiting outside of the room for him, “What’d Ms. Blake want?” Jackson asked as soon as he made it out of the room.

“Nothing she was just being nosey,” Derek said, “Where’s Boyd?”

“He went to go find Stilinski, he said he had to apologize to him or his grandma was going to let him have it,” Isaac said.

Derek grunted at that, “whatever … I gotta get out of here my dad’s probably outside and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Yeah same here,” Jackson said.

“I don’t even know if I want to see my old man … he’s probably just gonna ignore me again,” Isaac said.

Derek moved to put a hand on his shoulder, “don’t worry Isaac he’ll get over it, you’ll see.”

“Yeah sure,” he said dejectedly.

Derek sighed, “I’ll catch you guys later …” his phone suddenly buzzed and he pulled it out to find that he had a new message from Boyd:

Boyd: Avoid as many people as possible!

Boyd didn’t give an explanation as to why they should avoid people but Derek had a good idea why, that was when he decided to take an alternate route out of school; Isaac and Jackson both tagged along to avoid any critism from their peers. When they eventually got out of school, Derek immediately spotted his dad’s truck, he said his goodbye’s to Jackson and Isaac and made his way over, Peter happened to be sitting in the passenger seat so Derek got into the backseat; “Hello nephew, did you beat anyone up today for fun or-“

“Pete stop,” his father said in the driver’s seat.

“What I was only asking an innocent question,” Peter said sarcastically.

“Hello Derek, how was school?” His father asked.

“It was okay,” Derek answered.

“Good, do you have homework?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“When we get home you are to finish all of it and once you’re done there’s some chores around the house for you to do, your mother had to leave for work so I’m ordering take out tonight,” his father said.

Derek sighed heavily, “okay dad …” he could tell his father was still super pissed at him and he didn’t want to piss him off anymore.

The drive home was eerily silent, when they got to the house he made a straight shot for his room and closed himself in and eventually buried himself into his work. Time passed by and eventually Derek heard Cora and Laura come home talking about plans they made with Stilinski; the mention of his name made Derek want to vomit so he tuned them out in favor of focusing solely on his work. By 7:30 he finished his homework and went downstairs and did all the chores his father instructed him to do and finally sat down and ate dinner alone before going to bed.

This process became Derek’s routine over the next 3 weeks, he went to school and avoided as many people as possible while on his way to class, did his classwork, did whatever Ms. Blake instructed him and his friends to do, came home did his homework and then chores and finally ate dinner alone.

*3 Weeks Later*

Derek thought his sister’s would get over the whole issue after a week or two but he was sorely mistaken; Cora very clearly held a grudge against him and Laura couldn’t help but look disappointed in him every time she looked his way. His father sort of eased up on him, he was still very clearly disappointed but his mood towards him has gotten a lot better especially over the past week. His mother has been working a lot lately but every time Derek sees her she seems to be okay with him but she has no problem reminding him that he made a really, really stupid decision in bullying Stilinski. Peter continued to give him a hard time about what he had done but Derek knew he was just doing it for the hell of it because he was sort of an ass hole. His aunt Lynn was the only one in the house that never seemed to change how she treated him and Derek was more than a little grateful for that.

Talk around school sort of died down according to Erica and Lydia but Derek figured the reason for that was because he’s been doing his best to stay out of sight the same goes for Isaac and Jackson, Boyd was a different story though, every day after school he’d go and track down Stilinski and apologize to him regardless of what people might say or do when they saw him. There were still plenty of rumors going around about Derek and his friends but seeing as how they were away from the student body at the moment Derek didn’t mind whatever was said. But Derek wouldn’t be able to avoid anyone for much longer, in fact in an hour’s time the school day will be over and he will have successfully served his 3 weeks of ISS. Looking around the classroom that he got relatively comfortable in Derek realized that it had become his own little safe haven and he wasn’t exactly ready to leave. If he could manage to spend maybe another week in ISS he’d be okay with that but he knows for a fact his parents wouldn’t.

“Boy’s …” Ms. Blake called from her desk, “in about an hour you will be released out of ISS and tomorrow you’ll be back in school … but before I release you I want to be sure that you’re not going to repeat the same mistakes that landed you in here; so we’ll start with you Mr. Whitmore, are you going to continue to harass and torment people that clearly do not enjoy the way you’re treating them?”

“No mam,” Jackson answered and Derek was honesty surprised to hear no hitch in his heartbeat. But then again Jackson had gotten punished pretty harshly by his parents and he swore he would never do anything to piss them off that badly again.

“Good,” Ms. Blake said and turned to Isaac, “Mr. Lahey, what about you?”

“No mam, I promised myself I would never become the kid that did terrible things to me in elementary school and I wound up doing just that and because of that I disappointed my dad and a lot of other people and … I-I don’t want to do that again,” Isaac said.

Ms. Blake then turned to Boyd, “and what about you Boyd?”

“Hell no,” he answered quickly; ”no mam,” he answered again shyly.

 Ms. Blake tittered, “okay well and what about you Mr. Hale?”

There was no way in hell Derek would repeat what he had done if it meant having to go through the scorn of his family again, “no mam, it’s just not worth it …”

Ms. Blake nodded and looked around at the four of them, “good then at least you’ve all learned over these past few weeks that what you did carries great consequences and I’m happy that you know that now.” A small smile creeped its way onto her face and for once she actually looked genuinely happy with them, “so you boys finish up the rest of your work for today and you’re free.”

Hearing that should have made Derek relatively happy but he couldn’t honestly say that he was looking forward to being back with his classmates. The one thing he was looking forward to though was the fact that Paige would be returning to school tomorrow. They had been texting one another quite frequently over the past three weeks, talking to her was what helped Derek escape the harsh reality he was currently living in; but he feared that with her return to school tomorrow she might shut him out if she gets word of what him and his friends did. He pushed the negative thoughts to the back of his mind, he didn’t really want to think about it at the moment. So instead he lost himself in his work for the last hour of school and followed the same routine that he had been following for the past three weeks for the rest of the day.

The next morning by the time Derek made his way downstairs his sister’s had already left the house to eat breakfast at school, their reasoning was that they wanted to meet up with Stilinski and Allison or so he heard from his mother but Derek knew it was another way they could avoid being around him. His mom and dad were sitting in the kitchen; his dad was at the table reading the paper while his mom was up making breakfast. His uncle Peter was tending to his aunt Lynn upstairs, last week she had started acting a little weird and his mom told him that she was doing something similar to nesting in her room and Peter couldn’t help but tend to her every need. It made his uncle seem like a lost dog looking for direction and Derek often liked to joke about that with him.

Derek ate breakfast quickly, got dressed and his mother drove him to school; “so you’re out of ISS now?” His mother asked.

“Yes,” Derek answered.

“Good, try to stay out of it will you?” His mother asked lightly.

Derek smirked, “no promises,” he joked.

She swatted at his arm and laughed a little, “Derek I’m serious, I want you to stay out of trouble from now on okay?”

“Yes mam,” he answered smiling at her, he liked the fact that they were having such a carefree moment and it only reminded him that things would eventually get back to the way they were it would just take some time. His mother pulled up to the school said bye to him and drove off, Derek quickly pulled out his cell phone and texted Paige to find out where she was and he quickly got a response back:

Paige: Turn around stupid J

He did as the message instructed and there standing before him was someone he never thought he’d see again, “PAIGE!” He yelled and ran over to her to give her a bear hug.

“Ow Jesus Derek you’re crushing me, lay off a little,” she said and Derek did just that.

She hugged him back once he loosened his hold on her, “I missed you too,” she said and pulled away from him and looked him over, “you got taller since I left …”

“You just shrunk that’s all,” Derek joked.

She swatted his chest, “oh shut up Derek …”

Derek laughed, “did you get your schedule yet?”

“Yeah that was the first thing I did when I got here,” she looked in her bag and pulled out a piece of paper, “here these are my classes,” she said handing the paper to Derek.

“Let’s see …” Derek looked the paper over and wasn’t too surprised that they didn’t have any classes together, Paige was a really smart girl and she was placed in all the advanced classes, “we have absolutely zero classes together,” Derek said unamused.

“Hey it’s not my fault that I’m smarter than you,” she said.

“Nah, you’re just a book worm and you like band and playing that stupid violin thing,” he said.

Paige rolled her eyes and smirked at him, “it’s not a violin it’s a cello and if you applied yourself a little more than maybe you could be in my classes,” she responded.

“I do well enough in the classes I’m in,” he said.

She shrugged, “that’s just like you, always settling for less when you’re capable of so much more.”

“If you say so,” Derek said he eventually became aware that they were currently standing in the front of the school and people walking by them were glancing at him curiously, “hey um … how about we head inside,” he said.

“Yeah let’s do that …” Paige said.

They headed inside of the school and along the way they met up with Boyd who was accompanied by a very happy Erica; “Oh my God Paige, how are you? When did you get back?” Erica asked giddily and gave her a hug.

“Hey Erica, I’m good and I just got back yesterday, how have you been?” Paige asked.

“Good … just getting along I guess,” Erica answered awkwardly.

Boyd moved to give Paige a hug, “hey Paige, long time no see.”

She hugged him back, “God what is the deal with you guys? Both you and Derek sprouted at least 3 or 4 inches.”

“You just shrunk Paige that’s all,” Boyd joked.

Derek high fived Boyd for that, while Paige whacked Boyd in the chest; they moved down the hall and soon ran into Jackson, Isaac and Lydia. Isaac raced over and lifted Paige up and spun her around, “Oh my God I can’t believe you’re here,” he said.

“Oh my God Isaac,” she screeched as he lifted her, he eventually set her down and she was left gawking at his form, “what the hell are they putting in the food out here? When I left we were the same height,” Paige said.

“No I was taller than you, you just didn’t want to admit that to yourself,” Isaac said and Paige rolled her eyes and scoffed.

Jackson and Lydia came over and greeted Paige as well, “You’re back,” Lydia said.

“Hi Lydia,” Paige said hugging her.

“Hey Paige,” Jackson greeted.

“Jackson … even you grew a little … now I can’t call you pipsqueak anymore,” Paige said and they all laughed; they spent their time before class catching up with Paige, she explained to them that moving away was probably the worst decision her mom and dad could have made. The incident with her brother and sister wasn’t that serious it was a simple pack issue that all came down to miscommunication; Paige said that two weeks after they had moved out to her brother and sister’s territory the issue had been resolved and her mom and dad were left feeling like fools for worrying about the situation so heavily.

Once the first bell rang they all separated and went to their respective classes, Derek couldn’t help feeling that they probably wouldn’t be welcomed back with open arms when they entered the boy’s locker room to get changed for weight training and he was right. Upon entering the locker room people that he considered acquaintances sneered at him and Boyd as they made their way over to their lockers two boys from the football team were outright trashing them, “looks like people are still mad about what happened,” Boyd said.

“I don’t know why,” Derek said loudly, “it’s not like any of them even knows what happened they just know what they’ve heard.”

The two boys that were talking trash about them suddenly quieted down and minded their own business, Boyd looked to Derek suspiciously but eventually nodded to him when he caught on to what he was trying to accomplish; if he could make people feel they were wrong in believing whatever it was they believed then he could probably change a lot of people’s opinion about him and his friends.

Halfway through weight training a boy from last year’s lacrosse team who Derek knew as Trevor approached him and Boyd, “Yo Derek, Boyd, you mind if I ask you guys something?”

Derek put the dumbbell that he was lifting down and looked to him expectantly, “sure what’s up?”

“Word around school is that you guys got in trouble for smacking around your soulmate, is that true?” he asked.

Derek looked to Boyd and then back to Trevor, “No that’s not true … not necessarily at least.”

“Then what’s the truth?” Trevor asked.

“The truth is we got in trouble because we were messing with someone who eventually turned out to be his soulmate,” Boyd answered.

“So then you were messing with your soulmate?” Trevor pressed, directing the question to Derek.

“At the time I didn’t know he was my soulmate, neither one of us had a mark to prove we were soulmates,” Derek said.

Trevor seemed to have accepted that answer, “so then it’s true, Stilinski really is your soulmate?”

Derek looked down at the ground, he would give anything to have the ability to erase people’s memories and make them forget ever hearing that Stilinski was his soulmate; but he didn’t have that ability and he needed to accept his reality that people knew him and Stilinski were soulmates and there was no hiding it anymore, “yeah it’s true …”

“Dude …” Trevor whispered.

“Yeah,” Derek said.

“I mean don’t get me wrong recently Stilinski’s definitely stepped up his game, whether it was intentional or not, I don’t know but people have noticed but … it’s still weird you know? Like just last month he was the school’s weirdest kid, practically everybody knew about him just because there was always some weird rumor about him going around …” Trevor said.

“And now?” Derek asked.

“Now it’s like …” he shrugged, “I don’t know, if you give him a chance he’s actually a pretty decent guy; after the rumors about you, Boyd, Jackson and Isaac giving him shit got around, people sort of stopped treating him like he was from mars. I mean me and a lot of guys from lacrosse and the football team approached and apologized to him for any involvement we had and … and he was totally cool about it,” Trevor said.

It sounded like Stilinski had a little fan club going and it made Derek sick to his stomach, “yeah whatever good for you,” Derek said dismissingly.

“He actually forgave you guys?” Boyd asked.

Trevor shrugged “I wouldn’t say he forgave us but he did say that we shouldn’t let what happened haunt us.”

Boyd sighed and Derek looked to him with a frown on his face, Boyd had been trying for the last three weeks to earn Stilinski’s forgiveness, every day he went out of his way to find him and apologize for the things he’d done and every day he tried to apologize Stilinski never outright told him the he accepted his apology and Boyd was forced to try again the next day and he would keep trying until Stilinski forgave him just to appease his grandmother.

Trevor eventually left Boyd and Derek to their own devices and he went back to train with a few other guys; obviously Derek knew he was filling them in on everything he found out.

As soon as weight training was over Derek and Boyd found themselves walking down the hall and were instantly met with an overly excited Erica, “Boyd!” She yelled as she ran up to Boyd and jumped into his arms, the sight was way too dramatic for Derek’s liking but he understood the antics behind it; Erica and Boyd hadn’t really had much of an opportunity to spend any time with one another for the past 3 weeks, now that Boyd was free from ISS it gave him a chance to see Erica throughout the school day.

“Are you gonna be this happy every time you see him?” Derek asked annoyed.

Boyd put Erica down and she turned to Derek, “listen when you get forcefully separated from your soulmate and you can barely see them for a long period of time you’ll understand what I’m going through but until then shut up and let me have my fun,” Erica said.

“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that … ever,” Derek whispered.

Erica was going to lean in and kiss Boyd but when she heard what Derek whispered she stopped, “oh … I-I keep forgetting … I’m sorry.”

Derek shrugged, “it’s whatever I don’t care, I’m gonna go find Paige, you guys can tag along or enjoy yourselves it doesn’t matter.”

“I think we’ll stay behind,” Boyd said and pulled Erica in for a chaste kiss, Derek knew that they were most likely going to start making out and eating each other’s faces off and that was his que to leave.

Finding Paige wasn’t hard thanks to the fact that Derek memorized her schedule earlier so he knew where to find her and he was pretty keen on picking up her scent, “Paige,” he said when he found her walking along in the hallway.

She turned and gave him a small smile but it didn’t reach her eyes and Derek knew whenever she smiled like that it meant something was bothering her, “Hey Derek,” she greeted half-heartedly.

Derek couldn’t help feeling a little worried, “What’s up?”

Paige shrugged, “I don’t know um … did something happen with you recently? I was in class and I heard something a little disturbing and-“

“Don’t listen to anything anyone says,” Derek blurted.

“What?” Paige gawked.

“I-I mean … you know … just-just use your better judgment and … yeah,” Derek said nervously.

“Derek you’re not really making any sense you know, and you only do that when you get really nervous about something,” she said eyeing him suspiciously. “Spill the beans Derek, what happened?”

“What have you heard?” Derek asked becoming very serious.

“Well everything I heard sounded pretty ridiculous but considering there were 3 different conversations about you, Boyd, Jackson and Isaac I have to assume that something must have recently happened for you to be such a hot topic,” she said.

“I’m always a hot topic,” Derek joked.

“Cut the crap Derek, I know something happened so tell me,” she said.

Derek sighed, “what were the conversations about?”

Paige ran a hand through her hair and huffed, “Well let’s see one conversation they were talking about how you and your friends gang raped somebody and-“

“That’s a load of shit and you know it, I would never do something like that,” Derek said angrily.

“I know you wouldn’t which is why I interrupted their conversation and told them to stop spreading lies but then I heard from somebody else that you, Jackson, Boyd and Isaac were beating someone up,” she said and Derek could tell she was gauging his response to that. “But that wasn’t it, someone else in class added on to that and said that the person you were beating up was your soulmate and-“

“That’s not true …” he said sadly, while technically it was true, Derek wasn’t willing accept the notion that he ever beat up his soulmate because at the time of the occurrence neither one of them had matching soul marks; and he wouldn’t say he ever outright beat Stilinski up; yeah he might have sucker punched him and shoved him around a lot and he may have gotten Boyd to help hold Stiles down while Derek messed with him; but he never outright beat him up, beat up is a term he would use for what Jackson did to him a few times. Man handled was a better word for it and he knew for a fact that he never man handled Stilinski after finding out he was his soulmate regardless of how he felt about him, “look I’ll explain everything at lunch okay? Just don’t listen to half the shit you hear, it’s most likely just a bunch of lies and bull shit.” He walked to class without another word.

By the time he got to Ms. Karagan’s class Isaac and Erica were both waiting outside for him, “took you long enough,” Erica said.

“I was talking to Paige,” Derek responded.

“Go figure,” Isaac said and walked into class with Erica following suit.

As soon as Derek was about to walk in the door a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks, “well look who it is, the resident bad boy who beats up his soulmate.” Braeden said.

“Hi Braeden,” Derek said.

“Hi yourself,” she smirked, “I don’t mean to bother you or anything but I just want to know how it feels to know that most of the school’s spreading around different rumors about you and your friends and obviously they aren’t good rumors. I mean I’m sure you’ve heard right?”

Derek could tell she was speaking to him out of spite, “I’ve heard something but I’m sure you’re going to fill me in on the rest.”

“Of course, it’s only fair that you hear what people are saying about you, I mean I would want to know if part of the school thought I was a rapist:” she said.

Derek growled, “who’s spreading that rumor?”

Braeden shrugged, “I don’t know, but don’t worry there’s plenty of people that are coming to your defense, I don’t know why but hey I guess some of these idiots actually think they can still get it in with you,” she said. “I saw you with Paige before I got here, it’s nice to see that’s she’s back; I bet you’re happy right? Does that poor girl know what you did?”

“Why are you being like this?” Derek wondered.

“Why not? I mean it serves you right doesn’t it? You treated me like garbage about a month ago before you got in trouble and then you and your friends did terrible things to a good person, why should I treat you any differently?” Braeden asked.

“A good person, are you joking?” Derek asked, he couldn’t believe he heard those words come out of Braeden’s mouth.

“Did I sound like I was joking Derek? You know what is your deal with Stilinski anyway? Why did you guys do that stuff to him?” She asked and just as soon as Derek was about to answer she shushed him, “Oh wait I know, could it be because you thought that he was trying to steal Jackson’s soulmate away from him? That’s too stupid even for you,” she narrowed her eyes at him, “was it because you liked him at some point and he rejected you?” Braeden shook her head, “no that sounds too petty even for you, so I wonder … was it because he tried to take something from you? Or someone in particular?”

Derek clammed up, he wasn’t sure how Braeden had clocked him so easily, “it doesn’t matter.”

A wicked grin spread across her face, “that’s it isn’t it? Stilinski the boy who was once known as the school’s resident freak tried to take something from you … should I say someone; but who was it? It couldn’t be your soulmate obviously considering the fact that he’s your soulmate, so who was it? I mean considering your reputation of being so extremely dismissive towards practically every person who shows any interest in you that has to mean that it’s not just anyone … but someone special. And considering the fact that your whole ordeal with him apparently started last year I’m gonna have to assume that it was someone you used to be fairly close to; someone who you treated better than anyone else,” she said thoughtfully; “someone who you gave obvious moon eyes to and made a lot of people jealous, someone who left last year and has recently returned … someone like Paige;” she said.

Derek gasped, “ho-how …” Derek was baffled at how quickly Braeden was able to deduce his reasoning behind what he did to Stilinski.

She tittered, “that’s it, isn’t it? Oh my God, that’s rich; I knew it had to be personal for you, I mean Cora and Laura and even Allison went around telling everyone that you and your friends did what you did because you thought that Stilinski was trying to steal Lydia from Jackson, but only an idiot would believe it’s possible to take someone’s soulmate away from them and if I know one thing about you it’s that you are definitely no idiot … well you are but you get what I mean,” she said nonchalantly. “Oh my God wait … does Paige know?”

“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business,” Derek growled.

“It would be a lot easier for me to mind my own business if yours wasn’t spread all around school, maybe if you weren’t so messy and such a jackass this wouldn’t be a problem but I guess now you know that you reap what you sew,” she said indignantly and brushed past Derek into class.

Derek had a right mind to just skip class all together and run out of school but considering his track record his parents would never let him get away with that and he had too much pride to just run off; he wasn’t going to let Braeden get the better of him, he couldn’t, so he held his head high and walked into class and straight to his seat with Erica and Isaac looking to him worriedly, “are you okay?” Erica asked.

“No … but I will be,” he answered.

Stiles POV

The last three weeks for Stiles have been pretty damn great and that isn’t an exaggeration, things took a turn for the better the day the word got out that Stiles and Derek are soulmates and that Derek and his friends were consistently bullying him for their own personal pleasure. People that Stiles didn’t even know were apologizing to him left and right for having to deal with that kind of treatment, others were apologizing for ever harming him or spreading a false rumor about him; he couldn’t believe it when he was approached by a group of football and lacrosse players and each and every one of them individually apologized to him. One thing that he could not get over and found hard to believe was that every single day for the past three weeks Boyd had apologized to him for everything he’d done to him; the first few days he hardly seemed genuine about it but as time went on he slowly but surely showed more and more remorse for what he had done. Stiles wasn’t sure if it was too soon to forgive him but he was considering it; out of all the people that apologized to him Boyd would be the first one that he outwardly said that he forgave.

He couldn’t really say that he took pleasure in all the apologies but it was nice to hear that most people were genuinely sorry for what they did to him; but there were some that only apologized to him because apparently it was the cool thing to do. Aside from the apologies another great thing that happened to Stiles would be the fact that he’s gotten a whole lot closer to Cora, Laura and Allison; in the recent weeks they started hanging out frequently outside of school and every time they had the time of their lives; things were going pretty great for Stiles but he knew not to take this great opportunity for granted because at any moment things could change and go right back to the way they were but he hoped and prayed that wouldn’t be the case.

He was getting a lot better at keeping his negative emotions in check and that was due to his talks with Ms. Morrell; he had been going to her every day for the past three weeks. The first few days he saw her he somehow managed to say something negative about himself or think negatively of his situation and luckily she didn’t let him delve in his negative emotions for long as she always reiterated that there were more positive things going on with him than negative things. One thing he was surprised to find out was that Ms. Morrell was Deaton’s sister and he was happy to know that she knew he was an Omega; she always questioned him on how he felt and if he was experiencing any changes but given only a short amount of time has passed, Stiles hadn’t gone through any prevalent changes.

Three weeks passed by in the blink of an eye and now today was the day Derek and his friends would get out of ISS and Stiles wasn’t sure if they were planning on getting back at him someway especially Derek given the way his sister’s described how they’ve ostracized him, Stiles wouldn’t be surprised if Derek solely put the blame on him and wanted revenge. He wouldn’t put it past Jackson if he wanted to get back at him for telling on him, he wasn’t sure about Isaac but he knew Boyd would most likely not do anything in retaliation given the way he’s been apologizing to him daily. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind once he remembered the words his father told him before he left for school ‘I know you’re probably worried something might happen and I’m going to be the first to tell you that you have nothing to worry about anymore all of their parents assured me that they would leave you alone from hear on out.”

Just thinking about that helped Stiles to calm down a little, Cora helped him completely relax when she reminded him that if anyone messes with him they’d have to get through her. Now Stiles found himself in the middle of the hallway freshly out of Biology, he and Cora parted ways to head to their respective classes. He maneuvered his way past many people and even said hi to some that were kind enough to say hi to him; he found it strange feeling comfortable being among his peers. As he was about to enter Ms. Morrell’s class, Boyd came out of nowhere and took him by surprise, “Stilinski,” he said.

Stiles looked up and smiled nervously, “Oh hey Boyd … I see you’re out of ISS now,” he tried, testing to see whether or not Boyd may have had a change of heart.

Boyd nodded, “yeah … um listen uh,” he struggled, it was always like that before he apologized, “I-I’m sor-“

“I accept your apology,” Stiles said quickly, to be honest the only reason he was really saying it was because he was tired of the apologies, while it felt nice at first it eventually started wearing on him and made him feel bad.

“Wait … what?” Boyd asked baffled.

“I accept your apology, thank you,” he said.

“But ... but,” Boyd tried.

“Listen it sucked going through what you and your friends did to me but if I think about it … you honestly didn’t do that much to me and-“

“But I did do something to you, I helped hurt you and that was wrong and I see that now and I’m sorry,” Boyd said.

“And I’m telling you that I accept your apology,” Stiles said but he could tell that Boyd wasn’t buying it though. “Why do I feel like you aren’t satisfied with that?”

“Because I’m not … it just-it doesn’t feel right,” Boyd answered.

Stiles frowned and just as he was about to say something Ms. Morrell came and interrupted his thought process, “boys, is everything okay here?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah everything’s fine … we were just heading into class.”

Ms. Morrell nodded and looked to Boyd skeptically, “alright well get inside, the bell’s about to ring.” She said and then looked to Stiles with a look of concern which was quickly quelled when he nodded assuredly to her.

French class went by a lot slower than Stiles would have liked, he noticed about halfway through that people were whispering to one another and due to past experiences he was sure they were talking about him but he was surprised to find that they were actually talking about Boyd. While it was a relief to Stiles that he wasn’t at the brunt of the trash talk he did have to admit that he did feel a little bad for Boyd, not that the trash talk was anything bad in particular it was just people ridiculing him for his involvement in bullying Stiles. As soon as the bell rang Boyd was out of the room and out of sight in an instant; Stiles took his time leaving the classroom, “Do you need to speak with me about something?” Ms. Morrell approached him.

Stiles looked up from his bag and shook his head, “You mean about Boyd? No, he was just apologizing like he has been every day …”

Ms. Morrell nodded, “good to know, are you ever going to accept his apology?”

Stiles shrugged, “I told him that I accepted his apology but he didn’t really seem like he believed me …”

Ms. Morrell smirked, “Stiles there’s accepting someone’s apology and then there’s accepting someone’s apology and actually forgiving them; I’m pretty sure that you aren’t at the point of forgiveness yet, are you?”

Stiles sighed, “don’t get me wrong I want to forgive him, I do … it’s just …”

“It’s just that after everything you’ve gone through you’re having a hard time being forgiving right?” She asked.

“Yeah I guess,” Stiles whispered.

“Well that’s understandable but Stiles you’ll eventually learn to forgive what happened to you; it might not be today, it might not be tomorrow but eventually you will learn because in this situation forgiveness is the only way to move on,” she said.

“Yeah I guess you’re right …” Stiles said he suddenly felt his phone buzz in his pocket and quickly pulled it out to see he had a text from Parrish:

Parrish: You’re 30 seconds late for check in are you okay?

Stiles sighed, Parrish had gotten a little paranoid about check-ins over the last three weeks but Stiles only had himself to blame for that, one time when Stiles had went out with Cora, Laura and Allison he had missed 3 check-ins but that’s only because he wasn’t paying any attention to his phone because he was having a really good time; needless to say his father and Parrish did not react well at all, his dad gathered a few of his deputies and was prepared to send out a search party but Parrish had managed to find Stiles thanks to the GPS in his phone; the result of that little stunt brought Stiles a 2 hour lecture from his dad and Parrish and he was almost grounded for who knows how long. Thinking about that Stiles quickly responded:

Stiles: Yeah I’m fine, I was talking to my teacher, sorry. I swear I’m okay!

He sent the message off and put his phone back in his pocket, “I should probably head to lunch,” he said.

Ms. Morrell nodded, “okay, will I see you after school today?”

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know maybe … I think I’m supposed to hang out with Cora today.”

She smiled, “okay well have a nice rest of your day if I don’t see you again.”

Stiles nodded, “yeah you too,” with that he left the class and headed down the hall, he started to space out and began thinking about what it would be like to actually forgive Boyd for what happened but his thoughts came to an end when he ran into someone again, “oh damn I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention, I’m sorry” he tried.

The girl with the brunette hair tittered, “it’s okay, it’s no big deal … Stiles?”

Stiles looked up at the girl who was looking at him with a shocked expression; when he got a good look at her face he recognized her instantly, they had only spoken two or three times before and coincidently the way they met was because Stiles ran into her in the hallway while he was rushing to his next class to avoid being around a lot of people; “Oh hey it’s you … Paige right?”

She smiled, “Yeah um … how have you been?”

Stiles nodded and smiled, “good, I-I’ve been good … what about you did you get everything sorted out with your family?”

She scratched the side of her face, “oh so you remembered that huh? Turns out it wasn’t really an emergency just a stupid misunderstanding that got blown way out of proportion.”

Stiles gawked, “oh-oh … you seemed like you were super upset about it when I ran into you at the coffee shop that one time … well glad that it turned out for the better I guess.”

She smiled, “yeah I guess …”

It kind of got a little awkward between them, “so you’re back for good now?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah I guess I am,” she said and then looked around before looking at Stiles and saying, “hey can I ask you something?”

Stiles felt a little nervous at that, “Su-sure …”

“I’m not sure if you would know what’s going on or not but have you heard anything about a guy named Der-“

Paige was interrupted by Braden’s sudden appearance, “Paige, oh my God you’re back,” she said hugging Paige.

“Oh hey Braeden,” Paige said awkwardly returning the hug.

Stiles found it a little odd that Braeden was in the area especially considering he was pretty sure her last class was nowhere near where they were located, “you totally like disappeared, what happened?”

Paige shrugged, “Oh you know just some family drama but now it’s all cleared up and I’m back.”

Braeden smiled, “well it’s good to have you back,” she then turned to Stiles, “hey Stiles, are you okay?”

Stiles wasn’t sure why she was asking that, “hey, I’m fine why?”

“You two know each other?” Paige asked suddenly.

Stiles wouldn’t exactly say that Braeden and him were friends per say more so acquaintances working their way to being friends; she’d been pretty nice to him over the past three weeks, whenever he ran into her she always greeted him and considering that she was friends with Laura they sometimes ran into one another whenever Stiles was with Laura, “yeah um ...” she looked to Stiles, “it’s something recent I guess,” Braeden said.

Paige nodded seeming a little perplexed by that, “oh cool …”

“Yeah I um … I just sort of wondered over here when I noticed you two talking and I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay,” Braeden said.

“Why wouldn’t everything be okay?” Paige wondered.

“Oh well um … considering the fact that you and Derek are friends I was just making sure that um …” Braeden struggled to explain.

“Wait why would me and Derek being friends be a problem?” Paige asked.

Braden looked to Stiles and nervously bit her lip, “well …”

Stiles was still trying to process the fact that Paige and Derek were apparently friends, “you know what don’t worry about that, it-it’s nothing um … I gotta go, I gotta meet some people,” he said as he started stepping back.

“Wait no please, please just tell me what’s going on? I-I just got back and everywhere I go I’m hearing  people trashing Derek and it’s-it’s not making too much sense to me especially considering before I left practically everybody loved Derek and you know they’re not just trashing him but they’re trashing his friends too and … I-I just wanna know what’s going on?” Paige pleaded.

Braeden put a hand on Stiles shoulder, “go … obviously you don’t want to explain what happened so I will; I’ll tell her what she needs to know.”

In that moment Stiles couldn’t help feeling that that was the only reason Braden had approached them, he wasn’t sure what she was up to but he definitely was not in the mood to find out, “okay thanks,” he said and walked away.

He walked over to the front of the library, “there you are, I was wondering what was taking you so long, I was starting to get worried;” Cora said.

“Sorry I sort of ran into someone that I kind of knew but didn’t really know … you know?” Stiles asked.

“Okay?” Cora said narrowing her eyes at him, “well let’s head over to the cafeteria, Allison and Laura are waiting for us.”

Stiles nodded and followed Cora into the cafeteria, Laura and Allison were already waiting in line to get their food and Cora took full advantage of their position in line and dragged Stiles over to cut the many people they were in front of, “there you guys are I was wondering what was taking you so long,” Laura said.

“Did you run into Scott? Please don’t tell me you ran into Scott,” Allison wondered.

Stiles tilted his head, “no I didn’t run into Scott, why what’s up?”

Allison sighed, “he’s been really, really persistent lately and he’s kind of getting overbearing and I don’t know … it’s like this past weekend he sent me like 50 messages and yesterday all throughout the day whenever I was alone he’d try and talk to me and-“

“Do you miss him?” Stiles wondered.

Allison was shocked into silence by the question, “I-I mean I do but I … I can’t get over what happened, I-I just don’t see him the way.”

Laura rubbed Allison’s back, “It must be hard … I mean I know you guys haven’t had your mating ceremony or anything so your soul bond isn’t formed but I mean considering you guys were together … you probably have some sort of mate bond with him and it must be hard on you and your wolf to be away from him.”

Allison shrugged, “it’s nothing I can’t handle,” she said and ran a hand through her hair, “I just … I don’t know how I could be with him after he spent so much time overlooking what was going on with Stiles,” she made air quotations, “his best friend.”

“If you want to be with him then … you should be with him,” Stiles said suddenly, “if it’s hurting you to be away from him or anything then you should totally be with him, don’t put yourself through something you don’t have to because of me … I-it doesn’t mean we have to stop being friends or anything.” He hoped they wouldn’t stop being friends, Stiles has grown really fond of Allison really quickly and if she turns out anything like Scott was when they were together then that will mean 90% of her time will be spent with him and Stiles didn’t want to imagine Allison dragging Scott along to hang out with them because he just isn’t ready to befriend Scott again.

Allison smiled, “I’m fine Stiles really … I guess it’s just the fact that he’s trying so hard that’s starting to get to me.”

“Yeah well, if I know Scott then he’s not gonna give up … he’ll just keep trying no matter what it takes, he’s really stubborn like that,” Stiles said recalling old memories when Scott and him were inseparable.

“Yeah,” Allison said.

“Well how about we change the subject and talk about something else,” Laura suggested.

“Yeah like who you were talking to before we came to the cafeteria,” Cora directed at Stiles.

Stiles shrugged, “I told you it was just a girl that I didn’t really know …”

“Does this girl have a name,” Laura pressed.

“Oh yeah, her name is Paige,” Stiles said only to be met with wide eyes from all three girls, “what?”

“Paige?” Laura shook her head, “no way, it can’t be the same one, she left last year …” she said offhandedly and Cora and Allison both nodded to her.

“Yeah that’s her,” Stiles said and the shocked looks returned, “she came back and-“

“Oh my God I forgot …” Cora said and Laura looked to her waiting for her to explain, “mom totally said that she was coming back like two weeks ago, I didn’t think anything of it because she was talking about Derek and I was trying my best to ignore whatever it was she was saying.”

“Good job Cora, that’s kind of important you know?” Laura said.

“Are you guys acting like this because she’s Derek’s friend?” Stiles wondered.

“Wait you know?” Cora asked.

“I do now, Braeden sort of filled me in when she saw us talking to each other,” Stiles said, “but I’m pretty sure she’s not bad news …”

“Yeah I agree I mean I didn’t know her for long at all but I don’t think we need to be worried about her, she’s a really great person,” Allison said.

“I know, it’s not that I think she would do anything to you Sties … it’s just … I didn’t really think she’d ever come back …” Laura frowned, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually kind of feel bad for him. Don’t get me wrong I fully believe that everything that happens to him as a result of what he did is what he deserves but …”

“But this sucks for him,” Cora said nonchalantly.

“Why?” Stiles wondered.

“Well Derek has sort of had a crush on Paige for a while now, like a big crush … he was hoping that she would turn out to be his soulmate,” Laura said.

“Ugh God I remember how he would talk about her and get all stupid when mom brought her up,” Cora scoffed.

“Oh yeah … I remember Scott talking to Derek just after she left to figure out what was going on with him; he kind of changed and … I know some of us were a little worried about him but he said he was okay but Scott said that he didn’t believe him,” Allison said.

“And he was right not to,” Stiles heard Braeden say from behind them.

“Braeden hey,” Laura greeted her and gave her a hug.

“Hey yourself,” she said returning the hug and greeting Allison and Cora soon after, “so I kind of have news but first I need to apologize to you,” Braeden said turning to Stiles, “I totally had an ulterior motive when I came over and interrupted your conversation with Paige and I’m sorry for doing that.”

Stiles shrugged, “it’s fine I guess.”

“Okay so what’s the news?” Laura asked excitedly.

“Oh you know it’s nothing too juicy I just figured out Derek’s big dilemma with Stiles,” Braeden said.

“Wait what?” Cora said stepping forward.

Allison was the first to notice they were now at the front of the lunch line and needed to get their food, “wait hold on, let’s get our food and you can tell us when we sit down,” she suggested, so they got their food and found an empty table to sit at and began conversing amongst themselves while they ate.

“Okay so Derek started going after Stiles because he thought that Paige liked Stiles as more than a friend and vice versa,” Braeden said abruptly without warning.

Stiles was about to take a bite of his food but completely missed his mouth when he heard the explanation, “you’re not serious,” he said perplexed.

“Oh trust me I’m very serious, I talked to him earlier … because you know we have second hour together; anyway I might’ve approached him before class and yeah I’ll admit I wasn’t initially going into the conversation trying to find out why he was bullying Stiles, I was just trying to hurt his feelings … but the point is I found out,” she said.

“He told you that was the reason?” Cora questioned.

“Yeah he kind of gave it away after I figured it out for myself,” Braeden said.

 “That makes sense …” Allison said suddenly and everyone at the table had their eyes on Allison waiting for her to explain, “I mean now that I think about it I remember one-night when we all had went camping up at the lake, the guys were talking and Jackson and Isaac were going on about Stiles and something they had done to him before school let out and I remember them laughing about it and then Jackson said something like Stiles needed to be reminded that he can’t take something that doesn’t belong to him; and next thing you know Derek’s asking this random question … and I’m pretty sure he asked ‘what if he’s already taken something from you?’ …”

Laura probed her to continue, “okay so?”

Allison sighed, “well the guys tried figuring out what he was talking about but he got all weird and tried to change the subject but Jackson wouldn’t let it go and Derek eventually caved and was like ‘what if Stilinski wasn’t after Lydia? What if he was actually after someone else?’ and then after that the guys tried getting more out of him but he … he just wouldn’t budge … at least I don’t think he did.”

“What do you mean you don’t think he did? Did you tune out at the best part of the conversation?” Cora wondered.

“I wasn’t exactly in the conversation, I was with Erica and Lydia and we were doing our own thing while the guys talked and I was sort of eavesdropping, then Scott came over just as Derek started talking about whatever was on his mind and then I was … a little preoccupied,” Allison explained.

“That explains a lot,” Braeden said.

“Stiles, why would he think you were interested in Paige?” Cora asked suddenly.

“Wait, wait, wait … hold on, you guys aren’t really taking this seriously are you?” Stiles asked and he got his answer from the blank expressions the girls were giving him, “Oh come on you gotta be kidding me?”

“Well Stiles if that’s really the reason then there has to be a reason why that idiot thought you liked Paige,” Laura chimed.

“No, that can’t be the reason because there is no reason he should have thought I liked Paige; I’ve literally only had like 3 conversations with her before today, the first one was when I accidentally bumped into her on my way to class and then the second one was when she found me in the library at lunch that same day and then the third time was at the coffee shop … she happened to be there when I was there,” Stiles said.

“Do you remember what you guys talked about whenever you ran into each other?” Cora asked.

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know … the first conversation was just me apologizing to her mostly and her laughing at some bad jokes I made. Then when she came up to me in the library she was trying to ask me questions about myself and it was a little awkward because I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me because she genuinely wanted to know about me or if she was just another person that …” Stiles frowned, “that just wanted to hurt me … but she was nice and we talked but only for a little bit or maybe most of lunch but that doesn’t matter; anyway when we talked at the coffee shop it was just mostly her venting about what was going on with her family and how she hated that she had to leave Beacon Hills.”

“You swear those are the only times you guys have interacted before today?” Braeden asked.

“Yeah, I swear,” Stiles answered quickly and confidently.

Cora let out a frustrated sigh, “Derek’s such a damn idiot.”

“I want to know what the hell was going through his head when he jumped to that idiotic conclusion,” Laura chimed.

“You may just find out,” Braeden said, Stiles noticed that she wasn’t looking at Laura when she said that, her eyes were trained on something else; when he followed her line of sight he spotted Paige with a very unhappy frown on her face and she was heading over to the table that Derek and his friends were currently occupying.

“What did you tell her?” Stiles asked Braeden.

Braeden shrugged, “honestly? I told her what everybody else knows and maybe a little bit more, I told her about how Derek and his friends had been mistreating you, I told her that you and Derek are soulmates … I basically told her everything I know.”

Stiles nodded and looked back towards Paige’s direction by this point she had reached Derek’s table and Stiles hoped that she wouldn’t make a scene.

Derek's POV

When Derek left Ms. Karagan’s class he had expected to immediately meet up with Paige and explain everything that happened while she was away. He was nervous about telling her all throughout class but in a short span of time he had built up the nerve and decided to just endure whatever reaction he’ll receive from her. He shot her a text letting her know he can meet her wherever she wants, she responded quickly with:

Paige: Hey I’ll be a minute so I’ll just meet you in the cafeteria, okay?

Derek shuddered when he read the message wondering what was holding her up but he sent her a response:

Derek: Okay we still sit at the same table so just meet me there.

Paige responded with “okay” and Derek made his way to the cafeteria, he didn’t bother going to the lunch line to get food, he just made a straight shot for their usual table, “thought you were gonna stay behind to talk to Paige?” Erica said as he sat himself down at the table.

Derek shrugged, “she said that she would be a minute and that she would just meet me here …”

“She’s heard about what happened, hasn’t she?” Isaac asked gloomily.

Derek sighed, “She’s heard things but she hasn’t heard the real story.”

“So you’re gonna tell her the truth?” Boyd asked.

“What other choice do I have?” Derek wondered.

Isaac shrugged and sighed, “I guess it doesn’t matter either way, I mean we brought all this on ourselves, right?”

Jackson huffed next to him and leaned forward on the table to rub his face with his hands to relieve his frustration, “did we really bring all of this on ourselves? I mean I don’t know about the rest of you guys but today has been crap …”

Derek frowned and looked down at the table sadly, he realized something was off and looked in front his friends and realized none of them had gotten lunch, “is there a reason you guys aren’t eating?” he asked.

“I don’t know Derek, do you wanna go wait in line with everybody and have a few people starring at you and talking shit about you the entire time?” Jackson asked.

“Jackson chill out,” Boyd said.

Jackson shook his head angrily, “this is freaking ridiculous.”

Lydia sighed, “There’s some people going around saying that you guys tried to gang rape Stilinski or something and … I guess in Jackson’s last class they gave him hell for it. I don’t know how big this rumor is and I don’t know who started it but … it’s not good”

“It’s not good?” Isaac asked anxiously, “Of course it’s not good, it’s bull shit!” Isaac exclaimed. “I take responsibility for what I did but not at the expense that people are gonna make up bogus rumors about me or my friends.”

“Isaac,” Boyd said in warning.

Clearly Isaac hadn’t heard the rumor, Derek could tell just by looking at him that he was close to freaking out; “Isaac don’t stress about it, it’s not worth it; you and I both know that rumor isn’t true,” Derek said.

“Yeah we know it’s not true … but other people don’t … I’m not a rapist Derek, I don’t want people saying that I am,” Isaac said with a broken voice.

“I hate to add to this but that rape rumor isn’t the only thing people are talking about;” Boyd looked directly at Derek, “Derek you remember when Stilinski got wheeled out of here and sent to the hospital?”

That was a stupid question, of course he remembered; Derek would never forget any of the events that happened that day, “obviously,” Derek said.

“Obviously?” Jackson chimed looking between Derek and Boyd skeptically.

“Don’t tell me you guys had something to do with that?” Erica wondered.

“No, technically we didn’t,” Derek said.

“What do you mean technically?” Lydia asked.

“Wait you guys had something to do with him going to the hospital?” Isaac whispered loudly clearly shaken with wide eyes, “I thought we told Principal Thomas everything we did to him.”

“Isaac calm down, it’s not what you think,” Derek snarled.

“We brought him to the nurse’s office that day …” Boyd said.

“Okay?” Erica pressed frantically.

Boyd sighed, “we ran into him when we were coming out of one of the boy’s bathrooms in the middle of first period … we realized he didn’t look good and we brought him to the nurse’s office …”

“Why do I feel like you’re omitting parts of that story?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah,” Isaac agreed, “what, you guys just saw him and felt sorry for him right then and there, so you decided to help him?”

“No …” Derek said.

“Okay look …” Boyd started, “Derek might’ve run into him and got a little pissed off-“

Derek didn’t exactly remember it that way, “I didn’t run into him, he ran into me,” Derek defended himself.

“No dude … you ran into him, I remember,” Boyd said fixing Derek with a look before turning his attention back to the table, “anyway … Derek ran into him and got a little pissed off and he was possibly planning on teaching him a lesson … but he never got the chance to …”

“Okay look there’s no point in being vague at this point so just come out and tell us everything, what happened? Why didn’t Derek do anything?” Lydia demanded.

“Because Stilinski literally looked like shit alright?” Boyd said and Derek had an idea that Boyd was trying to avoid talking about the fact that Stiles was presenting just to avoid talking about what he presented as but if Derek knew anything about his friends he knew they wouldn’t give up on finding out the truth so he decided that instead of telling them everything he would only tell them what they needed to know; he couldn’t risk telling them what Stiles was it’d only bring more trouble for both him and Boyd.

“He was presenting …” Derek started and Boyd looked to him with wide eyes, “we didn’t realize that at first but he was and just as I was about to teach him a lesson … I found out he was my soulmate, so I didn’t do anything to him and me and Boyd wound up taking him to the nurse’s office and he had to go to the hospital for something …” Derek turned to look at Boyd, “anyway Boyd why does that matter?”

“Oh yeah … um people are saying we’re the ones responsible for putting him in the hospital, they think we did something to him and that’s why he got wheeled out of here. Apparently someone saw us come out of the nurse’s office when they took Stilinski to the hospital and I guess they tried to put two and two together and came to that conclusion,” Boyd said.

“Great more bull shit …” Derek said.

“Yeah,” Lydia said skeptically as she glared at Derek, “why did he have to go to the hospital?”

Derek hoped that the information he gave was enough to satisfy their curiosity but he knew Lydia and he knew that she wouldn’t be satisfied until she was sure she knew absolutely everything, “why don’t we talk about why you guys did what you did?” Derek heard Paige say suddenly and while her voice had sent a chill down his spine he was relieved that she interrupted the conversation when she did.

Derek sighed and stood up from his seat, “hey Paige … I’m guessing you heard something else?”

She nodded, “yeah I did … but I’m pretty sure I heard the truth this time …”

“Oh yeah? How do you know it’s the truth?” Derek asked.

Paige shrugged and walked up closer to the table, “I don’t know you tell me, is it true that you guys were messing with Stiles and beating him up and stuff?” She addressed the table.

“It’s not like that at all” Erica huffed, “It’s not really even that serious, you know? The guys were just messing-“

“No,” Boyd calmly interrupted, “it’s true,” he said turning to Paige. “We uh … we did some things that we probably … definitely shouldn’t have done.”

Silence loomed over the table for a moment before anyone spoke, “what happened?” Paige asked them, “why would you guys do something like this?”

“You’re not gonna freak out on us are you?” Jackson asked.

“What’s the point? I mean it looks and sounds to me like you guys are already getting enough flack for what you did as it is and me adding to it isn’t going to help anybody,” Paige said.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief at that, as did everyone else sitting at the table; “Can we talk somewhere?” Derek asked.

“We can talk here,” Paige said.

“Yeah we can talk here,” Derek said looking around feeling annoyed when he noticed that there were a few people looking their way and most likely listening in on their conversation, “or we can go somewhere else where there aren’t as many nosey people and idiots that lie about a situation that doesn’t involve them.” Derek said purposefully raising his voice so that anyone who was listening could hear.

Paige ducked her head down and nodded, “fine … let’s go somewhere and talk,” she motioned for Derek, “lead the way.”

Derek looked back at his friends sitting down at the table, “are you guys good?”

“Yeah go, get out of here … we’ll most likely get lunch when the line dies down a little,” Isaac said.

Derek nodded and grabbed his bag and made his way out of the cafeteria with Paige following suite, considering half the school was at lunch he figured the best place to talk was somewhere outside away from the cafeteria. That place turned out to be the bleachers that overlooked the football field, “you finally done walking?” Paige asked when Derek came to an abrupt stop.

Derek turned slowly and looked down at the girl that stood before him, the same girl he was willing mate with not even a year ago and commit himself to for the rest of his life, “I just … I had to make sure it was somewhere I knew people wouldn’t be,” Derek said.

Paige sat her bag down and sat down on the bleachers, “Okay …” she said looking up to him with sad eyes, “start explaining,” she said.

Derek frowned and walked forward to lean on the bar in front of him, “I don’t even know where to begin to be honest.”

“Try starting from the beginning,” she said.

Derek sighed and turned around and took a seat next to Paige; he didn’t have enough time to tell her everything so he just gave her a quick rundown of everything that she needed to know; he told her how everything started and a lot of the things him and his friends did to Stilinski, he made sure to omit certain parts of the story, like the fact that Stilinski was his soulmate and that he was an Omega, just to ensure he didn’t wind up in any more trouble than he already is, “and yeah … now here we are today,” he said as he finished explaining.

“Okay … give me a moment to process all of this,” she said and looked on at the football field, “you really thought he was trying to sever a soul bond?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know …”

“If you don’t know then why did you start messing with him?” She asked, “you honestly didn’t believe that he actually found a way to break a soul bond did you? Actually I don’t even know why I’m asking you that question … because I know that you know there’s no way to break a soul bond.” Paige frowned, “I still remember the day when you came to school shortly after you presented and you were going on and on about soulmates and how you were going to save yourself for ‘the one’ and how you were reading up on soul bonds and stories of soulmates meeting, I could go on. But my point is … you’ve known practically all there is to know about soulmates since freshmen year, so if you honestly expect me to believe that you, Derek Hale, would bully some guy over the idea that he thought he could sever a soul bond … then you’re sorely mistaken.”

Derek hung his head low and covered his face with his hands, he had been clocked again and at this point there was no point in hiding the truth from Paige, “alright … let me a clear a few things up,” he started. “You’re right I didn’t do what I did to Stilinski because I thought he was trying to break my friend’s soul bond; I knew better than that and I knew that it was impossible to break a soul bond so I didn’t really take it seriously.”

“Okay but if you knew that it wasn’t possible to break a soul bond, why did you let Jackson, Boyd and Isaac go after him? Why didn’t you try to talk them out of it?” Paige asked.

“I did …” Derek answered weakly.

Paige narrowed her eyes at him, “really?” she sighed, “Derek I know I’m not an Alpha but I do know that if you were to talk to them and be serious about it, they would listen to whatever it is you have to say. You had the potential to prevent this situation from getting really, really bad …”

“Yeah I know and I had no reason not to stop it … I should have stopped it but-but … but then it got personal,” Derek said.

“Why did it get personal for you? What did he do to you?” Paige asked.

“Do you … do you remember when you met him, right before you left?” Derek asked.

Paige nodded, “yeah I remember, so what?”

Derek gulped, “do you remember how you were talking about him and saying things like he’s funny and you thought someone like him could maybe be your soulmate?”

Paige nodded again and rolled her eyes, “yeah I think I might’ve said something like that but what does that have to do with anything? The only reason I said those things-”

“I was gonna ask you to mate with me,” Derek blurted out without thinking.

“-was because-wait … what?” Paige stopped, her eyes widened when she realized what Derek had just told her, “you were gonna ask me to what?”

Derek sighed, “I was gonna ask you to mate with me … I mean not mate with me like that … I mean unless you wanted to or … you know … but I mean …” Derek felt frantic in that moment, he couldn’t form a coherent sentence and it honestly made him feel pathetic. He took a deep breath, exhaled and said, “I was gonna ask you if you would be my mate … I was thinking about it for a while and … I don’t know, I kinda got this idea in my head that maybe you were my soulmate and I figured that maybe if we mated our marks would appear and that’d be that.” Derek huffed, “I told myself that even if you didn’t turn out to be my soulmate that I’d devote myself to you regardless just because … because I liked you that much.”

Paige gawked at Derek for a moment before she looked back out onto the football field, “wait,” she huffed; “so … what?” she said trying to make sense of the matter, “So you liked me and you wanted me to be your mate and that was the reason you went after Stiles?” Her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her, “wait did you go after him because you thought I liked him?”

Derek grunted, “what are you gonna tell me that it was stupid of me to think that?”

“Yeah Derek I am because it was stupid of you to think that,” she said; “I mean I admit I was interested in him because he was … I don’t know … different somehow but that doesn’t mean I liked him in particular and wanted anything with him.”

Derek raised his eyebrows and tried to make sense of what Paige was telling him, “Is that why you spent all of lunch with him the day you met him? Is that why you met up with him at the coffee shop because you didn’t want anything with him?”

Paige scowled at him, “are you freaking kidding me? When I met up with him at lunch that day he happened to be in the library when I was and I was interested in getting to know him a little bit … just as friends not anything more; and the coffee shop … wait how did you know I saw him at the coffee shop?”

“Because I was going practically all over town looking for you because you didn’t show up to school that day and you weren’t answering any of my text or phone calls,” Derek said.

Paige sighed and covered her eyes with her hand, “the only reason I saw him at the coffee shop was because he happened to be there when I was there; I didn’t plan on meeting up with him or anything and when I saw him … at the time I really needed someone to talk to and he made himself available and he listened.”

Derek huffed, “of course he made himself available, it’s not like anyone is actually looking to take up any of his time.”

“Ugh Derek stop it,” Paige said angrily; “that comment was totally unnecessary and not like you at all. Clearly you’re bitter towards him because no offense, you reek of bitterness and it’s not an appealing smell on you at all,” she said her voice leaking with disdain. “Hold on … don’t tell me that’s the reason that you didn’t answer any of my text or phone calls when I left that weekend …”

Derek couldn’t help but feel a little bit stupid for completely shutting Paige out before she left, “it might’ve been,” he admitted shamefully.

Paige rolled her eyes, “Oh my God if I didn’t know any better I’d swear that you have a brain that’s the size of a peanut,” she scoffed. “What I can’t figure out is why you’re so bitter towards him and why you went after him in the first place? I mean I get the fact that you thought I liked him but I don’t understand why that would be a reason for you to go after him … unless … unless you thought he liked me?” She fell silent for a moment, “it wasn’t because you thought he was trying to steal Lydia from Jackson, you went after him because you thought he was trying to take me from you didn’t you?”

Derek shrugged feeling a pang of irritation, “maybe …”

“Well news flash Derek, I didn’t belong to you then and I don’t belong to you now or anyone for that matter,” Paige said and a moment of silence fell between them. Eventually she grabbed the bridge of her nose and huffed, “why are boys so stupid? You’re all brash and jump into things without thinking about the consequences …” she paused and starred at the side of Derek’s head for a moment.

Derek turned to look at her, “what?”

Paige kept starring at him, “do you feel bad about what you did?”

“I feel bad that I got caught,” Derek said honestly.

“But you don’t feel bad about what you did? Like not even a little?” Paige asked.

Derek shrugged and sighed, “I don’t know …”

Paige nodded, “have you ever wondered how Stiles might have felt when you guys were … you know …”

Derek licked his lips and scratched the side of his head, “honestly … no.”

Paige went quiet again and it made Derek feel crazy because he wanted so desperately to know what was going on inside her head, “what are you thinking about?” he asked.

“A lot of things,” she answered but that didn’t help Derek’s curiosity at all.

“Like what?” Derek pressed.

“Stuff Derek just … just stop talking,” she said.

“Am I distracting you?” He wondered.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “no … not even a little bit, I have laser like focus you know that.”

“Really? Cause it seems to me like you’re pretty upset that I keep talking to you while you’re trying to-“

“Why did you want me to be your mate?” She asked suddenly.

Derek choked as he tried to convey what she had just asked, “I-I … because … I-I like you.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him, “you like me? Like present tense like me or did you like me before I left?”

Derek nodded, “I liked you;” Derek corrected himself although he did still harbor some feelings for her, he felt it was best that he kept it to himself, “Why else would I ask you to be my mate?”

Paige shrugged, “why did you like me?”

Derek felt confused by the question, “what?”

“Why did you like me?” she asked again.

It was Derek’s turn to narrow his eyes at her, “why do you think I liked you?”

She shrugged again, “I don’t know …” she ran a hand through her hair and sighed, “how would you feel if someone older than you and bigger than you, came after you because of the way you felt about me?

That wasn’t exactly the way Derek wanted the conversation to go, “I don’t know … I’d do what I can to defend myself I guess.”

“But what if you couldn’t defend yourself? What if this person’s friends decided to gang up on you and do whatever they could to hurt you, how would you feel?” She asked.

Derek grunted, he knew what she was trying to do and he wasn’t going to play along, “I know what you’re doing … you’re trying to put me in Stilinski’s shoes.”

“Yeah because I’m trying to help you understand how he probably felt and I want you to acknowledge that what you did was wrong,” Paige said.

“Fat chance that’ll ever happen,” Derek said indignantly.

“Oh give it up already Derek, you basically have no reason not to like him now; especially since I just told you that there was nothing between us.” She said and waited for Derek to say something back but he never did; truth is he felt he did still have a reason to resent Stilinski; “Do you still like me?” Paige asked suddenly.

Derek wasn’t feeling the weird direction this conversation was going, “Is there a reason you’re asking me that question?”

“Yeah I mean … do you honestly think you could win me over acting the way you are now?” She asked.

“It’s not like it matters either way,” Derek said coldly.

“Why’s that?” she pressed

 Derek rolled his eyes and angrily sighed, “because don’t you know, about me and Stilinski and what we are to each other?”

“Besides enemies?” Paige tried.

“Yeah,” Derek answered assuredly, “and we’re also each other’s soulmates.”

Paige didn’t exactly look shocked at the confession, “so it is true … he really is your soulmate?”

“Yeah … unfortunately” he said swiping a hand over his face, “I figured you would have heard from somebody else or Braeden would have at least told you that.”

Paige nodded, “I did … I just wasn’t sure if I should believe them or not. I mean after all you did tell me not to believe anything anyone tells me about you.”

“Yeah I guess I did say that,” Derek said.

“So I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that the reason you’re still so bitter towards him is because he turned out to be your soulmate?” Paige wondered.

Derek shrugged, “possibly, I don’t know,” he said but he knew that was exactly the reason for the disdain he felt towards Stilinski.

Paige huffed, “I’m gonna go ahead and assume that’s a yes,” she said rolling her eyes, “Derek you know he didn’t have a choice either right? You can’t force soul marks to appear on people, it happens naturally.”

“There’s nothing natural about this,” Derek scoffed.

Paige huffed, “you have to be the first person that hates the fact that they’ve found their soulmate.”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t hate the fact that I found my soulmate, I just hate who it turned out to be; and I’m sure there’s been plenty of other people in the world that have felt the same way as I do.”

“You do realize that you’re acting like the biggest brat in the world,” she scoffed.

The insult didn’t faze Derek in the slightest, he shrugged it off, “so … it’s not like I’m hurting anybody.”

“But you did hurt somebody,” Derek heard a familiar voice and immediately stood up and turned to see Laura making her way onto the bleachers.

Derek wasn’t sure how to feel about his sister approaching him and actually speaking to him, he wasn’t sure if he should be happy or if he should brace himself to be scolded, “Laura …” he said cautiously.

Her demeanor was practically unreadable as she walked up to him, she kept a straight face and held an empty expression, that was until she turned to look at Paige and grinned widely, “hey Paige,” she said holding her arms out and Paige immediately stood up and happily gave her a hug.

“I definitely would love to catch up but …” Paige said pulling away from Laura, “I’m pretty sure you want to talk to your brother.”

“Sorry,” Laura offered.

“It’s fine, I’ll see you guys later,” she said grabbing her bag and quickly making her way off the bleachers and back towards the school.

“She looks good,” Laura offered as she watched Paige walk away. Derek couldn’t really think of anything to say he was still surprised that his sister was talking to him, when she turned to face him the empty expression was back, “you surprised I’m talking to you or something?”

Derek almost choked as he tried to blurt out, “No-no …”

“I can hear your heartbeat Derek and that was a lie,” she said as she sat down on the bleachers.

Derek frowned, “okay yeah I am just a little bit surprised that you’re talking to me, considering you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder for almost a month now.”

Laura sighed, “Derek I was angry and disappointed in you … and I still am to be honest.”

“Then why are you talking to me now?” Derek wondered.

“Because I’m your sister, I’m not going to completely shut you out because of what you did,” she said and Derek wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he waited for her to speak again. “I know it’s been hard for you these past few weeks … even though you don’t show it, your scent gives it away that you’ve been really sad.”

“Well it sucks when your family pretty much hates you,” Derek said.

“Nobody hates you Derek, you know that,” Laura refuted.

“Yeah well you guys could have fooled me,” he said.

“Derek please don’t act childish with me, you can’t pretend that everyone doesn’t have a reason not to be upset with you … you literally put our family at risk because of what you did,” Laura said.

“How was I supposed to know that he …” Derek was ready to blurt out the fact that Stiles was an Omega but thought twice about it, “that he would become what he is? Matter fact how was I supposed to know that he would turn out to be my soulmate?”

“You couldn’t know but-“

“Then why don’t you, Cora, Mom, Dad and everyone else stop fucking acting like I purposely did what I did knowing what he was,” Derek said letting out a bit of his pent up frustration.

Laura nodded angrily, “okay Derek, I’m sure we can do that, so long as you know that this wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t of done anything in the first place,” she shot back perturbed. “Don’t pretend like we’re only mad at you because Stiles turned out to be what he is because I can assure you Derek even if he wasn’t what he is, we’d still be pissed at you because you participated in repeatedly treating somebody, who you knew nothing about, horribly!”

“I thought he was trying to-“

“Trying to what Derek?!” Laura quickly cut him off, “You thought he was trying to take Paige from you? Well take it from me because I heard it from him myself, he wasn’t!”

“Yeah thanks Laura for filling me in on something I already know!” Derek shot back.

They both sat quietly for a moment trying to reign in their emotions, “look,” Laura sighed, “I didn’t come out here to fight with you … I actually came over here to say I’m sorry.”

Derek flinched back unsure what to make of what he just heard, “what?”

“Surprise,” Laura said, her voice shrouded in sarcasm, “don’t be so shocked Derek, I owe you an apology. I should have never reacted the way I did when I found out what you had been doing and I’m sorry for calling you out about it in front of everyone in the cafeteria.”

“Seriously?” Derek narrowed his eyes at her, “Why are you apologizing about that now?”

Laura shrugged, “I saw Paige when she confronted you in the cafeteria and …” she sighed and shrugged, “I don’t know, I just figured that’s how I probably should have responded initially and went somewhere else to talk to you about what was going on instead of being all theatrical and slapping you.”

Derek smirked, “so you’re sorry for slapping me too?”

Laura shook her head, “no I’m not sorry about that, you actually deserved it and I would have eventually wound up slapping you anyway especially after I found out what you and your friends had been doing to Stiles but then again I guess that’s why I punched you.”

Derek frowned, “well are you at least sorry for punching me in the face … twice?”

Laura shook her head again, “no you deserved that too,” she said and Derek couldn’t help but gawk at her, when she turned to look at him and saw his facial expression she said, “what? When you realize a situation is a lot worse than you initially thought it was, you’re bound to probably act out.”

“That doesn’t mean you punch me in the face,” Derek said.

“Just like you and your friends shouldn’t have bullied Stiles,” Laura spat back.

“What?” Derek asked flabbergasted.

“Same situation different scenario,” she said phlegmatically, “I found out the truth about something that involved you and I reacted, while you and your friends assumed something stupid that wasn’t true at all and reacted based off of that stupid assumption.”

Derek huffed, “yeah okay whatever.”

“I heard Paige ask you if you felt bad about what you did ...” Laura said quietly.

“So?” Derek scoffed, he was starting to feel like he was going in circles talking between two different people.

“So, I’m going to ask you the same thing-“

“Oh come on Laura,” Derek said covering his face with his hands.

“-do you feel bad about what you did?”

“No,” Derek answered quickly and honestly, “I don’t … I don’t feel bad about it; I don’t care at all. It just-it is what it is.”

“You are honestly so stubborn and extremely hard headed,” Laura sneered.

“Don’t act like you didn’t already know that,” Derek joked.

“Derek,” Laura said her entire demeanor shifting to become very serious, “these past three weeks when you were at home … how did you feel?”

“Like crap obviously, you and Cora shut me out, mom and dad were being difficult and Uncle Peter has been more of a smart ass than usual, Aunt Lynn at least … didn’t really change much,” he said.

“But how exactly did you feel?” Laura pressed.

Derek wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to play at, “I just told you I felt like crap, everything about it sucked … I literally felt alone in my own home; I-I … I hated it, I’m pretty sure my scent gave that away.”

“Yeah your scent did give it away … it gave away a lot of things that you were feeling, sad, lonely, resentful and even a little scared,” Laura said.

Derek quirked an eyebrow at that, “I wasn’t scared.”

“Yeah you were Derek, you were afraid when I came over here” she assured him, “which tells me that you were scared because you were afraid of how we would react if you were to approach one of us or if we approached you; you were sad because we’re upset with you. You felt lonely because nobody has made an effort to do anything with you and I’m assuming the resentment is because you got caught and had to put up with the consequences?”

Derek hummed, “yeah you might be right.”

“Well aside from the resentment every other feeling you felt is exactly what you and your friends put Stiles through for basically the past year,” Laura said.

“Yeah right,” Derek said trying to wave her off; he refused to believe that there was any way Stilinski and his situations could relate.

“Derek I’m not saying this just to say it and try and make you feel bad; I’m saying this because it’s the truth. I’ve heard his side on what happened and I know how he felt and while he might’ve felt a lot worse than you, you can at least relate to him now even if it’s just a little bit,” Laura said.

“Oh yeah, how?” He wondered not buying whatever it was she was trying to preach to him.

“Well think about it, he was sad because he was being treated badly by people that didn’t even know him, he was scared mostly because of what you and your friends were doing to him but also because he was afraid of how other people might react to him if he were to approach them or if they approached him … “

“Hey wait if other people didn’t like him that was his own fault not mine or my friends,” Derek cut in quickly.

“No Derek, do you know how many rumors went around school about him?”

“Yeah, so what? What does that have to do with me or my friends?” He wondered.

Laura sighed heavily and it looked like she was a bit relieved and Derek couldn’t understand why, “obviously you didn’t know but your friends were behind most of the rumors going around school about him.”

“Really?” asked unconvinced, “What proof do you have? Because that sounds like more bogus bull shit people are saying to try and make us look bad,” Derek countered.

“You want proof well let’s see, did you hear about that rumor that Stiles likes to play with his mom’s remains on the anniversary of her death?”

Derek shrugged, “yeah so?”

“Scott was the one that started it, you can ask him yourself if you want; it might have been unintentional but he was the main reason that rumor started up.” She said and Derek had to admit that he was a little taken aback by that, “You know the rumor about Stiles not being able to present? Jackson was the one that started that and Erica was behind the rumors going around about Stiles being strung out on drugs.”

“Okay so maybe they started a few rumors, that doesn’t mean they’re responsible for everything that went around about him,” Derek said.

“Yeah but they’re responsible for a lot of it,” she said unwavering; “And because of that people felt put off by Stiles and no one was willing to give him a chance until he met Cora and that brings me back to the point I was trying to make. Basically the entire time you and your friends treated him like garbage he was alone … I guess in the beginning of all of this he had Scott; Stiles said that they were like brothers and now … they don’t have a relationship.”

“None of us are responsible for Scott deciding to hang out with us over him, that was his choice and he made it,” Derek reasoned.

“Regardless Derek he had no one, his dad didn’t even try and do anything when he initially told him what was going on,” Laura said and surprisingly that made Derek feel a little bad for Stilinski but only a little bit. “Derek you and your friends caused so much trouble for him that he stopped eating lunch in the cafeteria because a lot of people got the bright idea that it was cool to mess with him; so to compensate he spent lunch alone in the library and spared himself at least 5 to 10 minutes to get himself some food and make it to class before lunch was over. Oh and in case I forgot to mention he came to school every single day 20 to 30 minutes early just to make it to class early so he didn’t run into a lot of people walking through the hallways in case one of the decided to mess with him; that especially applied to you and your friend. He took alternate routes to get to his classes just to avoid a lot of people, he did so much as a result of what you and your friends were doing to him,” she said pausing for a moment.

“So you might be feeling scared but remember he was scared everyday he came to school; you might be feeling sad but he was sad all the time because he had to deal with so much on his own. And you might’ve been lonely but at least you know … or you should know that regardless of what happens between us, your family will always be there for you and I’m sure your little group of friends will too; but unfortunately for Stiles that wasn’t the case …” Derek watched as his sister frowned before she wanly said, “he was on his own.”

He felt bad, Derek actually felt bad about what he did, listening to his sister tell Stilinski’s side and how he felt, no matter how brief, made him feel bad.

“You wanna know the worst thing about all of this,” Laura started suddenly, her voice wavering as she tried to get the words out; “you know how you would think somebody who went through something like that would probably be really bitter and angry, he’s not, he just seems really sad. I’ve known him less than a month and I’ve hung out with him a few times and I found out early on that he’s a really, really, really awesome person but I also found out that no matter how much fun you have with him and no matter how happy he is, underneath all that happiness and joy, mixed into his scent, it’s really faint but once you recognize it you’ll know that … he’s still sad, not angry, not resentful, just sad. And I know there’s plenty of reasons why he’s still a little sad but I have an idea what that reason might be … I think it's because he had to go through so much just for people to start treating him fairly and for anyone to give him a chance and when you think about that …” Laura said on the cusp of crying, “that’s horrible.”

Horrible, that was a better word to describe how Derek felt about all of this; he felt horrible that he was blind towards what he was causing, he felt horrible because he initially didn’t feel bad about it and he felt horrible simply because he caused all of this. Surprisingly after realizing all of that Derek felt his wolf stir underneath the surface and soon he felt the misery it felt after hearing everything Stilinski had gone through because of him. It was the first time in a while that Derek and his wolf were on the same wavelength and Derek could only imagine that the reason for that was because all this time he had been so extremely hard-headed about the situation he was in and because he was so hard-headed he denied his instincts and rebelled against the one thing that his wolf desired more than anything and it caused him to fall out of touch with his wolf.

Derek mentally berated himself for letting the link he shared with his wolf get so disjointed. While they still do not share one mind on how they view Stilinski and what he means to them, they at least agree that what Derek has done was way out of line.

“So … I’m gonna ask you again, do you feel bad about what you did?” Laura asked taking Derek out of his own thoughts.

He didn’t have to think about his answer because it came to him naturally and he wasn’t worried about his sister possibly suspecting him of lying because he knew his answer was truthful, “yeah … yeah, I do.”

Chapter Text

Derek's POV

Derek looked in every direction as he made his way down the hallway heading towards his next class, his mind had been reeling since his conversation with Laura. He didn’t bother going to search for his friends after he spoke with his sister, rather he took some time to himself to think over everything it was that he and his friends had done to Stilinski; as his mind played back a few of the encounters that he had with Stilinski he felt disgusted with himself. It was one thing that he and his friends were responsible for causing physical damage to Stilinski but it was a completely different thing finding out that the reason half of the school had the wrong idea about him was because of his friends spreading rumors about him.

"Derek … hey, Derek! DEREK!!!" Derek finally came out of his own head and jerked around to find Erica, Isaac and Boyd making their way towards him. "Hey, what's going on? We saw your sister head out towards the direction you and Paige went … did she talk to you or anything?" Erica wondered.

Derek eyed her for a moment, “yeah …”

“Okay … so how’d it go?” She pressed.

“It went,” he said as he looked between his friends, “where’s Jackson and Lydia?”

“Lydia said she was going to try and talk to Allison before the end of lunch and Jackson said he would go with her … for support,” Isaac explained.

Derek looked Isaac over and nodded, “Hey, what’s going on with you, you’re being weird …” Erica mentioned.

“Yeah … what’s up? You seem a little …” Boyd shrugged, “I don’t know … off.”

“Something has you upset dude, we can tell; so fill us in,” Isaac said.

Derek huffed and adjusted his bag on his shoulder, “it’s just the shit we went through with Stilinski I guess it’s finally getting to me or whatever,” he said in an attempt to deflect from his real issue.

“Lie,” Isaac and Erica said.

Derek frowned, “I don’t really wanna talk about it right now.”

Isaac simply nodded and backed down but Erica didn't seem satisfied at all, "no come on Derek fill us in, what's going on?"

Derek frowned, he wondered why Erica couldn't take the cue from both Boyd and Isaac to drop the subject, "it's something that my sister told me," he said and by the look on Erica's face he knew she was ready to press for more info if he didn't spill. So he decided to get ballsy and say what was bothering, he knew the longer he sat on it the more uncomfortable it would have made him feel, "is it true you started the rumors about Stilinski being on drugs?"

To say that Erica looked like a deer caught in headlights was an understatement, “did Laura tell you that?” Isaac asked.

Derek nodded, “yeah and she said Scott was behind the rumor about Stilinski’s mom and her grave or whatever and Jackson was responsible for the rumors that he couldn’t present … although now that I think about it I think I knew that already.”

Isaac frowned and turned towards Erica, “but why would you …”

Boyd stepped forward immediately in defense of Erica, “Woah hold on man, there were a lot of people saying shit about Stilinski being on drugs. I mean literally the whole school was talking about it and you guys know people like to make shit up all the time so who’s to say that Erica was the one that actually started it?”

Derek looked Boyd straight in his eyes and asked, “I don’t know Boyd that’s why I’m asking her if it’s true or not.”

Boyd fell silent for a moment before he turned his attention to Erica as did Derek, “is it true?” Boyd asked.

“What did you and your sister talk about exactly?” Erica asked Derek trying to deflect.

"That doesn't matter just answer the question, Erica, did you or didn't you spread rumors about Stilinski?" Derek pressed.

“Does it really matter?” She asked seeming heavily annoyed.

Boyd looked back to Derek and shrugged, “at this point …  I guess not.”

“Yeah it does …” Isaac said quickly, “I mean it doesn’t but at the same time it does, you know?” He backtracked, “Why would you spread those rumors about Stilinski?”

Erica scoffed and rolled her eyes, “really Isaac? That’s like me asking you why you did what you did to Stilinski.”

Isaac frowned and fell silent for a moment before saying, “because he’s Stilinski?”

“Exactly,” she said and Derek couldn’t help but frown at that and he knew she noticed, “look I don’t see what the big deal is alright … you guys were doing worst things to him because he is who he is, I mean so what if I spun a few stories about him here and there, it’s not like I beat him up or anything.”

Hearing that made Derek feel worse than he already did, he knew that he was part of the reason why Erica was influenced into the mindset she had and he also knew that if he were more responsible and a better person he would have never given her reason to think doing what she did was okay, “I’m gonna go,” Derek said suddenly.

"Wait … Derek, what's wrong?" Erica asked a little frantic.

“Nothing I just …. I just need to clear my head,” he said.

“Clear your head? Why don’t you tell us what you and your sister actually talked about? Because if I didn’t know any better I would think that you were mad at me …” Erica said.

“Look she just told me some things about Stilinski and now it’s got me thinking, alright?” Derek said defensively.

“So … wait,” Isaac said as the realization dawned on his face.

Erica looked like she had been blindsided, “what, so you suddenly feel bad for Stilinski now?”

Derek wasn’t ready to have that conversation with his friends yet, “look I gotta go, I’ll catch you guys later.”

“Wait Derek-“ Erica tried but Boyd held her back.

“We’ll see you later,” Boyd said with a look of understanding.

“Yeah … later,” Isaac said bewildered.

Derek high tailed it towards his next class ignoring Erica’s protest as he walked away. As he weaved his way down the corridor past his many peers, he was unable to let the snide remarks and harsh looks some people were giving him go unnoticed. Sure it had been like that for him all day but at the beginning of the day he felt that people were unjustified in their anger against him and his friends especially considering most of them didn’t know the full story but now he felt different; one conversation with his sister had shattered his mindset and left him confused. All this time he thought he was justified in the actions he took against Stilinski, now that justification was gone and all that was left was the cold hard truth that what he did was wrong and everyone that had something to say about it whether they knew the whole story or not, were right to judge him for his horrible actions.

He kept his head lowered and tried to block out everything around him and focus on getting to his next class but his plan was thwarted when he heard the voice of someone familiar calling his name, “Derek,” Paige said coming up to him.

Derek lifted his head, “hey, what’s up?”

Paige shrugged, “I don’t know I just saw you walking and I figured I would come see how things went with Laura …”

Derek nodded, “it went … that’s the first time we actually talked in almost a month.”

Paige frowned, “she must have been super pissed at you but it’s not like she didn’t have a reason to be.”

Derek lowered his head, “yeah your right …”

“What?” Paige asked sounding a little flabbergasted.

Derek looked back up at her, “you’re right she had a reason to be mad at me … because what I did was wrong … and I shouldn’t have done it.”

Paige looked around and back to Derek, “okay who are you and what did you do with Derek?”

“Come on Paige I’m being serious,” Derek sighed.

“Yeah and so am I, just a few minutes ago you wouldn’t even admit that what you did was wrong and now you’ve done a complete 180 … wait hold on I need to hear you say it again, I wasn’t really listening in on your heartbeat so I don’t know if you’re just trying to play me or something,” Paige said.

Derek scoffed, “no I’m not trying to play you, alright? I know what I did was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it and … and now I feel bad.”

Paige gawked at him for a moment before speaking, “wow … your sister really must’ve said something to get to you.”

“Yeah … the truth,” Derek said.

Paige scoffed and rolled her eyes, “really Derek, the truth?”

Derek frowned, not really understanding her reaction, “Yeah … is there something wrong with that?”

“Well yeah I mean I was trying to tell you the truth too and you wouldn’t hear any of it from me,” Paige said.

Of course, Paige would get upset over something so trivial, Derek thought, "yeah well Laura's way of explaining the truth was a lot more convincing than yours," Derek teased.

Paige smiled and rolled her eyes again, “whatever Derek, so … now what?”

Now what was a very good question, Derek was still trying to process the fact that he was in fact in the wrong, “I … I …” he fell silent for a moment, “I don’t know.”

Paige narrowed her eyes at him, “you don’t know? Derek, you just said that you understand that what you did was wrong …”

“Yeah Paige I get that but-“ he was cut off when somebody slammed into him and shoved him out the way.

"Watch it, Hale," the perp said as he strode past.

"Hey, you could have totally walked around him, what's your problem?" Paige argued defensively.

“Bastard shouldn’t have been in my way,” the guy said and when Derek looked up to see who was behind the familiar voice he saw none other than the backup QB who was filling in for him in his absence Mitch.

“Well if he was in your way you can ask him to move or walk around him,” Paige said.

Derek reached forward and placed a hand on Paige's shoulder, "drop it, Paige."

“What no way, this guy’s being a total ass,” Paige protested.

"You should listen to him, although if I were you I probably wouldn't listen to anything he says; matter fact I probably wouldn't get too close to him either considering he beats up on his soulmate, who's to say what he'll do to someone that isn't," Mitch said, his caustic tone only made Derek feel even more irritated than he already was.

“Yeah well you’re not me, so piss off,” Paige shot back.

Mitch held his hands up in mock surrender, “hey I’m just trying to make sure you understand who you’re dealing with, I mean you can ask most of the people around here,” he said gesturing around obnoxiously, “they’ll tell you that Derek here is a real class act,” Mitch said in a callous manner.

“Fuck off Mitch,” Derek growled and let his eyes bleed crimson red.

“What you gonna do Hale? Knock me around like you did that Stilinski kid?” He paused for a moment before covering his mouth and gasping as if he were surprised by something, “Oh damn … I meant to say your soulmate.”

Derek was so close to flipping out and punching Mitch square in the jaw, he was about to drop his bag and go to town on him until a voice came from behind Mitch, “Is there a problem here?”

Mitch gave Derek a malicious smirk before turning around, “no mam, no problem at all; just talking.”

The woman that Derek recognized as the school’s guidance counselor/councilor/French Teacher, Ms. Morrell, arched an eyebrow at Mitch, "well if that's the case you should be getting to class, the minute bell should be ringing any moment now."

“Yes mam,” Mitch said giving her a military salute before turning around to face Derek, “See you later Hale … but if you know what’s good for you, you won’t show up to practice,” with that he walked around the guidance counselor and disappeared down the corridor.

“Everything alright here?” The guidance counselor asked.

"Yeah, we were just talking before …" Paige simmered off.

Ms. Morrell, “I know I heard quite a bit of what was being said, Mr. Hale you know profanity is not permissible on school grounds, please refrain from using it; I’d hate to see you in trouble again,” she said.

Derek nodded although he felt aggrieved, “yes mam.”

“And you miss?” Ms. Morrell turned to Paige with a questioning look.

“Oh right … um I’m Paige, Paige Krasikeva, I’m not new or anything I used to go here but I transferred away and now I’m back,” Paige explained.

“I knew you looked a little familiar, anyway Ms. Krasikeva I believe the minute bell is about to ring and you need to be getting to class, the same applies to you Mr. Hale,” Ms. Morrell said before turning about and walking down the corridor.

“She seemed … really cold," Paige said after a moment of staring at Ms. Morrell's retreating figure.

“Yeah …” Derek said.

Paige turned around, “hey what did that guy mean you better not show up to practice? I’m pretty sure lacrosse doesn’t start until January.”

Derek sighed, “He meant football practice.”

Paige huffed, “football … since when do you play football.”

Derek scowled, “since the start of football season …”

Paige seemed a little surprised by that, “I wasn’t aware you were even into football …”

Derek scoffed, “come on Paige you know I like football.”

“Yeah I know you like to watch football I just wasn’t aware you liked to play it too,” she said.

“Paige … I played flag football in middle school,” Derek deadpanned.

“Yeah for like a season and then you quit,” Paige said.

“Yeah well I’m playing again alright? I heard it’s a good way to stay in shape and a good way to stay ready for lacrosse,” Derek said.

Paige shrugged, “I guess that could be true … why didn’t you tell me you were playing?”

“It kind of went over my head,” he said.

“What position do you play?” She asked.

“QB,” Derek answered.

“Let me guess, you’re the back-up and that guy that just ran into you is the starter?”

“Actually,” Derek scratched the back of his neck, “I’m the starter … and the captain, I kind of took his job from him at the start of the season when I tried out.”

Paige's eyes went wide, "are you serious?" She shoved him playfully, "I can't believe you didn't tell me any of this … congrats I guess."

“You guess?” Derek wondered.

“Well I mean you were suspended technically so you obviously couldn’t play the last few weeks’ right? Are you sure you’re still the starter? Better yet are you sure you’re still even on the team?”

Derek hadn’t really thought about the repercussions his suspension would have on his ability to play football but given the fact that ever since he and his friends were suspended, the team dropped 2 of the 3 games they missed so chances are they probably wouldn’t be cut from the team and would retain their roles as soon as they go back, “I doubt we’ll get cut …” he said.

Paige glanced at Derek petulantly, “What makes you so sure?”

“Let’s just say I have a good feeling …” Derek said and soon after the minute bell run, “look I’ll fill you in on everything later … just text me or something.”

“Yeah okay … hey, wait are you going to go to practice?” Paige asked quickly.

The question had taken Derek by surprise because if he were being honest he wasn't really feeling the idea of rejoining the team anytime soon if some of the players were going to act the way Mitch did; but Derek wasn’t a punk and he wasn’t afraid of a few people that thought they could push him around so he shrugged and said, “I might.”

Paige sighed, “just don’t get into any more trouble … please?”

“yeah right … I’ll talk to you later Paige,” Derek said without another word and raced down the Corridor to his class.

Scott's POV

Scott’s mind had been reeling the whole day; he was in a current state of panic because he wasn’t sure what to expect, he had a plan that he came up with the night before and he somehow convinced himself to act on it. He was going to wait for both Stiles and Allison after lunch and as soon as he got the opportunity he would try and speak with the both of them at once so that he could maybe have a shot at winning them both back at once. Of course, given his situation any sane individual would probably tell him to piss off but Scott had faith in Stiles and Allison and he believed that he’d given them enough time to think about what happened and now he was ready to seriously talk about it.

The lunch bell would be ringing soon and given the fact that Scott has been following both Allison and Stiles around school the past few weeks he knows that after lunch Laura and Cora go to the opposite side of school that Allison and Stiles go to, so he won’t have to worry about going through anyone just to achieve his objective. He patted his back pocket and felt out for his cell phone and pulled it out and checked the time, he had another 2 or 3 minutes give or take until the bell would ring. He patted his face and started amping himself up just to give him a little more self-confidence, “come on Scott you got this … you gotta make things right.”

He exhaled harshly and wiggled his arms around a little, “come on, come on you can do this,” he said. A few moments later the bell rung and Scott could swear his heart stopped in that moment, “okay … okay don’t wuss out Scott you can do this, don’t wuss out,” he said to himself and walked out one of the boy’s bathrooms he hid himself away in and made his way towards the cafeteria, “you just gotta walk up to them, tell them you need to talk and hope to God they agree.” He rounded a corner and the cafeteria was in site and given the fact his senses were going haywire over the alluring scent of his soulmate, he knew Allison was close and Stiles was most likely with her. He quickened his pace and eventually Allison came into view and next to her was Stiles they had both been laughing about something; he hurried over to them but slowed down immediately when he noticed Lydia walking up to them, he took a quick glance to his left looking at the direction she was walking from and he could spot Jackson a few feet behind Lydia and if Scott didn’t know any better he would think that Jackson was intentionally keeping his distance.

He glanced back towards Stiles and Allison, who seemed too wrapped up in whatever they were talking about to notice Lydia walking up to them; he glanced around and moved aside that way he wasn’t in the way of anyone trying to make their way to class and looked back in the direction of Stiles and Allison and focused on their voices and listened closely to what they were saying.

"Hey, do you remember when we went to the arcade and that guy that started hitting on Cora and she totally looked like she was ready to curb stomp him?” Allison said between giggles.

Scott heard Stiles cheerful laugh in response a sound Scott hadn’t realized he had been longing to hear, “I thought she was at least gonna punch him in the face or something, she looked like she was ready to murder somebody,” Stiles said before laughing hysterically.

“I know,” Allison said between hysterics.

“Allison?” Scott heard Lydia say.

Scott noticed the immediate change in their demeanor the second they noticed Lydia, “Ly-Lydia …um what … what do you want?” Allison said as she struggled to regain her composure sounding a bit surprised.

“Um … well I was sort of hoping I could speak with you for a moment,” Lydia said and Scott was surprised to hear Lydia sound a little nervous.

Scott watched as Allison glanced back at Stiles and then back towards Lydia, “Yeah I don’t think now’s a good time, we gotta get to class and I still don’t really wanna talk to you.”

Stiles had tapped Allison’s arm, “hey … maybe you should talk to her, I’m gonna go to class; see you later?”

Scott could see the uncertainty on Allison’s face from where he stood, “St-Stiles no it’s okay I’m coming with you,” she turned around and gestured between herself and Lydia, “we really don’t need to talk right now.”

Lydia seemed visibly hurt by that but did not falter, “actually … I was hoping I could speak to both of you.”

"We don't have anything to talk about and now isn't the best time, we need to get to class," Allison said tugging at Stiles' arm.

Scott noticed that Stiles wasn’t budging and remained where he was, “Allison let’s … let’s just hear her out.”

Allison sighed but didn’t show any signs that she was against the idea, “fine,” she said nodding her head at Stiles before turning to Lydia, “what do you want Lydia?”

“What do I want?” Lydia asked voice cracking slightly, “I want my best friend back … I want to keep believing that I had no part in what happened and that I don’t deserve you pushing me away but … now that I’ve had time to think about it I … I understand why you pushed me away; because I did play a part in it. I stood by and I watched what happened and I didn't anything to stop it, I didn't try to stop it, I just let it happen and it took me hearing that from the person that it was happening to, to understand that." Scott was in awe at the moment that was occurring, in his time of knowing Lydia he has never known her to admit to admit to doing something wrong because she always found a way to make it seem like the other person was at fault. He watched as Lydia sighed and ran a hand through her hair before she continued, "Stiles you were right, smart people do make errors every now and then and I made one in regards to you, I should have done something to stop what was happening to you instead of standing by and watching … and laughing at you and because of that, I am so sorry … I'm sorry that I played a part in what happened to you, I'm sorry that I helped hurt you.”

Scott waited for Stiles response, he stared intently at Stiles waiting to see what he would do, “yeah okay,” Scott heard Stiles say, he immediately turned to Allison, “I’m gonna head to class, I’ll see you later,” he said and immediately began to walk away much to Allison’s dismay.

“Stiles hold on,” she protested but Stiles wasn’t hearing any of it and continued on his stride, Scott ducked his head down immediately when he noticed Stiles was heading his way; there weren’t that many people left to cover him so Stiles would most definitely spot him regardless. Scott glanced up and noticed that Stiles wasn’t even looking in his direction and passed him up without even noticing him and that hurt him more than he could have anticipated. Scott ran a hand over his face and looked back towards Allison and Lydia, “It didn’t really sound like he actually accepted my apology,” Scott heard Lydia say.

“Yeah well when you consider everything he went through you wouldn’t expect him to accept anyone’s apology anytime soon; just be thankful that he was even willing to listen to you,” Allison said assuredly.

Lydia seemed taken aback by that, “ye-yeah I-I understand.”

“Do you? Funny Lydia I don’t remember you ever telling me you went through something similar to what Stiles went through?” Allison said in a brazen manner.

“Look I didn’t come to fight alright? I just wanted to apologize to both of you … I’m sorry for disappointing you and going along with what was happening,” Lydia said earnestly.

Scott was surprised to see Jackson walking up behind Lydia, “come on Allison give her a chance …” he said as he approached them.

“Like you and your friends gave Stiles a chance?” Allison retorted and Scott could see from where he was standing that both Lydia and Jackson were stunned into silence. Scott knew that the conversation would most likely be done by this point and chances are Allison wasn’t in much of a talking mood but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try and talk to Stiles, so instead of standing around and listening to a conversation that’s clearly dead he booked it and made a chase for Stiles. He couldn’t be too far away he had only just walked past Scott a moment ago, using his nose Scott followed Stiles odd scent and he raced down the main corridor and blindly turned down a hall running into a few people and apologizing before he raced to continue to find Stiles. He made another turn down a hall and spotted Stiles in the middle of the hallway making his way to class, Scott sprinted for him without even thinking and ran in front of him and blocked his path.

“Hey so I know you don’t want to talk to me and you most likely don’t want to listen to anything I have to say but I need you to know that I really miss you and I regret everything I put you through and if I could go back I would do it all differently and I would have never have done what I did to you and … and I” Scott hesitated just for a moment as he looked on at Stiles and realized none of what he was saying was getting through to him, “I really need you to say you’ll give me another chance,” Scott whispered.

Stiles stood before him seemingly unfazed by Scott’s words, “are you done?”

Was he done? What kind of question was that? Of course, he wasn't done, there was so much Scott wanted to say but he didn't have the time to tell him everything he wanted, so he said the first thing that came to mind, “I’m not going to stop trying, I’m not giving up.”

Stiles nodded, “cool, you done?”

Scott swallowed his pride and nodded, “for now.”

Stiles didn’t spare him another second after that he simply walked around him and left him in the middle of the hallway to think about his next move.

Stiles POV

Lunch had been quite eventful, to say the least, after Derek and Paige had left the cafeteria, Laura had gotten all weird and gloomy and then mentioned that she needed to go speak with someone; which put Cora in a bad mood because she somehow figured that Laura was going to go talk to Derek. Allison and Braeden carried their own conversation while Stiles tried to cheer Cora up but nothing seemed to be working, that’s why when the lunch bell rang and Cora took off without so much as an ‘I’ll see you later’ Stiles felt somewhat relieved; he knew she probably just needed time to herself and when she was ready to talk to him she would. Braeden had gone off to her next class leaving Stiles and Allison alone and Allison was quick to pick up that something was wrong with him, “hey are you okay?”

Stiles startled a little and nodded his head anxiously, "yeah … yeah, I just-I don't know I kinda feel weird like … I don’t know something just seems really … off.”

Allison frowned, “is this about Cora? I saw the way she was acting after Laura left and I figured it was probably best to just leave her alone.”

Stiles huffed, “yeah I probably should have done that but hopefully she’ll come around and tell us what’s going on.”

Allison patted his back, “hey don’t worry she will,” she said giving Stiles one of her full-on smiles that somehow always manages to bring some sort of comfort to him.

Stiles smiled back, “yeah you’re right,” he said but that odd feeling still crept at the back of his mind and he was almost certain it didn’t have anything to do with Cora and he wasn’t sure why.

“You still seem a little out of it,” Allison said offhandedly, she suddenly started giggling about something before saying, “hey do you remember when we went to the arcade and that guy started hitting on Cora and she totally looked like she was ready to curb stomp him?”

The reminder made Stiles start laughing almost hysterically, “I thought she was at least gonna punch him in the face or something, she looked like she was ready to murder somebody.”

“I know,” Allison agreed hysterically.

Of course it was just his luck that their short moment of laughter would be interrupted although Stiles wasn’t exactly expecting the person that came alone, Lydia stood behind Allison and called her name to get her attention; Stiles figured that she was only there to speak with Allison but when she announced that she wanted to talk to him as well he had to admit he was taken by surprise. The only problem with about the whole situation was that as soon as Lydia started talking Stiles sort of zoned out and became overwhelmed by that odd feeling he had; he wound up missing most of what Lydia had said but for the most part he gathered that she was apologizing for her part in what transpired between him and her friends. While he wasn’t ready to accept an apology from any of them yet he was at least thankful for the effort she gave and he let her know that in a manner that would also let her know he did not particularly accept her apology.

With that being said and done he felt it would be best if he were to excuse himself from the conversation not only because of the odd feeling that was consuming his mind but because he felt that Allison should probably talk to Lydia. Stiles knew that Allison and Lydia had been close before everything happened, best friends even, and If he were a bad person he would selfishly keep Allison away from Lydia and encourage Allison not to be friends with her anymore; but he wasn’t a bad person and he surprisingly didn’t feel that it was fair that Allison should ruin her friendship over a situation that mainly involved him. So he managed to leave without Allison tagging along and he aimlessly walked down the corridor and somehow maneuvered his way towards his class and as he got closer and closer that odd feeling got worst and worst. Then there was Scott who appeared out of nowhere, mumbling a bunch of gibberish that Stiles wasn’t really paying attention too and by the look on Scott’s face Stiles knew that Scott knew that he didn’t care for any of the words coming out of his mouth and because of that the conversation ended as quickly as it began.

Now Stiles found himself only a few feet from class but he couldn’t find it in himself to walk in and partake in any sort of learning. He couldn’t really say what was wrong with him but he had this feeling and it made him feel off and the closer he got to his class the worst it got. He couldn’t bring himself to walk any further, the feeling was overwhelming and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it through his next class without his teacher or anyone else noticing there was something wrong with him if the feeling persisted. He’s always been one to usually go along with his gut instinct and right now his gut instinct was telling him to take the rest of the day off and relax or try to at least; so, he pulled out his phone and sent a group message to his father and Parrish:

Stiles: Hey I think I need to go home, I'm not feeling too great. Dad, can you come sign me out?

He wasn’t surprised to see his phone light up with a call from Parrish, he answered quickly, “hello?”

“Stiles is everything okay?” His father answered.

“I think so … I just … something isn’t right and I don’t know if I want to be at school,” Stiles said.

“Is someone bothering you, did something happen?” Parrish asked.

“No-no I’m fine I just really don’t think I should be here right now,” Stiles answered.

“Stiles are you not able to talk freely?” His father questioned and Stiles figured that his dad thought he was in some sort of danger.

"Dad, I'm fine I'm standing in the middle of a hallway right now and there are people all around me and-" Stiles stopped suddenly when a girl had walked by him and that odd feeling that he got during lunch had pushed its way to the forefront of his mind and he found that he suddenly couldn’t think straight.

“Stiles? Stiles hello? Stiles!” He heard his father calling for him, Parrish could also be heard trying to get his attention.

“Yeah I’m here … I need to call you back,” he said and hung up on them which probably wasn’t the best idea because lord knows they’re most likely going berserk trying to figure out what’s going on now. Stiles had turned and followed the girl wondering who she was and why she gave him such an odd feeling, the minute bell rang but Stiles couldn’t find it in himself to go to class, he had to figure out what was going on, “eh-excuse me,” he blurted out to the girl.

She kept walking as if she didn’t hear him so Stiles walked a little faster until he was within arm’s reach and reached out and touched her shoulder, “excuse me,” he said again and the girl suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway as did Stiles. It was so strange, they remained so still while everyone else around them were in a frenzy to get to their next class. Stiles was the first to make a move and removed his hand from the girl’s shoulder and dropped it at his side, what had he been thinking, he was never this bold to just walk up to someone and engage in any sort of conversation, especially when it came to someone he didn’t know, so what changed? Why did he feel the need to stop this random girl who he had never seen before?

They stood in the middle of the hallway for a moment as the other students around them made their way to class, when the hallway was relatively empty the girl finally made a move, she swept a lock of her hair behind her ear, “who are you?” She asked quietly and if Stiles wasn’t focusing on her so intently he would have missed it.

The final bell rang before Stiles could answer and he noticed that the two of them were now alone in the hallway with each other; "I asked you a question," the girl said now facing Stiles. She held a guarded look and for some reason Stiles knew that if he made the wrong move she would probably whoop him even if she happens to be a little bit shorter than he is. She had long black hair and behind the guarded expression lied a pretty face.

“I-I’m … I’m sorry I just …” he struggled to say.

She started backing up slowly, “what do you want?”

Stiles absentmindedly reached out and the girl withdrew further away from him, "I-I don't … I'm sorry I just … I just," he wasn't sure what to say, he just knew that the odd feeling he had was definitely because of this girl and he wasn't sure how he knew that. He dropped his hand and lowered his eyes, "I was wondering if oof,” next thing he knew he had been punched in the gut and he would have been kicked in the face too if he hadn’t of fallen to the ground before the kick could connect. Lucky for him the girl didn’t try any more than that and sprinted down the hall at an unusually fast pace, Stiles quickly regained his composure and something was driving him to pursue her so he did.

She managed to get out to the main corridor and was moving towards the front of the school quickly, Stiles was tailing her but the girl was fast. It caught him by surprise when she exited out of the school and started making her way towards the student parking lot, ‘why was she running from him,’ he wondered. The parking lot came into view and the girl started making her way down the steps and Stiles noticed a sleek black SUV pulled up and a rather burly man got out and made a break for the girl. The girl immediately ran towards the man and when she was within his reach he pulled her behind him and stood in front of her protectively.

“Stay back kid before you get hurt,” the man said.

Stiles stood at the top of the steps trying to figure out what was going on, “but I …”

“Kira will you please get in the truck?” the man asked.

“No, I want to know who he is,” the girl, Kira, said.

“Kira get in the truck,” the man commanded.

A car speeding into the parking lot took them all by surprise, a Beacon Hills cruiser and Stiles knew who was inside of it; they immediately pulled up behind the SUV and jumped out of the car, “put your hands where I can see them,” Stiles dad said the second he got out of the car, he had his hand on his holster ready to draw if necessary.

Parrish took the lead and stood in front Stiles dad, “is there a problem here?”

“No problem at all, you boys can put your guns away,” the man said.

Stiles dad made his way over to him but never took his eyes off of the man, “Stiles what’s going on?” he said as he approached him.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” Stiles wondered.

His father turned around and looked at him incredulously, “you called and said you weren’t feeling well and that you needed to leave school early and then you hung up on me. You honestly think I wasn’t going to show up after something like that?”

Stiles gawked, “I said I would call you back!”

“And then you hung up on me,” his father retorted.

“Okay I get it,” Stiles exclaimed, “I freaked you out, I’m sorry but,” he looked back towards the girl that stood behind the man, “there’s something … off.”

“What do you mean there’s something off?” He said turning back towards the girl and the man.

"Excuse me," the man said suddenly voice booming, "are you in charge?" He asked Stiles, father.

“Yes sir I am, I happen to be the sheriff, what seems to be the problem here?” His dad asked sounding like a typical police officer.

“Order your deputy to stand down and remain where you are,” the man said and Stiles didn’t need to see his father’s face to know he had been taken by surprise, “excuse me.”

“I said order your deputy to stand down and remain where you are,” the man said again.

Stiles noticed his dad reaching for his holster again, “I don’t think you understand how this works-“

“Actually,” the man said interrupting Stiles father, “I don’t think you do, I have more authority than the both of you and I am ordering you to tell your deputy to stand down and remain where you are.”

“You can’t be here …” Parrish said suddenly.

Now the man was the one taken by surprise, “excuse me?”

Parrish suddenly started walking towards Stiles dad completely disregarding the man entirely, “we have a problem,” Parrish said urgently.

“What’s going on,” Stiles dad wondered.

Stiles was just as confused as his father was, he looked back in the direction of the man and the girl and noticed the man trying to coax the girl to get into the truck but she was having none of it, “No Ben hold on,” Stiles heard the girl say.

“Kira get in the truck now,” the man, Ben said.

“Stay right where you are,” Parrish commanded and then turned back to Stiles father, “sheriff I need you to go and sign Stiles out of school, now. We need to go see Deaton …”

Stiles couldn’t help but look between his father and Parrish and the man and the girl, “what is going on?” he heard his father ask.

“I’ll tell you in the car,” Parrish said.

“Give me something,” Stiles father pleaded.

“Yes please give us something,” the man said as he stalked over with the girl in tow, she stayed behind the man and eyed Stiles suspiciously.

Parrish sighed, “she doesn’t need to be afraid of him,” he said and the girl startled and turned her attention to Parrish, “he’s the same.”

Both the girl and the man stood in stunned silence, next thing Stiles knew his father was walking up the stairs towards him and dragging him back towards the school, “we’re getting you out of here now.”

“What’s the big deal?” Stiles asked.

“I’m sure we’re going to find out shortly,” Stiles father said.

He looked back towards the girl who was staring at him and he noticed out the corner of his eye that Parrish and the man were deep in conversation; soon they were out of sight as Stiles and his father entered the school and quickly made their way to the front office. Stiles dad opened the door and there sitting behind the front desk was Deborah and she had a very welcoming smile on her face, “Sheriff, Stiles to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I need to sign him out of school,” his dad said as they approached the desk.

“Okay usually I would have you go over to the attendance office and have you sign him out there but I’ll take care of everything, is there an emergency of some sort,” Deborah asked.

“Nothing that I know of I just need to get him to the hospital,” his father said.

 “Oh well I hope everything is okay, I will let the attendance office know that Stiles needs to be excused for the rest of the day okay?” She asked.

“Yes, thank you very much,” his dad offered

“You two have a nice day,” she said and as soon as they were about to leave the man and the girl came in the office along with Parrish.

The man walked up to the desk with the girl in tow, “I need to sign her out of school,” he said and Deborah looked to Stiles dad before she looked back at the man.

“Oh … but didn’t you just get here … is something wrong?” Deborah asked the girl.

“No-no nothing is wrong I … well my dad forgot that I have a doctor’s appointment today and it’s really important that I go to it,” the girl said.

Deborah didn’t seem convinced, “Well like I just told these two” she said gesturing to Stiles and his father, “you would need to go to the attendance office to sign her out but I can handle all of that here for you this time, I need your name and the students name.”

“I’m Ben Fowliedge and this is Kira Yukimura,” the man said.

“May I ask what your relationship is with the student,” Deborah asked.

“I’m her bodyguard if you need to call Mr. Yukimura you can he will vouch for me,” the man said.

“Actually mam he’s telling the truth I can vouch for him as well,” Parrish said suddenly.

Deborah seemed a little surprised by that but by the look on her face she got the point, “okay then I will take all of this over to attendance, Ms. Yukimura because it wasn’t either one of your parents signing you out the attendance office may call them to notify them that you have left.”

The girl nodded, “that’s okay … thank you.”

“Thank you, hopefully, tomorrow you'll be able to enjoy your first full day with us," Deborah said.

“Yes definitely, thank you again,” the girl said and turned back to look at the man who then looked at Parrish.

“Right um …” he looked to Stiles dad then, “you can follow us to the hospital,” he moved towards the door of the front office and held it open for everyone as they all walked out. His father, Parrish and the man walked ahead while Stiles and the girl walked behind them.

“Hi,” the girl said suddenly surprising Stiles, “sorry about earlier … I wasn’t sure who you were and … yeah.”

“Do you always attack people you don’t know?” Stiles asked.

“Do you always you approach people you don’t know and put your hand on their shoulder while their backs are turned?” She retorted.

Stiles pursed his lips, she got him there, “fair enough …” he said.

The girl smiled and stopped abruptly and shot her hand out, “I’m Kira … Kira Yukimura.”

Stiles looked at her hand, “you’re not gonna hit me, right?”

Kira tittered a little, “no I’m not I promise, I’m really sorry about that.”

Stiles shrugged and shook her hand, “I’m Stiles, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she said.

“Hey you two we gotta go,” the man said.

Stiles fumbled a little but managed to keep his composure, that in turn made Kira laugh a little more, “don’t worry about him,” she said as they made their way out of the school, “he’s not so bad if you’re on his good side. His name is Ben … he’s … he’s a really good guy.”

“Oh cool well,” Stiles pointed ahead at his dad,” that’s my dad he’s the sheriff and that guy next to him is Parrish, his deputy and my ... my … my bodyguard I guess, it’s kinda weird saying that.”

“Yeah it took me a while to get used to it too,” Kira said.

“Alright Stiles,” his father said suddenly turning towards him as they made their way to the parking lot, “I want you to follow us to the hospital alright?”

Stiles nodded, “okay …” he turned to Kira, “I guess I’ll see you there.”

She nodded, “yeah see you there.”

Kira had stalked over to Ben and he led her to the SUV and opened the door for her and let her in and soon afterward got in himself. His father and Parrish got into the cruiser and Stiles walked over to his jeep and got in, started it up and drove out of the parking lot and followed his father to the hospital.

Upon arrival Stiles found that everyone was in a hurry to get inside, Ben and Kira had been waiting by the front door and his dad and Parrish seemed to be waiting impatiently for him to get out of his jeep and get moving. When he finally made it to the front of the hospital they all walked in past the registration and straight to the elevator. When they got to Deaton’s floor they quickly moved out of the elevator and by chance Melissa happened to be walking towards the elevators and noticed them.

“Sheriff, Stiles hi, is there something going on?” She asked a little surprised.

They didn’t bother stopping Stiles dad simply said, “can’t talk right now, gotta handle something. It was nice seeing you,” he said and all Stiles could do was wave at her and follow his father. They had arrived at the waiting area and Parrish said something to the front desk woman that made her look at him frantically and next thing he knew they were walking back towards Deaton’s office and without knocking Parrish opened the door and they each strode in one by one.

Stiles wasn’t surprised to see that Deaton had been expecting them, Ben motioned for Kira to take a seat which she did, “Stiles sit down,” Parrish said shortly after and he did leaving his father, Parrish and Ben to stand behind their chairs.

“Deaton I’m not sure if you’ve met them yet but this is-“ Parrish began.

“Yes I know who they are Parrish we met earlier today, thank you,” Deaton said.

“Uh right …” Parrish said awkwardly. “How did this happen?” he asked.

“To be completely honest, I don’t know,” Deaton said.

“Is he really … is it safe to say it?” Ben asked regarding Stiles.

Deaton nodded to him, “Stiles why don’t you show him?”

Stiles looked back to Deaton and had a small lapse of judgement, “uh show him what,” he asked.

His dad swatted his head from behind him, “show him your eyes kid, get with the program.”

There was too much going on for Stiles to get with the program at the moment, “right, right,” he said and turned towards Ben and allowed the shift to take over his eyes.

Both Ben and Kira starred in awe for only a moment before they turned their attention back to Deaton, “he’s …” Ben said panting heavily.

“Yes he is and his eyes are like Kira’s,” Deaton stated.

“I thought … I thought that guys weren’t able to have green eyes, how does he?” Kira asked.

“Well Ms. Yukimura you were misinformed, males are perfectly capable of presenting as Omegas with green eyes just like females, it’s just …” Deaton regarded Stiles before saying, “extremely rare.”

"Yeah, it's rare whatever what are we going to do about this?" Ben asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure but this does pose a problem," Deaton said.

Ben began to pace, “I don’t think you understand how big of a problem this is,” he said.

“Then fill me in,” Deaton said.

“Why do I get the feeling that I’m going to need a drink or two after this,” Stiles heard his father ask.

“Because you might, we came here on the run … we weren’t supposed to come to the states until the start of Kira’s senior year but things got a little bit complicated,” Ben started.

“Complicated how?” Parrish asked.

“They found us,” Ben said.

“Who found you?” Deaton asked.

“Aucune Anomalie,” Ben whispered.

Stiles heard Parrish release a low frustrated growl, while his dad put his hands on the back of his chair and squeezed tightly, “so are they coming here then?” Stiles father asked.

"No … no, they shouldn't be," Ben said.

“They shouldn’t be? How do you even know it was them, did they attack you?” Parrish badgered.

“No …” Ben said.

“Then how do you know it was them? How do you know they don’t know exactly where you wound up?” Parrish pushed.

 “Because-because there was a man … he … he had been following me and my friends around for weeks, at first I thought maybe he was just a random guy that happened to be in a lot of the same places I was … but when I saw him one day at one of our school festivals …” Kira tried.

“So you saw a man a few times that doesn’t mean it’s them,” Parrish said.

“Parrish, let her finish,” Deaton commanded.

“It was them I’m-we’re” she corrected looking up at Ben, “sure of it.” She looked over to Parrish, “they kidnapped one of my friends a few weeks before we left; she said that they were asking her all sorts of weird questions and that they wanted her to show them her eyes shifted,” Kira said.

“They let her go?” Stiles dad asked.

Kira nodded, "yes … she was taken on a Wednesday and was back home by Friday unharmed, she came back to school the week before I left and she told me and our friend's everything. She said that they suspected that there was someone in our school that didn't belong in the world and that they needed to be captured and dealt with immediately."

“Did your friends know about what you are? About what you presented as?” Parrish asked.

“No … I … I didn’t want people to invade my life,” Kira said.

“You’re certain that no one knew what you presented as besides your designated doctor?” Parrish pressed.

"Yes, I'm sure … besides my parents and Ben, no one knew …" she said assuredly.

Parrish visibly deflated and leaned back against the wall, “well that’s certainly a relief,” Deaton said from his desk, “that still doesn’t explain why headquarters would send you here of all places especially considering he’s here,” Deaton said gesturing to Stiles.

“We were sent here for temporary placement until they could find another secure location for us to go to,” Ben said.

Stiles didn’t get what the big deal was about them being in Beacon Hills, “Uh … what’s wrong with them being here?” Stiles asked.

“We try to keep Omegas in separate areas that way the psychopaths in that group have a harder time tracking you all down,” Parrish said.

Stiles nodded somewhat pleased with the answer, “that makes sense but …”

“But?” Parrish asked.

Stiles looked to Kira and then back to Parrish, “if it’s just us two what’s the big deal? It’s not like they know who or what she is.”

“That may be but given there was activity in her area and her family suddenly up and left it’s cause for suspicion,” Deaton said.

“Actually …” Kira said suddenly, “it’s not really all that suspicious.”

“Care to clarify why that is?” Deaton asked.

“Well before the man showed up and my friend got taken I had mentioned that I was gonna most likely be moving away soon, I told all my friends and a few of my teachers. My dad … he got offered a job out in Germany somewhere and we were only waiting for approval from his company so that we could move out there. But I think maybe a week or two after he got that offer he wound up getting another one that was much better and it was here in the states. I had already told people that I was leaving to Germany and for some reason even after knowing we weren’t going to be going there I kept running with that same story … so obviously after the incident, we needed to get out of there quickly and on my last day I told everyone I knew, that my dad's job needs him out in Germany immediately so I was leaving sooner than expected.” Kira explained.

“It’s the perfect cover story,” Ben said.

“That may be but you realize this group isn’t run by amateurs did you factor in what happens if that man that was following you realizes you’re no longer present and starts looking into where you disappeared too?” Deaton asked.

Stiles thought that the answer to that question would be obvious, “wouldn’t he think that she went Germany?” Stiles asked.

“What if he decides to look into her records and finds out that where she transferred to wasn't, in fact, Germany but a small town in California?" Deaton asked.

“I took care of that, there is no way they will know where she went, trust me,” Ben said.

“Believe me I want to but you have to understand that if you left even a small trace of where you went off too and the group finds that trace and finds themselves here you will have inadvertently endangered the life of this boy as well,” Deaton said.

“Take that up with headquarters, they’re the ones that directed us here,” Ben said.

"Yes, that is … very strange but regardless the situation has turned and you two, Parrish and Ben, need to be on your guard at all times. I will contact headquarters and figure out what’s going on until then keep a look out,” Deaton looked at both Kira and Stiles, “and you two make sure you keep your status as Omegas a secret by any means necessary, do you understand.”

Stiles had already told his secret to only one person outside of the Hale’s and that was Allison but he knew he could trust her, he nodded in response as did Kira.

“I knew I was going to need a drink after this,” Stiles father said from behind him.

Stiles turned around and narrowed his eyes at him, “dad it’s fine don’t stress out about this,” he said.

His father grabbed the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, “Too late for that son.”

“Ms. Yukimura if you don’t mind me asking where are your parents?” Deaton asked.

“They should be here any-“ Ben started but then there was a knock on the door, “I think that might be them,” he finished and opened up the door to two extremely worried individuals.

“Kira,” the woman exclaimed as she entered the room and embraced her daughter, “we came as fast as we could.”

The man that accompanied the woman stepped in behind her and shut the door behind him, the look on his face would scare any person it was directed at, Stiles found himself immensely intimidated, “what is going on,” the man said looking to Deaton and then towards Ben.

“Mr. Yukimura allow me to extend to you my deepest apologies for having you come back here on such short notice,” Deaton said.

“It’s not coming back here that’s my main concern, it’s the fact that I’m being called and told that there is a problem … last time this happened I had to uproot my life and my families lives immediately and leave my home; am I to believe this is the case again.” Mr. Yukimura asked.

“Actually the situation is not that dire … I didn’t mention this to you beforehand because I wasn’t fully aware of your situation and what caused you to come out here but-“

“But nothing,” Mr. Yukimura said interrupting Deaton, “if there is any reason that I should be concerned for the safety of my daughter then I will leave this town in a heartbeat and this time I won’t wait for your headquarters approval to do so.”

“Calm down Mr. Yukimura, your daughter should be fine for the time being … considering you did make sure there wasn’t any way that group could track you here,” Deaton said looking between Mr. Yukimura and Ben.

Mr. Yukimura looked back to Ben, “our story is solid,” he said looking back to Deaton, “there is no way they could track us down here.”

“Fine,” Deaton said unimpressed.

“Why was I called … if the reason we came to this town was what you were worried about you could have asked us about it this mor-“

“Actually, my immediate concern is about the Omega that Parrish and myself oversee in this town,” Deaton interrupted Mr. Yukimura.

“You didn’t mention that you already had an Omega living here …” he said turning around and eyeing Parrish, he then turned his attention to Stiles dad and onto then onto Stiles. “Who are they,” he asked turning back to Deaton, “why are they in here, do they know about my daughter? Is that why we were called?!”

“Mr. Yukimura please calm down," Deaton said and by the tone of his voice, Stiles could tell he was becoming impatient with the man.

“If your child was at risk of being exposed as an Omega with a group of maniacs going around the world and snatching them up left and right you would understand why it is I cannot calm down,” Mr. Yukimura said.

“Then we can relate on something,” Stiles dad said.

Mrs. Yukimura gasped and covered her mouth and Mr. Yukimura turned around slowly eyeing Stiles father in disbelief, “excuse me?” he asked.

Stiles felt his father's hands on both of his shoulders, "my kid here is an Omega just like your daughter and we have just as much reason to be as concerned as you are but unlike you, we aren't making a fuss about this … so if you'll please calm down and listen to what needs to be said, I’m sure our days will go a lot better.”

"Your son is an Omega?" Mr. Yukimura asked but didn't give anyone a chance to answer, "even if that's true you do not have a reason to be as concerned as I am … my daughter she … she's special, she's different than others and to my knowledge, there are only a few like her in the world and this group-“

Stiles wasn’t really willing to listen to Mr. Yukimura explain why they did not have a reason to be as concerned as he was, so he let the shift take over his eyes again and Mr. Yukimura stopped mid-sentence when he noticed, “he is …” Stiles let his eyes shift back the moment Mr. Yukimura understood what he was.

“Yes Mr. Yukimura he is, not only is an Omega but he is like your daughter, so they have just as much if not more reason to be as worried as you are, so please calm down,” Deaton said with finality.

“For-forgive me …” Mr. Yukimura said bowing his head a little.

Deaton nodded, "now as I said before I will contact headquarters and find out what is going on about our little situation, you are all to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and you two," Deaton said looking at both Kira and Stiles, "like I said before, keep your status a secret, do I make myself clear?"

Stiles couldn’t very well see everyone in the room but he was certain they all nodded their heads in unison, “I-I have one question,” the woman, Mrs. Yukimura said, “how-how were you able to keep what you are a secret?” She asked, the question directed at Stiles.

Stiles looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him expectantly, "well um … when I … when I presented I didn’t really have any friends or anything … so …”

“He presented at his school, that’s where it started at least; only a handful of the faculty know about Stiles and that is because it was a need to know basis. They all know full and well that if they spread word of what he is they will be tried in the court of law to the fullest extent and the punishment will be harsh. His soulmates family is also aware of what he is, again they only know because it was a need to know basis,” Parrish said.

“Amazing … you presented as the rarest status in the hierarchy and you’ve also managed to somehow find your soulmate … what are the odds?” Mr. Yukimura said in awe.

“Yeah … I guess you could say I have the worst luck in the world,” Stiles said.

“Huh … that wasn’t particularly what I was expecting you to say,” Mr. Yukimura said.

“Yeah um,” Stiles turned back to Deaton, he was more than ready to change the subject, “is there anything else that we need to know?”

“Not at the moment, no,” Deaton said shaking his head, “is there anything you need to know from me?”

Nothing came to mind, “nope,” he said and as soon as he was about to stand up, he realized he did need to know something, “wait …” he looked over to Kira, “I think … I think I could feel you … like I knew you were at my school I just didn’t know what or who you were.”

“You got this funny feeling right? It makes you feel a little off like something might be wrong?" Kira asked and that happened to be exactly how Stiles felt.

“Yeah,” Stiles gasped.

“That is something we haven’t been able to explain yet,” Deaton said.

Stiles turned to him immediately, eyes wide, “you know what it is?”

“Not exactly, it is mentioned briefly in the book that I gave you but it is very, very easy to miss. For some reason when Omegas whom both have green eyes come within each other’s vicinity they can somehow sense one another. This has been known for many years now but there is still no explanation as to why that is, consider it another aspect towards what makes you so special,” Deaton said.

That made sense and would definitely explain why Stiles started feeling off at lunch, “okay … yeah okay, that makes sense."

“Any other questions?” Deaton asked.

Stiles shook his head, “no I don’t think so.”

“Ms. Yukimura?” Deaton asked turning towards Kira.

“I do have some questions but …” when she stopped talking Stiles looked over to her and saw that she was looking at him, “I have questions for him.”

“Great, well you can ask him those questions on your own time; considering you just moved here it will be a good chance for you to make a potential acquaintance or maybe even a friend,” Deaton said.

Kira smiled and nodded, “yes you’re right, thank you.”

“Does anyone else have any questions for me?” Deaton asked the rest of the room. When no one answered he nodded, "okay, thank you for your time," he said and on cue everyone began to file out of his office after they said their goodbyes, "Stiles please wait a moment," Deaton said suddenly.

Stiles stopped immediately as did his father and Parrish, “while you’re here I think it’s best that I check something, Sheriff, Parrish please give us a moment,” Deaton said as he stood up and held the door open for them.

“Is there something wrong,” Stiles dad asked.

“No nothing at all I just would like to speak with Stiles for a moment in private,” he said standing next to his office door and gesturing Stiles dad out, “it will only take a moment.”

Stiles stood next to the chair he was previously sitting in and looked at his dad who eventually looked back to him and nodded, “I’ll be outside,” he said before leaving Deaton’s office.

“Okay,” Deaton said closing the door and walking over to him, “how are you feeling?” He asked looking him over.

“Uh … fine now I guess?” He said unsure, “I mean there was that weird feeling that I had earlier but it’s gone now.”

“That’s how it usually works, once you identify the other Omega that is similar to you it just … goes away.” Deaton said.

That stumped Stiles a little, “Similar to me?”

Deaton gestured towards his eyes, “your eyes.”

“Oh yeah right … gotcha,” Stiles said.

“Do you mind showing me your mark?” Deaton asked out of the blue.

Stiles looked down at his arm, “uh yeah sure,” he said rolling up the sleeve to his hoodie, “it’s still there.”

“You’re sure you feel 100% okay?” Deaton asked.

“Yeah man I’m … good,” Stiles said.

“School is going well I presume?” He pressed.

“Yeah it’s-it’s a lot better I um … I don’t deal with everything I dealt with before so … it’s a lot easier,” Stiles said.

“Good, that’s very good,” Deaton said backing away and stepping around his desk to take a seat, “my sister does keep me updated on how you’re doing and … given your situation, I found myself immensely concerned about you mental wellbeing.”

Did Deaton think he was going to try and hurt himself, “I’m not … I mean I won’t do anything, I don’t need to, I won’t allow myself to; if I did … I feel-I feel like I’d be losing and giving into every bad thing that’s happened to me.”

“Good if you ever feel like you’re in a tough spot please do not hesitate to tell someone,” Deaton said.

“I won’t,” Stiles said assuredly.

“Alright well you have a nice day, stay out of trouble,” Deaton said.

“No promises,” Stiles joked and walked out of Deaton’s office only to run smack dead into both his father and Parrish waiting outside of the door for him.

“Everything okay?” His father asked.

“Yeah …” Stiles answered awkwardly.

“You sure?” Parrish pressed.

“Yeah, I’m fine … can we go?” Stiles asked, of course, it would take some more coaxing before his father or Parrish were convinced that there was absolutely nothing wrong but eventually they did leave the hospital. Before they left the parking lot his dad handed him a small piece of paper and let him know that Kira left him her phone number and wanted him to get in contact with her as soon as possible, afterward his father and Parrish went back to work and since Stiles was signed out of school he went straight home. He didn’t have any homework so the first thing he did when he got home was skim over the book Deaton had given him to try and see if there was any information he had missed the first time he read through it; he found that he hadn’t really missed much, the information on Green-eyed Omegas being able to sense each was very easy to overlook like Deaton had told him.

With nothing left to do Stiles went downstairs and turned on the TV, found a ridiculous old horror movie to watch and dozed off to it.

Derek's POV

The rest of the school day went by way too fast for Derek’s liking, now that the final bell had rung releasing everyone from class, he found himself debating whether or not he really wanted to go to practice. He had managed to avoid the majority of the football team throughout the entire day of school but now he was about to come face to face with his teammates and more than half of them wanted answers and a good portion of them were upset with him because of what happened. Derek knew that his friends felt the same way, he could tell by the looks on their faces as he approached them in the main corridor, “we really doing this?” Jackson asked as he walked up to them.

“Do we have a choice?” Isaac asked.

“Yeah, we could just go home and avoid whatever is about to happen or we can face the music, it’s up to you,” Boyd said.

Derek sighed, going home sounded like the best and least troublesome option but if he did that then the team would think he’s a wuss and they’d probably try and take advantage of that and Derek wasn’t scared of anyone or anything, “I’m going …” he said.

Isaac frowned, “go figure.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Boyd said and they began to head towards the locker room.

On their way there Derek’s phone buzzed, he pulled it out to check it and saw that he had one new message from Paige:

Paige: Hey, be careful I have a few of your teammates in my last class and they were talking about doing something to you, I’m not sure exactly what but be careful.

Derek frowned and responded with a simple ‘thanks,’ and continued towards the locker room.

As they approached the locker room he wasn’t surprised when he found that Mitch was the first one to notice them walking up, “well what do we have here looks like a mutt and a few strays lost their way,” he said as he walked up to them, he shoved Derek back, “thought I told you not to show up Hale.”

Derek wasn’t going to let anyone push him around, ever, so he stepped up to Mitch and pushed him back harder making him fall to the ground, “you got a problem with me, then let’s handle it.”

“Like you handled your soulmate?” Derek heard someone say, it was one of the players from the team but he wasn’t sure who.

“Yeah Derek, like you handled your soulmate?” Mitch pressed getting up off the floor.

“He didn’t know that he was his soulmate,” Isaac said coming to his defense.

“Still doesn’t change the fact that he beat on him … and you helped him,” Mitch said.

“Okay screw this,” Jackson said angrily, “you all wanna act so self-righteous but there’s a few of you here that helped us mess with Stilinski.”

“Yeah and don’t act like all of you didn’t jump at the chance to trash talk him, none of you are innocent in this either,” Boyd said.

Derek noticed Danny stepping past a few players and stepping forward towards them, “Don’t try and turn the blame towards us; not all of us participated in your little stunt with Stilinski.”

“You’re right,” Derek said, there was no point trying to point the finger at someone else because at the end of the day it was him and his friends that were mainly responsible for what happened with Stilinski and he can either deal with the consequences now or continue to be delusional and put them off. “I messed up,” he turned around and looked at his friends, “we messed up,” he corrected himself; “I know you guys heard about what happened, some of the things you heard might not be true … but it is true that we spent a year messing with a kid named Stilinski.” He looked around at all his teammates, “sometimes we pushed him around, sometimes we beat him up and we spread a whole bunch of rumors about him … because we could.”

“No not because we could but because he deserved it,” Jackson said.

“No, he didn’t …” Derek said quickly.

Jackson looked at him in shock, “What?!”

“He didn’t deserve it,” Derek announced, “some of us got this stupid idea in mind that he was trying to break a soul bond … but … everyone knows that’s impossible,” Derek fell silent looking at each of his teammates angry and or disappointed faces, “needless to say we did it for stupid reasons and because we could.” Admitting that was a lot harder than Derek thought, of course, he knew he had other reasons for why he did what he did to Stilinski but those reasons did not warrant a year’s worth of the mistreatment that Derek showed him and knowing that now was a hard pill to swallow for Derek.

“I know why you’re mad,” Derek continued, “you all think that I knew … that I knew …” he struggled to get the words out, he still has trouble admitting to himself that Stilinski is, in fact, his soulmate so admitting it aloud to his team was a bit of a problem, “you think I knew Stilinski was my soulmate while this happened, well you’re wrong … I found out after everything happened,” he sighed and scrubbed his face “and for some of you, it might not make things better but at least you know the truth now,” he said assuredly. He looked around at his friends then back at the team, “we did some bad things to somebody that didn’t deserve it and we got in trouble and now it’s over …”

“Is it, though?” Danny asked stepping forward, “how do we know that you guys aren’t still screwing around with Stilinski?”

“Because we’re not, why does it matter to you?” Jackson said.

“Well gee Jackson I don’t know, maybe I don’t want to play on a team whose star players are constantly getting in trouble over something stupid,” Danny said.

“Woah Danny, star players? I wouldn’t give them that much credit,” Mitch sneered.

“Mitch shut up, ever since you took over we lost 2 of our last three games and the one game that we did win was because of a lucky field goal,” Danny said.

“We’re not getting in trouble,” Jackson said.

“You better not,” came the coaches voice from behind the team, Derek watched as he pushed his way forward to address them, “I’m gonna be honest with you guys this team sucks without you, Mitch here plays QB like a 3rd grader and some of our other players are doing extra work just to compensate for your loss. Now I don’t know if you guys still have some sort of dilemma with this kid you were messing with but you need to let it go; you boys have to know that you let not only your team down but me as well … and with that being said if you guys get in trouble again I’ll remove you from the team, do I make myself clear?”

Derek, Isaac, Jackson and Boyd each gave a weak, “yes coach.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you,” Finstock said.

They all spoke up a lot louder the second time around and reiterated their understanding that they knew not to get in trouble again. Afterward, coach simply nodded and told all of them to hit the locker room to get ready for practice which they did without hesitation. As they got dressed and threw on their football gear Derek overheard some of his teammates grumbling about him and his friends, he wasn’t surprised, he knew a simple pep talk wouldn’t be enough to qualm everyone’s anger but he didn’t care; if they had an issue with him they could take it up with him some other time, if they had the balls.

While in the locker room as they were getting ready to head out Derek noticed Isaac seemed a little distant and distracted, “hey, you okay?” He asked.

Isaac turned to face him and then turned back towards what was distracting him, “yeah …” Derek followed his line of sight and saw that he was staring at Scott, “it’s weird seeing him now …”

Derek frowned, “hey listen,” Derek said turning Isaac towards him, “I know you miss him, I do too, I’m sure we all do and maybe sometime we can figure something out and be cool again but … right now … right now we gotta focus on the here and now and work on getting back in the team’s good graces and one way we can do that is by doing our best out there and giving it our all, you got me?”

Isaac frowned and nodded, “yeah I got you.”

Derek slapped his shoulder, “alright let’s go show them why we’re the ‘star players’ of this team.”

Isaac smirked at that, Boyd and Jackson came up and clapped him on the shoulder offering their own words of encouragement and afterward the three of them headed out of the locker room, while Derek stayed behind and finished putting his stuff away.

“I …” he heard from behind him, he turned to see Scott standing a few feet away from him; “I’m not sorry about ratting you guys out.”

That wasn’t exactly what Derek was expecting to hear but given the circumstances, he couldn’t really blame Scott for saying that, “I don’t expect you to be,” Derek said.

Derek could tell by the shocked look on Scott’s face he wasn’t expecting that, “what?”

Derek sighed, “I don’t expect you to feel sorry for giving us up,” he shrugged, “I get it …”

Scott scrutinized him, “do you?”

To be completely honest he really did get it surprisingly, he knew that Scott was in a bad position and he had to choose between his new friends and the best friend that he and his new friends wronged, “yeah, I do,” Derek said earnestly.

Scott stepped a little closer with a look of conviction, “I-I … I want to hate you so much, I want to walk over to you right now and punch you in the face but … but I can’t; as much as I want to blame you for all of this and putting me in this situation, I can’t.” He leaned back against the lockers adjacent to Derek’s, “I did this to myself,” he said voice cracking, “my best friend was everything to me and I threw him away like he was nothing.” Derek watched a defeated Scott slam his head back into the lockers, “Why. Am. I. So. Stupid?” He asked hitting his head with each different word.

Derek wasn’t sure how to respond, “Scott … listen,” ‘I’m sorry’ is what he should say but he can’t find it in himself to say it just yet, “you … you’re not stupid … kind of, you just-you just made a bad decision, everyone makes bad decisions sometimes, it happens.”

Scott huffed, “it almost sounds like you might regret what happened.”

Derek frowned, he did regret it because it showed him in a different light and exposed the kind of person he is and he knew that now; his family, his peers and even his teacher’s all look at him differently. Whether some will admit it or not most of them are silently judging his character and perceive him as an awful person and he brought all of that on himself and now he had to live with it, “I do … if I knew how people would act after finding out … I would have never done anything.”

Scott shook his head and sighed, “yeah, well that’s what everyone says when they get caught doing something they shouldn’t.” That was probably one of the most insightful things Scott has ever said, “Honestly, it’s selfish to think like that too,” Scott said.

That took Derek off guard, “what?”

“It's selfish to think like that …” Scott said again, “you’re only upset because you got caught and people are treating you differently because of that; you’re not upset about what you did and how you affected someone.” Scott fell silent after that, it was as if he lost his train of thought; his eyes were on Derek but they were focused on his arm, the arm that carried his soul mark, “I can’t believe you’re his soulmate,” Scott whispered.

Derek looked down at his arm and back at Scott, “don’t believe it …” he said.

“What?” Scott asked taken aback.

“Don’t believe it … I doubt we’ll ever even talk,” Derek said; “you’re right the way I’m thinking is selfish, you would think knowing he was my soulmate would at least make me care a little bit about how he feels but I …”

“But what? You don’t?” Scott quickly cut him off, he scoffed before saying, “come on Derek, you have to care a little bit. I mean you understand that what you did was wrong but don’t tell me you don’t understand why it was wrong …”

“I know why it was wrong Scott,” Derek said defensively.

“Then stop pretending like you don’t care, I … I know you a little bit and I know you’re not some sociopath, you care; you just can’t swallow your pride and admit that to yourself,” he said.

Maybe he did care, who knows? He hadn’t really allowed himself to really think about Stilinski and how he actually felt about everything; yeah he had a general idea of how he felt thanks to his conversation with Laura but he hasn’t really allowed himself to really think about that; all he did was think about the situation and the actions that got him into it, “look I have spent the last 3 weeks trying to convince myself that I was justified in what I did, only for me to realize that I wasn’t; I’m just now accepting that I was wrong about the situation … I’m not even close to wrapping my mind around how Stilinski might feel.”

“You will though, he’s your soulmate … you might not be thinking about it now but I bet your wolf is all over the place; you’re gonna think it’s something you can ignore but-“

“Scott stop,” Derek said impatiently; for some reason, Scott’s words really hit home not because they were true but because he’s been so out of touch with his wolf lately that the idea of feeling anything coming from his wolf was almost foreign and unnatural. His phone buzzed and he saw he had a text from Laura:

Laura: Hey dad wants to know if you have practice today?

He quickly responded letting her know that he did and asked her to ask his dad to pick him up around 6:30 p.m. he didn’t wait for a response, he simply threw his phone in his bag and got back to the conversation he was having, “I don’t feel like that … I haven’t felt like that at all; I’ve been ignoring the fact that he’s my soulmate perfectly fine. We aren’t like you and Allison, we haven’t bonded in any way, we’re not even friends … we don’t even like each other,” Derek said throwing the last of his stuff in his locker and slamming it shut. “You know that just because we’re soulmates it doesn’t mean things are gonna change, I don’t have to have feelings for him and he doesn’t have to have feelings for me; that’s how it is for everybody. Now can we drop this and go practice?”

When Scott fell silent for a moment too long Derek figured that he was silently agreeing but just as soon as he was about to head out of the locker room and make his way towards the field, Scott found his voice and said something that would no doubt punch Derek hard in the gut, “I just said that you would care about what you did to him … who said anything about having feelings for each other?”

Derek gasped and looked at Scott sharply, “drop it.”

Scott sighed and made his way towards the door to the locker room, “fine it’s dropped,” he opened the door and held it open for Derek as they walked out, “so we good?” He asked changing the subject.

If it were anyone other than Scott asking that question Derek is sure he would probably hold a grudge against them and tell them no but this was Scott and while he hadn’t known him for a long time Derek was comfortable in saying that Scott was a close and trusted friend and he valued that friendship and he knew he was just placed in a bad situation and did what he thought was best; so he stopped and held out his hand, “yeah we’re good.”

Scott looked at Derek’s hand before clapping it with his own and offering Derek a firm handshake, “good … I uh … I kinda missed you guys, you know? But uh … I probably can’t hang out with you guys outside of school, my mom still pretty pissed.”

Derek kind of understood that, “yeah well we were all grounded all the while we were in ISS so we haven’t exactly gotten to hang out with each other outside of school but even though we’re not in ISS anymore I’m pretty sure my parents don’t want me hanging out with anyone that was involved and I’m not even gonna try to ask them if it’s okay so …”

“Yeah you don’t want to risk ticking them off all over again, right?” Scott asked.

Derek nodded, “exactly.”

They made more small talk as they headed out to the field, Derek asked how Scott had been doing since they fell out of contact and he wasn’t too surprised to find out that he was miserable because Allison had shunned him from her life and Stilinski wanted nothing to do with him. Derek wasn’t surprised to hear that Scott wasn’t planning on giving up trying to win them over and if he were being completely honest with himself he had to admit that he was sort of rooting for Scott. As they got to the field Boyd, Jackson and Isaac immediately noticed Derek and by the dubious glances they were throwing at Scott Derek knew they were uncertain as to how to approach them. It didn’t take long for the tension and the looks of uncertainty to melt away though, once Scott admitted that he wasn’t sorry for what he did and that he hoped they understood why he had to do it the three boys welcomed him with open arms and began chatting like nothing had happened between them; which was breath of fresh air for Derek, at least now he knows he doesn’t have to worry about Scott being resentful towards them.

But Derek found that his worries would turn towards other individuals on the team as practice began and they started their warm ups Derek overheard Mitch and 3 other players grumbling about him and his friends; then when it was time to do reps he found that the 3 individuals Mitch was colluding with were hitting him harder than they needed to. Usually, when they do reps they start off by simply playing touch football and then slowly working their way into tackling, these guys weren’t playing touch instead they were outright hitting Derek and he noticed they were doing the same to his friends, excluding Scott. They kept coming at him left and right hitting him even though it was unnecessary and eventually Derek had had enough; he wasn’t about to cower and run away like a wimp.

So he called for everyone to get ready for the next rep, once they were set his center hiked the ball to him and Derek’s eyes immediately went to one of the 3 guys who was sure to get to him first, at the pace he was going he was going to slam into Derek before he could make the play not that Derek was trying to make the play at all; so, instead of throwing the ball away he threw it directly to the guy charging at him and on instinct the guy caught the ball and was surprised at the action, he was even more surprised when he saw that Derek was charging towards him at full speed, his initial reaction was to drop the ball but it was too late Derek was inches away from him by this point and he wasn’t looking to back down from charging the guy. He collided with him at top speed and immediately lifted him off the ground and slammed him back down, Derek could see that the guy had the wind knocked out of him as he struggled on the ground beneath him.

“Tell your friends to back off or they’re next,” Derek said before calling everyone to get ready for the next rep. It wasn’t a surprise to Derek or his friends that practice went smoothly after that and after a long and grueling late afternoon practice finally ended. Derek and his friends had gone back to the locker room gathered their belongings and got ready to leave, it didn’t go unnoticed that Isaac seemed much happier now that Scott was talking to them again and Derek had to admit to himself that that made him happy. He also noticed that there was some light tension between Scott and Jackson but Derek would be worried if there wasn’t and he knew that they would hash it out eventually and get over it so it wasn’t anything that he needed to worry about.

“You guys maybe wanna try and sneak up to the lake?” Scott asked as they were heading out of the locker room and making their way towards the front of the school.

“It would be nice but … I still don’t have my car,” Boyd said.

“Same here,” Jackson said.

“Yeah, I’m not sure when I’m getting my car back either,” Derek said.

They all fell silent and looked at one another, it was Isaac that broke the silence and said, “dude we got fucked,” and the all shared a hearty laugh after that.

They said their goodbyes after that and they each found their parents in the front of the school waiting to take them home. Derek’s dad had a light conversation with him which was refreshing, to say the least, they talked about practice and whether or not Derek was excited to get back to playing football; there was an obvious strain while they conversed it was a tale tell sign that his father was very much still disappointed and angry about the actions Derek took against Stilinski and Derek had no one to blame for that but himself.

As they got home and filed into the house Derek was surprised to receive a greeting from Laura as he entered, “hey Derek, how was practice?” she asked as she came out of the living room.

Derek was a bit perplexed, “oh um … it was alright I guess …” he hated that it was awkward talking to his own sister.

Laura nodded, “good … I’m glad, um so uh-“

“Laura I need your help,” Cora said as she came out of the kitchen.

“Okay with what?” Laura asked.

“With my stupid math homework, obviously, I’m stuck again,” Cora said.

 Laura sighed and looked around the room until her eyes landed on Derek, “why don’t you ask Derek? You know he’s better at helping you with this stuff than I am.”

Derek did not miss the look of scorn Cora sent his way, “if I wanted help failing and making someone’s life miserable I would ask him but I don’t, so I’m asking you,” Cora said to Laura.

The dig hurt tremendously, Derek wasn’t sure how long it would be before Cora would get over what he had done but he hoped it would be soon, he wasn’t sure if he could handle dealing with Cora’s disdain towards him much longer, “it’s fine Laura I have my own homework to finish …”

The three of them had gotten quite for a moment before Cora broke the silence, “so are you gonna go finish your homework or not?”

“Cora,” Laura said in warning.

Derek simply sighed and passed both of his sisters up and headed upstairs towards his room, “Cora you don’t have to forget what happened but you also don’t have to treat him like that,” Derek heard Laura as he headed upstairs.

“Yeah? Well nobody asked him to be a monster and treat my friend like crap,” Cora said and Derek picked up his pace and quickly made his way to his room to avoid hearing anything else. A monster, that was how his little sister saw him now, his fall from grace was tragic and devastating and almost unbearable. He found himself wishing he could go back and fix everything and stop himself from ever doing anything to Stilinski but no matter how many times he chanted, that wish in his head it never came true and the reality of it all slapped him in the face just as it did earlier when Laura helped him realize the error of his decisions; he messed up and there wasn’t any way he could immediately fix what he had done.

He leaned back against his now closed bedroom door and heaved a heavy sigh and realized that even if his mom is getting back to having normal conversations with him she will still be disappointed in what he did. The same could be said for his dad, even if he tries to have small talk with him, he will still be disappointed in him, same with Laura, his uncle and aunt, and even Cora. Their image of him has been completely warped based on this one incident and there was no going back and that was a hard pill for Derek to swallow.

He slid down his door and held his head in his hands, he didn’t try to stop himself from releasing a small whine and he freely let the tears fall from his eyes, “I’m sorry,” he gasped. He didn’t know how long he sat there in that position but in the midst of his breakdown an image of green eyes flashed and he didn’t need a mirror to know that his had shifted to present their crimson red form, he wasn’t sure why it happened but he was grateful; he picked himself up off his floor and moved to his bedroom window and looked out and up at the stars and made a silent promise to himself that he would do better and do right by everyone he hurt, including Stilinski.

Stiles POV

*A week and a half later*

Stiles woke up in a flurry when he heard a loud boom downstairs; he threw the covers off himself and sprinted downstairs to figure out what was going on. To his surprise, he found his father and Parrish struggling trying to get something in the door, “Dad what are you doing?”

“Uh … Uh hey, kid uh … what are you doing up?” His dad asked flustered.

“You woke me up,” Stiles answered.

“You should head back upstairs and completely ignore what we’re doing,” Parrish said.

“What are you doing?” Stiles asked.

“Go back to bed Stiles,” his dad commanded.

There was no way in hell he was going to be able to go back to sleep by this point, “Dad it’s too late for that, what are you doing?”

“You’ll find out later, upstairs now or you’re grounded,” his dad said.

Stiles gawked, “what you can’t be serious?!”

His dad smiled at him mischievously, “do you want to find out how serious I am?”

Stiles groaned and stomped back up the steps, he wasn’t sure what Parrish and his dad were doing but Stiles figured that it was probably some kind of police business and they didn’t want him getting involved but if that were the case why would his dad tell him he’ll find out later?

When he got in his room he threw himself on his bed and begrudgingly reached out for his cell phone and turned it on it was a quarter till 5 a.m. he would need to get up soon to get ready for school. He set his phone back down on the nightstand next to his bed and turned over to stare up at his ceiling, ‘what are they doing?’ he wondered. He didn’t think about it for long as he surprisingly found himself dozing off yet again and he wasn’t opposed to a bit more sleep.

The next time he woke up it was to his father yelling his name, “Stiles … STILES … STILES WAKE UP,” he heard as he fumbled out of bed.

“Wha-what … what’s going on,” Stiles said as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes.

“You have to be to school in 30 minutes, Kira’s already downstairs waiting for you, hurry up and get dressed; you need to get out of here,” his dad said.

Stiles nodded drowsily and began to make towards his bathroom to get dressed until “hey wait … what are you doing home? Don’t you have work today?”

“Took the day off,” his father said as he walked out of his room.

“Huh, why?” Stiles asked himself, he glanced over at his bedroom clock and saw the time and frantically ran into the bathroom and quickly cleaned himself up, got dressed and bolted downstairs, “okay bye dad-wait …” he stopped when he noticed Parrish on the couch, “you’re off too?”

“Yep we took the day off,” Parrish said nonchalantly.

Stiles was a bit perplexed by that but he easily shook it off when he realized he needed to get to school, “okay whatever I gotta go, later.”

“Hey don’t forget check-ins,” Parrish called after him as he exited his house.

Stiles scoffed, “ya I know bye.”

Kira was standing by the door, “somebody overslept …”

“Yeah sorry about that, let’s get going,” he said, they walked out of the house together chatting away about nothing. Stiles had been giving Kira a ride to school basically every day after their hospital visit, Parrish and Ben thought it would be good if they stuck together just in case something were to happen, not that anything was going to happen.

“Hey, Stiles …” Kira said as they drove out of the driveway.

Stiles peeked over at her from the corner of his eyes, “Yeah?”

“Do you ever get annoyed with Parrish?” Kira wondered.

“What no, why?” What was bringing this on, he wondered.

“I’m not saying I’m annoyed with Ben or anything I just … I just kind of feel like sometimes he’s so protective that he’s sort of imposing in on my life, you know?” She said.

Stiles gave thought to what she said and she was kind of right, sometimes Parrish could be a little too overprotective and overreact to the smallest situation, which in turn would make his dad overreact which didn’t lead to anything good but he couldn’t say he was annoyed by that behavior because Parrish was only doing his job in making sure that Stiles remained safe and he was grateful for that, “yeah I get what you mean but it’s his job you know? Without him, those people would get to you easily and then think about where you would be if that happened.”

“Yeah … you’re right, I know it’s stupid but I forget that sometimes,” Kira said.

“It’s not stupid,” Stiles said, he understood where she was coming from, “we are what we are and there’s … there are some people in the world that apparently don’t like that and because of that we can’t exactly be normal and live normally like everyone else.”

Kira stifled a laugh at that, “you wouldn’t be able to live a normal life even if there wasn’t a crazy group out there trying to nab us.”

That comment soured Stiles mood a little because she was right, regardless if there was a group out there trying to nab him or not he would still have to deal with being a male Omega and the world’s interest in him, “thanks for the reminder.”

“Hey I’m sorry,” Kira said quickly, “I shouldn’t have said that. I can totally understand why you wouldn’t be thrilled at the idea of having the world’s eyes on you, talk about invasion of privacy.”

“Which is why I don’t plan on saying anything about being what I am,” Stiles said offhandedly.

“Maybe you’ll be able to shapeshift like me and turn into someone else,” Kira said.

Stiles almost slammed on his breaks after hearing that, “wait what?”

“Oh yeah … I forgot to tell you about my ability, I can shapeshift into pretty much anything,” she said easily as if that wasn’t something to be extremely impressed by.

“You … what-how?” Stiles gawked.

Kira pointed at her eyes as if Stiles should have caught on, “Green eyed Omega, we get abilities others don’t.”

Stiles felt foolish for forgetting about that, “oh yeah … I wonder what mine will be.”

“Hopefully something cool and beneficial,” Kira said.

“Yeah … I guess,” Stiles said with a hint of uncertainty; he hadn’t really fully thought about the future and what was coming, he had already discussed with Kira what heats were like and what it would be like when he goes into his first heat. They even went over how to prepare for them should he ever get off suppressants but he completely spaced on the fact that he would also be developing abilities around that same time too and it seemed like it would be a little overwhelming.

“Hey it’s okay, it’s normal for us,” Kira said.

The only response Stiles could give was to smirk and look out to the road in front of him, they pulled into the school soon after that, Stiles parked in his usual spot and he noticed that Laura and Cora were already there as they started parking in the spot next to him. They stood outside of Laura’s car, along with Allison and the three girls eagerly greeted both Stiles and Kira when they got out of the jeep. Stiles didn’t miss the way Kira became eerily giddy when she saw the other girls, he wondered what the mood change was about but he wasn’t complaining; Kira had hit it off with the girls the day Stiles introduced her to them and they became close quickly and Stiles was thankful for that.

“Okay are you guys ready?” Kira said as she got out of the jeep.

“Yeah, let’s do this,” Cora said excitedly.

“What’s going on?” Stiles asked as he walked around his jeep.

“Okay 1,2,3” Laura counted and next thing Stiles knew the girls spun around towards him and simultaneously yelled, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

“Birthday? What … it’s not my …” Stiles eyes widened when he realized that it was, in fact, his birthday, “oh my God it’s my birthday.”

Allison seemed a little disheartened by the comment, “you … forgot it was your birthday?”

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t really think about it, I mean I haven’t had a reason to; it’s not like I was planning on doing anything this year, you know … considering …” he didn’t finish the sentence because he knew that the girls understood.

“Yeah, well things change and we’re celebrating this year,” Cora said.

“Okay?” Stiles said a little uncertain.

Laura seemed a bit bummed, “Stiles do you not celebrate your birthday?”

Stiles shrugged again, “not really, I just sort of treat it like any other day, you know? I used to basically hang out with Scott all day and then we’d go out to eat with my dad and if Scott’s mom could get off work she would come too and then I’d get a present and that’s it.”

“You don’t have birthday parties?” Laura asked, Kira, Cora, and Allison each leaned in anticipating his answer.

“I mean I’ve had some birthday parties but I was little and I didn’t really get along with a lot of the kids that came cause they all thought I was weird,” Stiles huffed; “literally I think I’ve had like three or four birthday parties and at every one of my birthday parties that I’ve had I was basically hanging out with Scott the entire time.”

No one said anything for a moment after that, Stiles could tell the girls weren’t sure what to say; Allison seemed especially down after hearing what Stiles said, “so last year Scott did at least hang out with you right?” Allison asked.

“Yeah um … it was before Lacrosse and everything so yeah, we were still pretty tight,” Stiles said.

“Speak of the devil,” Cora said looking past Stiles, her body language completely changed from warm and inviting to cold and threatening.

Stiles couldn’t find it in himself to turn around and Allison must have seen that so she stepped forward and stood next to Stiles to address Scott, “What do you want Scott?”

“I just came to talk to my friend,” Scott said and by the tone of his voice, Stiles could swear he was on the verge of tears.

“About what?” Cora asked.

Stiles heard a sniffle come from Scott, “it’s private.”

Stiles could see that Laura was concerned, “Stiles, do you want to talk to him?”

“No, screw that,” Cora said impatiently and she stepped up on the other side of Stiles to address Scott, “you can fuck off; God what is it with you? Why don’t you understand that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with you? How many times does he have to shoot you down before you realize that you fucked up and you failed at being his friend?!”

“Cora enough,” Laura said anxiously.

Cora whipped around and Stiles didn’t miss how irritated Cora looked with Laura, “No, it’s not enough Laura,” she turned back around to face Scott, “it’s what he deserves, he deserves to know about himself; he deserves to know that him and our brother and the pack of mutts that they hang out with are all monsters.” Cora said vindictively and hearing her say that sort of knocked the wind out of Stiles and she wasn’t even talking to him. “And since we’re being honest here, I don’t know how anyone of you can go to sleep at night knowing what you did, knowing what you were a part of; I don’t know how any of you can get up every day and look at yourself in the mirror without feeling disgusted at the monster that appears in your reflection!”

“CORA, STOP IT!” Laura yelled.

“Oh, get off it Laura,” Cora retorted, “you know I’m right, the only reason you don’t want to say anything is because you decided you wanted to start trying to forgive that idiot that calls himself our brother. You’re trying to be high and mighty and holier than thou and forgive and forget and you’ve been trying to force me to do the same, well I’M NOT DOING THAT! HE DOESN’T DESERVE IT AND NEITHER DO HIS IDIOT FRIENDS,” Cora yelled and spun around to face Scott again, “so Scott, when I tell you I think you're a monster, I mean it because what person would knowingly let their best friend, oh wait no I’m sorry,” she put her fingers up to make air quotations, “their brother, get beat up and treated like trash for an entire year by some shitheads and not do anything about it?”

It was quiet for a moment Laura and Kira were shocked into silence, Stiles didn’t have to glance at Allison to know she was probably hurting for Scott. He glanced over at Cora and she was sporting a malicious grin, “yeah … by the look on your face, you know I’m right; I just want you to know that it makes me happy to know that you finally know just how much of a piece of shit you are,” Cora said.

Stiles wasn’t angry at Cora for her words, she did a damn good job getting her point across; it was the same point Stiles had been trying to make ever since he decided that Scott wasn’t worth his time but Stiles had personal experience with words that hurt and if he knew anything he knew that Scott was probably a mess. He reached and grabbed Cora’s hand, “hey,” he said finally finding his voice; he knew that the only reason Cora was so angry was because she cared and because she probably felt that she needed to be angry for Stiles and lash out the way she thought Stiles should; he pulled her towards him and held her close, “thank you …” he whispered.

It took her a second before she hugged him back, “Stiles?”

“I don’t need you to be angry for me, it’s okay,” he struggled, he hated that Cora felt so strongly over his situation and that it bothered her so much. With the way, she was acting you would think she was the one to have gone through what Stiles went through and that just goes to show that she’s thought long and hard about everything that he’s dealt with and she took it personally. “I’m really sorry that I brought this on you but you don’t have to be angry for me, it’s not worth it,” he said.

“No I can be angry because it’s not fair,” Cora tried sounding like she was about to break down, “they did terrible things to you for no good reason and look what happened to them?” She pulled out of Stiles grasp to look him in the eye, “they spent three weeks in In-School-Suspension, they got a slap on the wrist and they were let off. Hell, from what we know Scott didn’t even get in trouble and he was just as much to blame as the rest of them, same with Lydia and that bitch Erica. It’s not fair that Scott thinks he can just come to you and constantly apologize and think everything is eventually going to be okay if he does it enough, same with Boyd. It’s ridiculous that they do that and it doesn’t make sense, they don’t realize that they’re just rubbing salt in the wound and they keep reminding you of what they did, thus hurting you even more; and don’t try and say that it doesn’t hurt you when they try and apologize to you because you and I both know that’s a lie because whenever you talk about running into them you smell sad and hurt and I hate that;” Cora said unable to hold back her tears.

“Even when we go out and have fun regardless of the smile that’s on your face, you’re still sad we all know it,” she said gesturing to Kira, Allison, and Laura; “and obviously, it’s because of what happened and it’s not fair that you still feel this way but they walk around like they don’t feel bad about a damn thing they did,” she said angrily wiping her face of the stray tears.

Stiles sighed, “okay … yeah, I do feel bad, I’m still sad and hurt about what happened, I can’t help it. It sucks that that happened but hey at least it’s not happening anymore and now I just want to get past it but it’s … it’s so hard. But I’m trying … I’m really, really trying but it’s hard because there are so many things that remind me of what happened, like when people talk about it around me or apologize for whatever happened between me and them or I don’t know … there are so many things. But even if that all wasn’t happening,” Stiles rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie and revealed his soul mark, “I still have this, it’s on me forever and it’s a reminder that the day I presented and right before this appeared on my arm my soulmate was gonna beat me up because I ran into him trying to get to the nurse’s office; and that reminds me of everything else that happened and it reminds me of how I felt all the while I was dealing with … them,” Stiles gestured in the direction of Scott. “How I was sad all the time and felt like I was different and lesser than everybody else, I felt that way for so long that it became my norm and being happy and carefree didn’t really … feel right. So, I’m sorry if that brings you down but you can’t let it get to you … you can’t,” Stiles said.

“Yes, I can, you’re my friend and it upsets me that you’re hurt and unwilling ad unable to stand up for yourself,” Cora said.

“Don’t treat me like I’m pathetic, I am perfectly capable of standing up for myself, especially now, before I was at a disadvantage because I didn’t present yet and I wasn’t very confident in myself but I’m good now, I can stand up for myself if I have to. But this isn’t about standing up for myself for you, this is about getting even, that’s what you want;” Stiles said.

“Yeah, yeah, I do want that because they deserve to know how you feel,” Cora complained.

“But I don’t want that because if I make them feel the way I do by getting back at them I’ll be no better than them, I’ll be a monster just like them and I don’t want that and I don’t want that for you either,” Stiles said.

Stiles knew his words hit home for Cora, her eyes widened and she gasped; Stiles was surprised to see her glance in Scott’s direction, he was nearly shell shocked when he saw a few tears come out of her eyes. She glanced back at him, “you’re right … I wouldn’t be any better than them if I wanted to get even I’d be just like them, I’m sorry.”

Stiles gave her another hug, “it’s okay …” he said as they held on to one another, “I need you to do me a favor,” he said.

“What?” She gasped as she tried to get ahold of herself.

“I need you guys to give me a moment alone with Scott,” Stiles said.

“No,” Cora said pulling back and wiping her face, “no, you can’t let him back in, what if he-“

“Cora please, I just need a moment,” Stiles pleaded, Laura walked over and grabbed hold of her sister’s hand in that moment.

“Come on, let’s go to the cafeteria and get some breakfast and get your face cleaned up,” Laura said.

“But Laura,” Cora whined.

“It’s okay, Stiles will be okay,” she said looking to him for reassurance to which he nodded.

“Let us know if you need anything,” Kira said walking up next to Stiles.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Stiles said.

“Allison?” Laura called.

Stiles looked back at Allison and then back towards Laura, “I think she needs to stay for this …”

Laura reluctantly nodded her head, “yeah … yeah okay … see you guys later.”

Stiles waved, “see ya,” he said as he watched Kira, Laura and a very reluctant Cora, walk towards the school.

Stiles turned to face Allison, he was surprised that all the while Scott had been there he still hadn’t looked in his direction, “hey are you okay?”

Allison didn’t need to turn towards him for Stiles to know that she had been crying, he could tell by the way she was sniffling and her staggered breaths, “he doesn’t look so good,” she managed.

Stiles sighed, he was going to have to face Scott eventually, he wasn’t prepared for the sight before him, though; Scott stood only a few feet away with his head hung low and he was crying, crying in a way that Stiles has only seen him cry once before when his father left. But it wasn’t the sight of Scott looking so extremely hurt and broken that got Stiles it was the fact that in his left hand he held a gift bag and Stiles didn’t need to see all of it, to know it was a birthday bag, “so you remembered?” he said.

Scott didn’t answer he simply stayed the way he was, “Scott …” Allison called, “hey Scott,” she tried again but he still didn’t budge.

Stiles wasn’t really sure what to do so he did the first thing that came to mind and walked over to Scott and got in an arm’s reach of him, “Scott?”

“She’s right … I’m a really, really bad person,” Scott struggled to say.

Stiles said nothing in response, “I shouldn’t have abandoned you, I shouldn’t have let what happened, happen … I shoulda helped you when you asked me to, I shouldn’t have pretended like I didn’t see what was happening …” Scott gasped. “But I did and-and I hate myself for that,” Scott hunched over a little and started grabbing at his chest with his right hand, “it’s eating at me every day and Stiles,” Scott looked up and finally looked Stiles in the eyes, “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry I’m-“ he cut himself off with a gasp and began to wail.

He was clearly hurt and he knew that what he did was wrong, Stiles would never say it aloud but the way Scott looked now was utterly pathetic; broken, defeated and ready to give up. Stiles still made no attempts at comforting the boy before him though, he still wasn’t sure how to go about addressing Scott; Allison however did not have Stiles resolve and could not bear the sight before her any longer and came from behind Stiles and grabbed hold of Scott’s head and lifted it up so that he had no choice but to look her in the eyes, “Scott you need to get ahold of yourself, pull it together Scott please, you don’t need other people seeing you like this,” Allison pleaded as she held back tears of her own.

Stiles frowned at the sight before him, he took a quick glance around the parking lot and go figure there were more than a few people eavesdropping in on what was going on, people just couldn’t learn to mind their own business; Stiles sighed at the sight and looked back towards Scott and Allison, this wasn’t fair to Scott he shouldn’t have to put himself out on display just to show how sorry he is but Stiles shouldn’t care what is or isn’t fair to Scott but unlike those who treated him wrong, he is a good person. “Scott … Scott stop crying,” he said but Scott didn’t listen, so Stiles took it upon himself to move closer to him and Allison moved aside, “Scott, hey … hey, buddy can you-“

Scott took a few small cautious steps forward and then leaned forward into Stiles shoulder, “please … please let me try to do better,” he pleaded.

Stiles still felt unsure of what to do, he looked over to Allison who was trying to pull herself together, “Scott, why don’t you give Stiles your present,” she said.

Stiles nodded his thanks to her and Scott pulled back from Stiles lifted his head and did his best to pull himself together, “here,” he said holding out Stiles gift, “I might have been a shitty friend to you the past year but I’ll never forget important days like your birthday.”

Stiles looked at the gift and took it from Scott, “glad you didn’t forget,” he said. He looked inside the bag and the first thing he saw was a card, behind it was either a video game or a movie. Stiles pulled out the card first, upon first glance he knew there was something in the card because the envelope was fatter than normal, he opened it and found a key chain inside with a figure on it, it was Han Solo’s ship the Millennium Falcon. Stiles held onto it and took the card out and put the envelope in the bag, on the front of the card was a simple Happy Birthday and a cartoon picture of two animals, a bear, and a panda, smiling happily and hugging one another. Stiles opened the card and immediately caught sight of a photo of himself and Scott taped to the upright corner of the card it was when they were about 7 or 8 years old and the two of them were smiling wide at the camera. On the left side of the card was a message and under was a note taped to the card the message read:

I wrote too much and it all wouldn’t fit on the card, please read the note.

If Stiles hadn’t known Scott all his life, he would have struggled to read his less than stellar penmanship. He took the note out of the card and opened it and it read:

Dear Stiles,

If you’re reading this note that means I somehow managed to get this present to you and I hope you’re willing to read this all the way through. There’s a picture of us in this card it was at my 8th birthday party and we had just broken a plate and hid the pieces under the couch; we thought we got away with it but my mom knew and thought it was the perfect time to take a picture of us being caught in the act. I have a whole bunch of pictures of us just like this, all at different ages, at different times and each one showcases a new experience that we went through together. I have all these pictures of us throughout our lives but there’s one of us that I have that I don’t necessarily like, I was going to put it on this card but I figured it would probably throw you off and make you throw it away so I’ll show it to you some other time (hopefully). The picture was taken this past year, the day after one of my lacrosse games, I can’t really remember what team we played against but we had won and we were initially supposed to go out and celebrate that same night but I went and did other things, regretfully. Anyway, the picture is of you, me, your dad and my mom and we were at the diner, I didn’t particularly look great in the photo, actually, no one did. It’s weird when I look at it, you would think that we were strangers to one another, your dad and my mom are forcing a smile and you didn’t smile at all, you actually didn’t look at the camera, you were looking at your right arm and your sleeve happened to be rolled up and I don’t know why I didn’t notice before and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to notice after the fact but you were covering up a bruise on your arm.

It's there, clear as day and I never noticed, I didn’t even notice it that night at the diner. I remember around that time you kept telling me that my friends were messing around with you but I never took you seriously and I should have because every time you told me I never heard a lie but I didn’t want to believe that because I stupidly believed they were better than that. That picture is the worst picture I have of us by far and I want to throw it away or burn it and wipe it out of existence but I can’t because I realize I’m only throwing away a reminder of the events that happened this past year and something that could teach me a thing or two about myself.

There’s a saying I’m sure you know, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone.’ It’s the truest thing I’ve ever heard in my life, you were everything to me and more and I let you go as if you were nothing and I’d give anything to have my brother back. I know you hate me right now because I screwed up and I am so sorry for that and I know there’s nothing I can do that will erase what happened no matter how much I wish I could. This may sound a little weird but I watch you every day, I see you with your new friends and I see you being happy and I wish more than anything that I could be right there with you again.

Even if you never find it in you to forgive me and give me another chance, know that I’ll never stop trying to get it from you anyway. With that being said, Happy Birthday, I hope you have a good day, I love and I miss you so much.

Scott

PS My mom says hi and she misses you.

As Stiles folded up the note he thought back to the night at the diner and the particular bruise the Scott was talking about; if he remembered correctly he had got slugged on the arm at the end of School by either Jackson or Isaac and the bruise it made took a while to heal. At the diner the following night Scott had seemed a little distant, most of the time he was paying attention to his phone or trying to cover up the fact that he was nursing a hangover, he and Stiles barely talked. Usually in an event like that either Stiles would wind up staying over at Scott’s house or vice versa but when they were leaving the diner and the topic got brought up Scott bailed because he was ‘feeling under the weather;’ but he was A-Okay to hang out at the lake the following morning with Derek and his friends.

Stiles couldn’t help feeling hurt after remembering the events, he placed the folded note back in the birthday card, closed it and put it back in the bag. He pulled out the other item in the bag and was none too surprised to see another note on the front of whatever it was, he pulled it off and saw that it was Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens for PS4. He opened the new note and it read:

Hey again,

Knowing you you’re probably thinking about the diner now and the night we took that picture and maybe something else. I know you probably remember that we didn’t talk much that night and I turned down a sleep over but I hope you remember one of the few conversations we did have that night; we talked about asking your dad or my mom to take us to the game store to get this game and we’d play through it together. I know it’s been a while since that night and chances are you probably already have the game and beaten it, if you have the receipts in the bag you can exchange it for something else.

Happy Birthday again and I’m sorry for everything.

Stiles never did get the game, he waited with false hope thinking that Scott would eventually come around to asking to get the game with him but he never did, he was always busy. Stiles grunted and put the game back in the bag and pulled out his keys to his jeep and walked over to it without a word. He unlocked his door and put the gift bag in his passenger’s seat and pulled out the keychain and attached it to his car keys before he got out and locked up his jeep. He wasn’t going to forgive Scott, not yet, he knew that if he let him off that easily Scott wouldn’t fully learn his lesson. He strode over to Scott with a new-found confidence and stood right in front of him, “Scott look at me,” he said.

Scott looked up at him slowly, his eyes were bloodshot from all the crying he was doing but that did not deter Stiles from what he needed to say, “just because I accept your gift doesn’t mean I forgive you, because I don’t, but I am happy that you did this for me and that you remembered my birthday. You spent so long looking past me and pushing me away that I thought you’d forget basically everything about me but you didn’t … and that makes me happy. But even with all that … right now I won’t let go of what you did, I won’t forget what you did; you hurt me, Scott, you were the one person I trusted more than anything and you broke that, now I don’t trust you anymore but that doesn’t mean I can’t trust you again.”

Stiles fell silent looking over the boy he used to call a brother, “anybody else would probably tell you to go fuck yourself and play in traffic …” Scott gasped at that but Stiles didn’t let him get a word out, “but I’m not, in fact, I’m gonna do something crazy … but only because it’s you, I’m gonna give you that second chance.”

“Stiles,” Scott whined.

“This doesn’t mean things are back to the way they were, not by a long shot,” Stiles said quickly he didn’t want Scott to get the wrong idea and make him think they were on good terms again. “It probably won’t be for a while, I told you I don’t trust you anymore so now you have to give me a reason to trust you again, you understand?”

Scott nodded, “yeah I do.”

“Good,” Stiles said, he wasn’t sure where to go from there; looked to Allison who appeared to be very concerned about Scott, “I think you two probably need to talk now, I’m gonna go.”

“Wait,” Scott said quickly, “will you at least talk to me now or are you still too mad?”

Stiles thought over the question for a moment, Stiles figured that Scott wouldn’t really have much success regaining his trust again if he wasn’t willing to at least converse with him; “I won’t shoot you down if you try to talk to me,” he said.

“So then you’ll talk to me?” Scott asked stupidly.

Stiles huffed, “yes Scott, I’ll talk to you … but don’t push it, though.” Scott nodded and said nothing after that and Stiles was at a loss for words, “I’m gonna go …” he looked to Allison, “see you later?” He asked and she nodded in return and with that Stiles bolted out of there as if he needed to be anywhere but there.

Derek's POV

Derek had kinda been playing each day by ear, for the most part, the talk about him and his friends around school died down immensely over the last week especially after he and the football team completely trounced their opponent at their recent game. Things were slowly but surely getting back to normal, at school at least, at home, on the other hand, it was still a little bit hectic; Laura was at least trying to make things easy between them but Cora was a completely different story entirely. Even Derek’s dad still seemed a little wary of him but his mom seemed to have gotten passed her resentment towards him. Peter stopped antagonizing him with his harsh jokes but that was probably because his Aunt Lynn was getting closer and closer to having the baby and all his focus was on her.

Regardless his home life still wasn’t as unified and welcoming as it was before he got busted; but it’ll get back there eventually so long as he stuck to the promise he made himself, to do right by the ones he hurt. That promise would be tested now, as his mother drove up to the school and parked in front, she noticed Jackson, Boyd, Isaac, Erica, Lydia and Paige all hanging out with one another, “Derek hold on don’t get out yet,” his mother said as he was taking his seatbelt off.

“What’s wrong mom?” He asked.

“I haven’t talked to you about your friends and I know I should have after what happened … I’m not sure if your father has said anything to you yet but I’m not sure how I feel about you hanging out with them especially after what happened,” she said.

“Mom, they’re literally my best friends,” he said.

“You can make new friends,” she said.

He felt a little frantic, one thing he didn’t want to lose were people he considered important to himself, “but mom,” he tried and his mother was quick to cut him off.

“Derek I don’t want you hanging out with people that are going to influence you to get into trouble … think about what’s already happened,” she said.

“No mom that was my fault, that was all my fault, I take responsibility for my actions, I wasn’t influenced by anyone but myself. I knew what I was doing and it was stupid but that was on me,” Derek tried.

“While that may be true have you ever stopped to realize that maybe you wouldn’t have done what you did if your friends weren’t already doing it?” His mother asked.

That was the question that backed him into a corner because on one hand who really knows if Derek would have done anything to Stiles if his friends weren’t already messing with him but on the other hand, does it matter? It happened and he knows that he was to blame for it, he made a bad choice and that was that. But even knowing that he knew he was in no position to argue his point unless he wants to go back to having his mother being pissed off at him again; he frowned and looked out the window, “fine … I won’t be friends with them anymore.”

His mother groaned, “when you say it like that you make me seem like a terrible person,” Derek turned to look at her ready to discredit her words but she didn’t give him the chance, “your 17 years old and while you haven’t necessarily made the best decisions, you are capable of making your own decisions.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “so if you feel that your friends are dragging you down then I implore you to stop hanging out with them, you don’t have to completely cut them out of your life but you need to hang around other people, preferably people that want what’s best for you. But if you feel that your friends are what’s best for you and they’re capable of staying out of trouble then by all means stay friends, stay close and don’t get into any more trouble and if you feel that one of you is going down a bad path be a good friend and tell them and help them off it. Do I make myself clear?”

Derek nodded, “yes mam.”

His mother looked over to him and looked him dead in the eyes, “Derek listen to me because I’m only going to say this once, if you get into any more trouble with them or because of them I promise you this much I will make sure you never speak to them again, do you understand me?”

Derek nodded again, “yes mam.”

She nodded, “fine,” she waved him out of the car, “go, have a nice day and stay out of trouble.”

Derek hurriedly got out of the car, “bye mom see you at home,” he said as he closed the door. He dodged a major bullet and he was relieved at that, he ran over to his group of friends and they all greeted him the moment they saw him, “hey guys,” he said high fiving the boys, Erica stole a hug from him as did Paige, Lydia wasn’t the affectionate type so she just said ‘hey.’ He looked around the group and noticed Scott wasn’t there, “where’s Scott?”

Everyone looked past Derek back towards the parking lot, Erica pointed, “he’s uh … doing something,” she said.

“What?” Derek asked and turned around, he looked around and immediately recognized Scott walking out towards the parking lot, “what’s he doing?”

Lydia stood next to Derek, “well he said he needed to go do something and he’s carrying a birthday bag and I know for a fact that Allison’s birthday already passed and the gift that he’s carrying definitely didn’t look like it was a girl so it’s for someone else … and I’m gonna assume that someone else is Stilinski, I think today might be his birthday.”

Derek looked on at Scott and sighed, “oh,” he wasn’t sure why but he felt a little weird after hearing that but he couldn’t exactly tell what he was feeling. He looked past Scott and followed the direction he was walking and spotted his sisters and Allison, along with another girl he didn’t recognize standing next to a jeep that Derek knew belonged to Stilinski who speaking of which was currently being surrounded by the girls, “1,2,3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” He heard them yell.

“And that confirms it,” Lydia said offhandedly.

“Scott was trying to figure out something to do for him,” Isaac said coming up on the other side of Derek to stand next to him, “he’s been obsessing over this for the past week, this is important to him … Stilinski is important to him.”

“Why doesn’t he just ask him out on a date then?” Jackson asked sarcastically, the only person that seemed to find that funny was Erica.

“Hey, Jackson don’t be like that, please.” Derek heard Paige say.

“If I knew his birthday was coming I would have gotten him a card,” Boyd said.

“You’re not serious right now,” Jackson retorted.

“What? I’ve been apologizing to the guy every day since we got busted and he hasn’t exactly tried to do anything to get back at me all the while and he’s done nothing but be respectful and even nice to me, when he doesn’t have to be,” Boyd said defensively.

Erica scoffed, “oh come on Boyd if he was nice he would have forgiven you by now,” Erica said bitterly.

Derek noticed Lydia turn around to face Erica, “No if he was pathetic he would have forgiven him already,” Lydia said in a callous manner, which made Derek wonder what Lydia was implying.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Erica asked.

“It means that if you actually stop and take the time to think about the situation, he doesn’t have to forgive any of us; especially when you consider everything that we did to him. You would think that would be obvious to someone with a fully functioning brain but I’m starting to doubt yours is working properly,” Lydia said.

Derek could see Lydia’s comment took Erica by surprise, “wow why don’t you tell me how you really feel? Matter fact why don’t you tell me what your problem is while you’re at it,” Erica retorted.

Derek knew Lydia wasn’t one to back down, “why don’t you tell us why you still seem to have such a huge issue with Stilinski?” Lydia shot back.

“Wow,” Erica said genuinely surprised, “you try and tell me my brain is working properly yet you can’t even understand something that should be obvious and should piss you off too; he snitched and got my boyfriend and your boyfriend in trouble and made a big deal about something that wasn’t even that serious.”

Derek could see how disappointed everyone was in that comment by their reactions, Isaac sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose, Paige rolled her eyes, Boyd looked shell-shocked; Jackson looked taken aback which was surprising even to Derek and Lydia seemed all around fed up. “Erica … you’re 17 years old but after hearing what you just said you sound more like you’re an 8-year-old throwing a tantrum, grow up. Them getting in trouble was our fault and-“

“Woah hey guys Cora is kinda grilling Scott,” Isaac chimed in suddenly.

Derek turned around immediately and looked back over in the direction of Stilinski’s jeep and sure enough, Isaac was right, Cora was currently going on a tirade and she wasn’t filtering anything. He heard everything she had to say, from how she felt about the entire situation and why she was so upset about it. The tirade lasted for what felt like an eternity, Derek was surprised to see Laura was unable to stop Cora’s ranting. It wasn’t until Stilinski pulled her in for a surprise hug that she finally calmed down a little bit, “monster’s huh … maybe she’s right about that,” Lydia said quietly.

Derek couldn’t help but ask, “what do you mean?”

Lydia sighed, “I don’t know, lately I just can’t stop thinking about everything that happened; mostly because I was forcing myself to understand why Allison would get so upset about what happened and … in doing so I started to realize some things that I definitely should have realized a lot sooner.”

Lydia didn’t elaborate on her realization she seemed too focused on the conversation going on between Stiles and Cora, so Derek focused back on them as well, “I’m really sorry that I brought this on you but you don’t have to be angry for me, it’s not worth it,” Derek heard Stilinski say to Cora.  Derek listened as Cora refuted what Stilinski said and he shuddered when he heard her mention that he felt the punishment he and his friends got was light. Derek probably should have stopped listening to what was being said because the next thing he heard would be something that would wound him and test his control unlike any time before.

“I didn’t think that constantly apologizing would hurt him …,” Boyd commented sounding a bit uneasy.

“I didn’t think she thought I was a bitch,” Erica mentioned.

Derek heard everything they were saying but his mind was stuck on what Stilinski had just said:

“okay … yeah, I do feel bad, I’m still sad and hurt about what happened, I can’t help it. It sucks that that happened but hey at least it’s not happening anymore and now I just want to get past it but it’s … it’s so hard.”

‘It’s so hard, it’s so hard, it’s so hard, so hard, so hard, so hard, hard, hard, hard,’ the last three words Stilinski said repeated like an echo in Derek’s head. He zoned out and remembered another part of what Stilinski said:

“But I’m trying … I’m really, really trying but it’s hard because there are so many things that remind me of what happened, like when people talk about it around me or apologize for whatever happened between me and them or I don’t know … there are so many things.”

‘It’s so hard, so many things, it’s so hard, so many things,’ the words repeated, over and over again and Derek started to feel like he was suffocating when he thought of the next thing Stilinski said.

“But even if that all wasn’t happening, I still have this,”

‘I still have this, I still have this, I still have this,’ Derek knew that he was referring to his mark and thinking about that drove his wolf wild and his control started to wane.

“it’s on me forever and it’s a reminder that the day I presented and right before this appeared on my arm my soulmate was gonna beat me up because I ran into him trying to get to the nurse’s office; and that reminds me of everything else that happened and it reminds me of how I felt all the while I was dealing with … them,”

‘Dealing with … them, them, them, dealing with them, dealing with … me,’ Derek grabbed at his chest and tried to pull himself together before anyone noticed but the more he struggled to regain control the worst he felt.

“How I was sad all the time and felt like I was different and lesser than everybody else, I felt that way for so long that it became my norm and being happy and carefree didn’t really … feel right.”

“Different … lesser … didn’t feel right, feel right, right, right, right, lesser, different, happy … didn’t feel right,” there was a cyclone going on in Derek’s mind and it was getting the better of him and his wolf was taking full advantage of that.

“Derek … hey, Derek you okay?” He heard someone say but he couldn’t be sure who it was.

“Yo Derek,” he heard again but this time he felt someone touch his shoulder and immediately reacted by swiping at whoever it was touching him. “DUDE what the hell?!” Boyd said backing away from him.

So, it was Boyd who had touched him, “Derek what’s wrong with you?” Erica said.

“Dude you’re kinda wolfing out,” Jackson said a little perplexed.

“Derek … dude try and chill out,” Isaac said cautiously.

“Hey Derek,” Paige said stepping forward, “what’s going on? Talk to us,” she tried.

Derek wasn’t aware of it before but he was breathing in a manner that would tell anyone that he was hyperventilating and he couldn’t get a grip on himself. His friends tried to console him but to no avail, he couldn’t find it in himself to calm down, his mind kept repeating Stilinski’s words over and over again in his head and it was driving him insane.

“I know why this is happening,” Lydia said amongst his friend's many voices and they all quieted down to listen to what she had to say. Derek struggled but he managed to look to her and focus in on what she was about to say, “it’s Stilinski … Derek’s reacting to what he said, its kind of obvious, but it doesn’t really make sense,” Lydia looked back in Stilinski’s direction, “I’ve heard of things like this happening with soul bound couples but all of us know you and Stilinski aren’t even friends and there’s no way in hell the two of you went through a mating ceremony to complete your soul bond so the question is …” she turned around to face Derek eyeing him skeptically, “why are you being affected like this?”

“Wait a minute you and Stilinski got hitched!???” Jackson exclaimed.

“No, Jackson don’t be an idiot,” Lydia hissed.

Jackson looked a little stunned, “But you said-“

“I said that I’ve heard of things like this happening between soul bound couples, I didn’t say it only happens between soul bound couples,” Lydia retorted.

“Okay well if this happens with everybody how do you fix it?” Paige asked frantically.

“I didn’t exactly say it happens with everybody either, look from what I know I’ve only ever heard of it happening between soul bound couples it’s kind of like a failsafe or at least that’s what people say,” Lydia said.

“Okay but that’s not really explaining anything,” Isaac interjected.

“Well if you let me finish I’ll get to the point,” Lydia said irritably, “as I was saying they called it bond dysphoria and it happens when-“

“Whenever the bond between soulmates becomes strained,” Derek rasped out. He knew what Lydia was talking he read about it once or twice a while ago when he was reading up on soulmates.

“Right … that’s right,” Lydia said a little perplexed.

“Derek,” Paige said as she tried to reach out and touch him.

Derek immediately reacted and flinched back, “don’t touch me …”

“Derek, dude calm down,” Isaac tried.

Derek looked back out in the direction Stilinski was in and the first thing that caught his eyes were his sisters walking away from Stilinski. They were both walking hand in hand, Cora seemed reluctant to leave Stilinski behind but Laura looked like she was adamant to get her away from the situation that was until she made eye contact with Derek then she suddenly stopped in her tracks and caught Cora by surprise. Derek didn’t keep eye contact for too long he knew his sister and by the look on her face he knew that she knew something was wrong with him and he wasn’t going to stick around and tell her what exactly it was that he was dealing with. “I gotta get outta here,” Derek struggled to say.

“Dude you’re bugging out, where are you going to go?” Isaac tried, he then stepped up to him and he obviously didn’t learn his lesson from the last two times someone had tried to touch Derek because he grabbed his shoulder and attempted to spin Derek around to look at him, “Derek!”

Derek shoved him back immediately, “I said don’t touch me,” he growled out in a low threatening voice. He didn’t stop to see his friend’s reactions, he simply ran up the stairs and made a break for the school being careful to keep his face somewhat covered so no one could see he was on the verge of losing control although his claws being out was kind of a dead giveaway. As he entered the school he bolted for the nearest restroom, when he got in he completely ignored whether or not anyone was in the bathroom and ran into the nearest stall, “dude did you see that?” He heard a guy say.

“Yeah that looked like Derek Hale …” he heard another guy respond.

Next thing he knew he heard the door to the boy's bathroom open then Boyd ordering the boys to get out, “Derek … Derek you in here?”

“Leave me alone,” Derek said, he noticed Boyd had started checking the other stalls probably to make sure there was no one else in the bathroom.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Boyd asked as he came to stand in front of his stall.

Was he gonna be okay? With the state that he was in the answer to that question was simple, “no,” he rasped out. Stilinski’s words still rung on repeat in his head and he couldn’t help imagining every bad encounter he had with him. Given the situation, one thing that was quite surprising to Derek was that the bond he shared with his wolf was stronger than ever, they were practically back to being one mind although his wolf was currently trying to take charge.

“it’s a reminder that the day I presented and right before this appeared on my arm my soulmate was gonna beat me up because I ran into him trying to get to the nurse’s office.”

“How I was sad all the time and felt like I was different and lesser than everybody else, I felt that way for so long that it became my norm and being happy and carefree didn’t really … feel right.”

Stilinski’s voice was clear as day in Derek’s mind, he sank down to the floor and cradled his head in his knees, “hey Boyd …”

“Yeah?” Boyd answered.

“You ever feel really guilty about something that it just … tears you apart from the inside out?”

“Yeah …” Boyd whispered.

“How’d you deal?”

Derek knew Boyd better than anyone and he knew that he would catch his vibe, “I didn’t …” Boyd said solemnly, “after we got in trouble I think about what we did every day and I feel … so bad every time especially when I make an effort to apologize because instead of getting cussed out or facing some kind of retaliation for what I was involved in … he just kind of doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t call me names, he hears me out and it’s even gotten to the point that he asks me how I’m doing and I feel terrible knowing I was heartless to him every time before this just … just because.”

Boyd knew exactly how Derek was feeling and that thought helped Derek calm down slightly, “yeah I get what you mean,” he said.

“But you know there’s one good thing about feeling guilty, right?” Boyd asked suddenly.

“What’s that?” Derek wondered.

“At least we know we’re not monsters … monsters don’t feel bad about the things they do,” Boyd said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that …” Derek said as he contemplated Boyd’s words, “hey, Boyd can you give me a minute?”

“Yeah man … I’ll be right outside,” he answered and Derek heard him walk out of the boy’s bathroom, he didn’t need to tell Boyd how much he appreciated him because he had a feeling Boyd knew.

He pulled his phone out, found his mother’s number and called it, it only rang once before she answered, “Hi sweetie,” she answered.

“Mom,” he rasped into the phone, “mom I’m not doing too good and-“

“You need to come home,” she said as if she knew what Derek needed, “I’m still outside, I heard mostly everything,” she said and go figure she would know what was going on.

“Mom I feel … I feel so bad,” Derek tried.

“I know, I knew you eventually would, it happens to almost everyone but Derek you know that’s just part of what makes you human right?”

“Yeah …” he whispered, by this point, there was a commotion going on outside of the boy’s bathroom, Derek could hear Laura arguing with Boyd; “mom I’ll head outside in a minute.”

“Take all the time you need, I’m going to let the attendance office know you’ll be out for the day,” she said.

“Thanks, mom,” he said.

“See you in a little bit,” she said before hanging up the phone.

Derek hung up and sat his phone down on the ground next to him and next thing he knew he was punching the toilet paper dispenser letting out his frustration with not only the situation but himself; he hit it so hard he not only dented it but knocked it off the stall wall. The action did help to calm him a bit more and he found that he was slowly but surely regaining control over himself, so he grabbed his phone and got up, walked over to one of the sinks and splashed his face with some cold water before he got up the nerve to walk out of the boy’s bathroom.

“Boyd I just want to see my …” Laura stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Derek walk out of the bathroom.

“I’m going home,” Derek said.

“What are-are you okay?” Laura asked flustered.

“No … but I will be,” Derek answered.

“Oh-okay um, I’ll … we’ll see you at home,” Laura said.

“Yeah …” Derek turned to Boyd, “sorry to run out on you. Can you tell everybody else that I’m leaving?”

“Yeah man, don’t worry I completely understand,” Boyd said, “see you later?”

“Yeah …” Derek said and started to walk past both Boyd and Laura and he was going to walk out of the school until he stopped himself and turned towards Cora, “I’m sorry I hurt your friend …”

Cora didn’t say anything for a moment, “you should apologize to him … when he’s ready to hear it,” she said.

Derek nodded, he knew his sister was still pissed at him so there was no point dragging the conversation out; he turned about and began walking out of the school without another word. He only needed to round one corner and from there he had a straight shot to the front of the school but just as soon as he came to that corner he slammed into somebody; the force of the blow wasn’t enough to knock him on the floor or anything it just caught him by surprise the other person he ran into however wound up falling. Now wasn’t particularly the best time to run into somebody considering he wasn’t fully in control yet. His instincts were screaming at him to force whoever ran into him to submit, he could feel his claws slowly coming back out and his control was starting to wane again, that was until he heard the voice of the person he ran into, “That was my fault, I totally deserved that.”

Derek froze for just a moment, all thoughts of doing anything completely ceased; his claws retracted immediately and he found that he was thinking with a clear mind and had a full sense of control, “crap where’d my phone go … hey, I’m really sorry I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I-“ Stilinski stopped and gasped and Derek knew then that Stilinski must have realized who he ran into. Derek could scent the fear and anxiety coming off him in waves and it only helped to make him feel even more guilty than he did before:

“it’s a reminder that the day I presented and right before this appeared on my arm my soulmate was gonna beat me up because I ran into him trying to get to the nurse’s office.”

Derek recalled Stiles words, 'Not this time,’ Derek thought to himself, he looked around and immediately spotted Stilinski’s phone on the ground and picked it up. He then turned towards Stilinski and offered him a hand but Stilinski was too fearful of him and instead of accepting Derek’s hand and the help up he braced himself as if he were about to get hit and the sight of that hurt Derek more than he could imagine. Stilinski stayed turned away from Derek’s hand, bracing himself for a hit that would never come and Derek wasn’t patient enough to wait for him to realize he wasn’t going to hurt him so he shoved Stilinski’s phone in his back pocket and leaned down and gently grabbed under his arm and lifted him up to a standing position. Stilinski seemed blown away by the action and seemed like he was at a loss for words, Derek took that opportunity to get his phone out of his back pocket, “here,” he said as he grabbed one of Stilinski’s hands and placed the phone in it, “be careful,” Derek told him before he left him standing there to go meet his mother in the parking lot.

Stiles POV

*3 days later*

The last 3 days were not what Stiles expected them to be, his dad threw him a mini surprise party at home, Kira and her family along with Ben had come over for dinner that night to help Stiles celebrate and it wasn’t all that bad. Cora was a little jealous that Kira got to celebrate his birthday with him and she didn’t so they made plans to celebrate over the weekend, they were originally gonna go out somewhere but then Laura suggested that they have a small party at their house especially since her parents and her aunt and uncle would be out of town that weekend. It sounded like a good idea at first but Laura wound up mentioning it to Braeden and one of their friends and that friend wound up telling their friends who then mentioned it to someone else and now half of the school thinks Laura is hosting some kind of wild rager. Stiles was eager to back out and uninvite himself to that party but Laura and Cora insisted he come since the party is specifically for him. Allison, Kira, Cora, Laura and even Braeden promised to have something early for Stiles before it gets too wild, Scott somehow managed to get invited to that too, much to Cora’s disapproval.

Laura also assured Stiles he wouldn’t have to worry about Derek, since their parents would be out of town he was most likely going to use the opportunity to hang out with his friends elsewhere, so he probably wouldn’t be home, not that that made Stiles feel any better about the party. Aside from the party there was the small issue Allison was facing in the fact that her Aunt was unexpectedly coming to town and she was making a pretty big deal about it; and speaking of Allison now that her and Scott were back on sort of good terms he was around a lot more although he did respect Stiles wishes and keep his distance, which not only made Stiles happy but also Cora.

Now Stiles was dreading going into French, not because he was afraid of running into anybody, but because he had a test that he wasn’t 100% sure he could pass. “Stiles it’s a French test,” Cora said in a slightly annoyed manner, “you’re gonna be fine.”

Stiles frowned, “yeah but what if there’s something that I forgot to study or what if Ms. Morrell threw something on the test as a surprise?”

“If that happens, I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine. How come you’re freaking out so much about this but you never freak out like this when we have test in Chemistry?” Cora wondered.

Stiles shrugged, “I freak out a little bit … just not as much cause I sort of know what I’m doing and know what to expect.”

“Okay then use that confidence that you have for chemistry and apply it to French and you’ll be fine …” Cora tried.

Stiles sighed, Cora was right he needed to stop freaking out about the exam and relax, ‘Just gotta keep a clear head,’ he thought to himself. “This is only one of the many reasons I’m happy you’re my friend,” he said to Cora

Cora scoffed, “what would you do without me?”

“Good question,” Stiles said.

“You going to your locker before class?” Cora asked.

“Yeah, I gotta get some things out of there, you gonna go to class?”

“I think I’ll go with you,” Cora offered.

“I’m coming too,” Kira said coming up from behind them.

“Oh, hey Kira,” Stiles said.

“Hey, what’s up?” Cora wondered.

Kira sighed, “First hour is what’s up I have too much homework from that one class and so much more from the rest.”

“Why don’t you just switch out and take a different class?” Cora asked.

“I could but then my parents would get on me and I don’t wanna hear them in my ear about slacking in school,” Kira said.

“I totally get what you mean,” Cora said.

“Is it really slacking if you’re just making sure you don’t have too much of a workload?” Stiles asked.

“I guess you’re kinda right about that,” Kira said, “hey are any of you guys kind of worried about Allison?”

“Oh, you mean the thing with her aunt coming to town, right?” Cora asked.

They made it to Stiles locker by this point, “yeah she’s like really freaking out about it, it’s making me worry for her,” Kira said.

“Well she did say that her aunt and grandpa don’t necessarily get along with her parents and her aunt is kind of showing up with no warning what so ever so it’s understandable why she would be a little spun,” Stiles said as he opened his locker and went through his things.

“Spun Stiles? She’s literally freaking out,” Kira said.

“Look there’s not much we can do about her aunt coming down … all we can do is support her and make sure that she doesn’t drive herself crazy because of this,” Stiles said.

“Yeah you’re right … hey uh, do you … oh my God …” Kira never finished her sentence as something took her by surprise. Stiles heard someone walk up on the other side of his locker but his locker door was blocking his view and he couldn’t see who it was but he had an idea and he assumed it was most likely Scott.

“Hey Scott,” he said just before he closed his locker door and started fixing his things in his bag.

“Derek?” Cora said awestruck.

Stiles looked up from his bag and turned towards the direction of the person he thought was Scott and saw none other than Mr. Hotshot Derek Hale standing next to his locker staring at him. “I need to talk to you,” he said looking Stiles dead in the eyes.

Stiles couldn’t function, a million thoughts ran through his head at a mile a minute and he was sure he was probably going to have a mental breakdown at any moment. This wasn’t exactly what he needed right before his exam, ‘So much for trying to relax and keeping a clear head,’ he thought to himself.

Chapter Text

Derek's POV

“Hey, Boyd …” Derek said as he lifted his dumbbell weight.

“Yeah,” Boyd struggled to say as he lifted weights next to him.

“I think I’m gonna do something really stupid after class and I need you to talk me out of it,” Derek said as he did another rep.

Boyd dropped his weights and immediately looked to Derek shell-shocked, “whatever you’re gonna do is stupid and you shouldn’t do it because I’m pretty sure you can’t afford to get into any more trouble.”

“Who said anything about getting in trouble?” Derek asked as he dropped his weights.

“Then what the hell are you gonna do?” Boyd asked quickly.

Derek glanced at Boyd for a moment and contemplated telling him his plan, “you know what forget it … I’m just gonna do it.”

Boyd was staring at him like he was stupid, “dude … what?”

“We gotta go get cleaned up … bells about to ring,” Derek said as he headed for the exit to the weight room.

Boyd followed behind him silently for a moment before asking, “what is going on with you man? You’ve been absent the last 3 days and now you’re acting funny, what’s up?”

“I had some time to myself and I got to thinking and now I’m … I don’t know, I’m just doing something,” Derek said.

“Spur of the moment, just like that? And it’s something stupid?” Boyd asked.

Derek thought about his questions for a short moment, “it might not be stupid … but it’s different, it’s something I wouldn’t exactly expect myself to do.”

Boyd held a skeptical expression, “then why are you doing it?”

Derek frowned and immediately regretted mentioning anything, “You know what … let’s just forget I even brought that up, cool?”

“Cool, so you know Paige has been asking about you ever since you left; are you not texting her or something?” Boyd wondered.

“Paige? I talked to her every day that I was out …” Derek said a little baffled.

“Oh,” Boyd said seemingly taken aback, “well maybe I’m just reading into things but she was asking about you a lot the day you left early and then she kept asking questions the days you weren’t here … it seemed like she was convinced she didn’t know something.”

Derek wasn’t sure why she would act like that, “she’s probably just being super worried over nothing,” Derek shrugged, “you know she gets like that sometimes.”

Boyd didn’t seem too convinced with Derek’s deduction, “I guess …”

Derek didn’t touch on the subject any further instead he opted to grab his change of clothes and made a break for the showers and hurriedly got cleaned up, whether or not Boyd noticed, he made no mention of it. “I’ll catch you after second hour, yeah?” Derek said to Boyd as he tied up his shoe laces and was getting ready to head out of the locker room.

“Yeah … cool, good luck with whatever it is you’re doing,” Boyd mentioned as Derek made his way to the door.

Derek nodded and as soon as he opened the locker room door the bell had rang releasing first hour; as he walked the hall all he could do was think about what it was that he was about to do, if he were being completely honest with himself he wasn’t exactly sure what he was about to do but he was doing something. He took an alternative route than the one that he usually took with Boyd and rushed down the hall if memory served him right his little sister would be getting out of Mr. Harris’s classroom and so would the person he was looking for.

Derek suddenly came to a complete stop when he noticed Cora out of the corner of his eye; he backed up a little and saw her with another girl and they were both talking to Stilinski at his locker. Derek had his eyes trained on the back of Stilinski’s head, ever since the day he left early he hasn’t necessarily been able to stop thinking about Stilinski only because he felt horrible for everything he did to him. It only got worse when Cora finally started to come around and start talking to him again even if it was just a little bit, citing her reasons as ‘her friend would be disappointed in her if she held a grudge that wasn’t hers to hold.’

‘Pull it together Derek, all you’re doing is going to say thanks and that’s it,’ Derek told himself, ‘you got this, it’s a quick and easy scenario.’ He wasn’t necessarily sure when he decided that he was going to thank Stilinski for helping his sister come around but he felt obligated to do so for some reason. Before he could talk himself out of it, he adjusted his bag and began to walk over towards Stilinski’s locker although he quickly regretted that action the second he did it. His first bad move was walking over to Stilinski’s locker while Stilinski was focused on getting things out of his locker, his second was standing behind the opened locker door which obstructed Stilinski’s view of him, the third was doing this while Cora was present. The simple scenario turned into a disaster before anything could happen, the one good thing that happened was that he managed to walk to the locker but now he was standing stalk still unsure of what to say and his sister and the other girl were staring at him like he’d lost his ever-loving mind.

“Oh my God,” the girl said perplexed.

“Hey Scott,” Derek heard Stilinski say from behind his locker.

Derek looked over to Cora who looked like she was both ready to pounce at any moment and also stricken by Derek’s presence, “Derek?”

It was then that Stilinski finally took notice of Derek’s presence as he looked up from his bag and directly at Derek; three things happened the second they made eye contact, Derek lost his train of thought, Derek took notice to Stilinski’s weird scent and Derek realized that he was an idiot. ‘Say something,’ he said to himself, “I need to talk to you,” he blurted out.

Stilinski stood gawking at him for a moment and Derek couldn’t figure out what to do with himself, “and what exactly do you need to talk to him about?” Cora asked stepping forward.

‘What did he need to talk about again,’ he wondered, his mind was a mess and he wasn’t exactly sure why; “Um … I just uh … uh,” Derek tried as he still kept eye contact with Stilinski.

“Earth to Derek,” Cora tried snapping her fingers in his face, he flinched back a little in response and finally looked over to his younger sister.

“I’m here to …” this was a hopeless situation and he knew that he needed to get out of there, pronto; “you know what, I’m gonna go to class, see you around,” he said and bolted.

“What … the fuck,” he heard his sister say as he retreated away; he couldn’t believe he had just made an absolute fool of himself.

He was so focused on getting out of there and making it to his next class to wallow in shame that he completely missed a familiar voice calling him, “Derek … Derek, Derek wait up.”

He turned and found Paige trailing him, “oh … hey Paige.”

“Hey yourself, I was calling you like a million times …” she said a little out of breath.

“Sorry, I uh … I’m kind of out of it,” he said.

“Clearly, is everything okay? I mean you left school Tuesday and you pretty much took the rest of the week off,” Paige said.

“Yeah, I told you I had some things I was dealing with,” he said.

“Okay … but you never really explained what those things were,” she said fishing for him to give her something, “was this about what happened with Stiles and your sisters?”

Derek was going to say no but he never got the chance because Cora managed to come out of nowhere and started hassling him, “Derek, what the hell were you doing?”

Derek instantly clammed up, this isn’t exactly what he needed at the moment, “I was just-“

“You were just what? Being an idiot? Why do you need to talk to Stiles?” She questioned.

“Uh hey, Cora …” Paige said cautiously from behind Cora.

Cora only spared her a very uninterested glance, “yeah hey Paige,” was all she managed to get out before turning her full attention back onto Derek, “Derek, what the hell was that?”

Derek sighed, he really needed to calm down and get his mind right; “I was just going to tell him thanks … for you know …”

Cora looked at him expectantly waiting for him to elaborate, “no I don’t know …” she said when he gave no response.

“You’re talking to Stiles now?” Paige asked randomly.

Cora didn’t even acknowledge her, instead, she glared at Derek and waited for him to answer her, “No I’m not talking to Stilinski …” Derek said answering Paige first. “I just wanted to thank him for helping you come around,” Derek said to his sister.

Cora frowned, “Come around? What do you mean?”

“You know … you’re talking to me again and not treating me like I’m the worst thing to walk on the planet,” Derek explained.

Cora rolled her eyes at that, “Oh … okay well I’m still mad at you for what you did …” she sighed, “but … I’m not going to hold it against you anymore; that doesn’t mean everything is okay though because it’s not.”

Derek nodded, “I know … I get that … and I know I screwed up.”

“Yeah you did,” Cora said crossing her arms, “that doesn’t explain why you thought it was okay to just ambush Stiles like that …”

Derek frowned, he didn’t really think of it as ambushing him but considering their current situation that’s definitely what it could be classified as, “I wasn’t trying to ambush him or anything I swear … I just wanted to say thanks.”

“Yeah, well you wanting to say thanks probably has him freaking out now; he was already all over the place over a stupid French test that he has next period and I can’t imagine how he’s feeling now,” Cora said.

Stiles POV

The second Derek walked off after their awkward encounter, Stiles found himself plagued with questions. ‘What was the purpose of that?’ ‘Why did Derek try talking to him?’ ‘Why did he seem so nervous?’

“Hey, Stiles …” Kira tried.

Stiles immediately came out of his own head and back into reality, “yeah?”

“You okay?” She wondered her face shrouded in worry.

Stiles blinked a few times, “yeah … yeah, I think so … that was weird, right?”

Kira still seemed a little worried about him, “yeah … are you sure you’re okay?”

Stiles nodded his head, “yeah … yeah; I’m … I’m fine,” the minute bell rang and Stiles mind immediately warped back to French and his French test. “I gotta go,” he said anxiously, “wish me luck on my test,” he said as he ran past Kira, down the corridor towards his class. He ran all the way to class doing his best to keep his mind focused solely on French and not the fact that he had the most awkward run-in with none other than Mr. Hotshot.

Stiles managed to get to class before the final bell rang; he was the last person to make it into the room, he did a quick scope of the room and held his head down as he made his way to the back of the class and as he took his seat the final bell rang.

“Alright class, everybody take your seats,” Ms. Morrell announced holding a stack of papers. “As you all know today is the day of your exam and I hope all of you adequately prepared for this so that you can pass it with flying colors. You will have the entire class period to finish your exam, you’re not allowed to talk at all even if you finish your exam; we need to remember that we need to remain courteous of other people who have not yet finished their test and are still trying to concentrate on finishing it. You only get one warning to keep quiet if I have to remind you again I will dock points off of your test, am I understood?”

The class simultaneously said, “yes mam.”

Ms. Morrell smiled at all of them, “good, now you guys should have nothing but a pencil on your desk; if there’s anything else on there I would suggest you remove it now or you won’t get your test. You may begin your test when it’s handed to you …” she sighed before saying, “you guys will do well, just remember not to overthink anything and do your best and you’re sure to pass.” She then began to hand out the test one by one, Stiles took the opportunity to let Parrish know that he had an exam so he might be late for his next check-in to which he quickly responded letting Stiles know that it was fine.

Ms. Morrell got to Stiles desk and offered him a small smile before asking him, “are you ready?”

Stiles shrugged, “I think so …”

She sat his test down in front of him and smiled, “good luck,” she said before moving on to the next desk.

Stiles was certain that the run-in with Derek would plague his mind while he was trying to take his test but to his immense surprise it didn’t, as a matter of fact when he saw his test he was pretty surprised to see that the first page of the test was no problem at all and he knew the answer to every question. He picked up his pencil and began writing, carefully reading every question before writing his answer and before he knew it he was flipping through the pages of the test and answering every question with ease. He got to the last page and answered the two bonus questions and looked over his test thoroughly before getting up to turn it into Ms. Morrell.

As Stiles approached her desk Ms. Morrell glanced up at him and seemed a little thrown off, “Stiles is everything okay?”

Stiles frowned and held up his test, “uh yeah … I’m uh … I’m done with my test.”

Ms. Morrell looked at her computer, Stiles assumed she was checking the time, “it’s only been 10 minutes … did you answer all of the questions?”

Stiles gawked for a moment, ten minutes didn’t seem right, it seemed more like the entire class period that he was working on his test, “Yeah, I checked everything, it’s all there,” he said confidently.

She still seemed a little unsure of taking his test, “you answered all of the short-answer questions and the multiple-choice questions, right?”

Stiles nodded, “yeah.”

“And did you do the two bonus questions on the very last page?” She asked.

Stiles nodded again, “yes.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to check again?” She asked cautiously.

“Yeah, it’s fine, you can take it,” he said holding out his test to her.

She looked at him skeptically, “so if I grade this now you’re confident that you passed?”

Stiles nodded, “I think so, yeah.”

Ms. Morrell shrugged and leaned forward on her desk sitting Stiles test down and pulling out a red ink pen, “okay … well if you’re certain that you did good you can go take your seat and I’ll grade this now and have your test back to you before the end of class.”

Stiles nodded and turned around and found that everyone in the class had been staring at him like he had just done the impossible, he once again ducked his head down and headed back towards his seat and let his thoughts occupy his time. He couldn’t believe that he finished his test in ten minutes, he knew he was by no means stupid but because of the events that happened last year Stiles found that he struggled to get by in some classes only because he was more worried about saving his own skin than studying and keeping up his grades; that’s not to say he failed his classes, he just could have done much better. He found it interesting how different his life was now that he was free of worry, he has friends, he has time to study and time to focus on himself. He found it kind of funny that the reason he was awarded these basic privileges was because he presented as the one thing he didn’t want to be, an Omega.

Now, of course, Stiles brain wouldn’t stay stuck on one topic for long, in the midst of realizing a few things about himself he inadvertently reminded himself of his run-in with Derek. He sighed and leaned back in his seat, he wasn’t sure why the encounter was bothering him so much, he figured that maybe it was because it was so random and out of the blue but regardless of why he still didn’t really figure out what he wanted but in thinking that he started to wonder why he even cared what Derek wanted, it’s not like he gave a damn about the guy so why would he care about anything that involves him? Just as Stiles was starting to question his thoughts Ms. Morrell cleared her throat and brought Stiles out of his own head, “I’m finished grading your test,” she said.

Stiles looked behind her at the clock on the wall and he noticed not a lot of time had gone by, “oh … that was … fast.”

She sat his test down on his desk, “yeah well, grading is easy when there are no corrections that need to be made.”

Stiles sat up and looked at his test, “what?”

“You aced the exam and got the two bonus questions right, good job,” she said to Stiles surprise.

Stiles looked at his grade circled in red pen “110/100 Great job,” he looked up at Ms. Morrell and smiled, “thank you.”

She nodded at him before she walked back to her desk, Stiles leaned back in his seat and sighed a heavy sigh of relief, it was a huge weight off his shoulder passing the test with flying colors. Unfortunately for Stiles though he still had about another 20 minutes in class left and that left him alone with his thoughts, which only made him worry about other things; one thing, in particular, was the upcoming party he was going to be attending. He wasn’t sure how many people would be there at this point considering news of the party had spread around school fast but regardless he absolutely did not want to go. He couldn’t imagine himself in that kind of setting and he couldn’t imagine that it would be a good experience for him, what if something bad were to happen? What if he did something stupid and wound up embarrassing himself in front of a lot of his peers thus giving them another reason to go back to mistreating him the way a lot of them did before? ‘Why do I care about what other people think?’ Stiles wondered.

That was the golden question that needed to be asked, why does he still care what other people think? It’s not as if he values their opinion of him, they don’t know him, so why do they matter?

The bell ringing snapped Stiles out of his thoughts, he looked around and noticed nearly the entire class was already packed up and heading out of the classroom. He shook his head and grabbed his test and his bag and got up, “Stiles can I talk to you for a moment?” Ms. Morrell called from the front of the room.

“Sure,” Stiles said as he walked towards the front.

“You seemed pretty surprised by your grade,” she said as he approached her.

Stiles looked at the test in his hand and back up at Ms. Morrell and shrugged, “well I mean I figured I did alright but a perfect score plus the bonus questions … I wasn’t really expecting that.”

“Well if you continue to do well like this I may have to suggest that you tutor some of your peers to help them out if you’re up for it of course,” Ms. Morrell said.

Stiles shrugged, “Sure I guess but … let’s wait things out and make sure I’m actually good at this.”

Ms. Morrell nodded, “okay, good job again and if I don’t see you later, have a nice weekend.”

“Thanks, you too,” Stiles waved and headed out of class.

Lunch was spent listening to Allison talk about her Aunt and their less than stellar relationship, Scott came along just before lunch ended and Stiles hated admitting it but he was thankful that he did because he managed to help Allison calm down.

When Allison was calm, Cora took the opportunity to ask Stiles about his test, “so … do you think you passed?” she asked out of the blue.

“Passed what?” Stiles asked.

“Your test, do you think you passed?” Cora reaffirmed.

“Oh yeah … actually, I aced it and I got the bonus questions too,” Stiles said happily.

“Told you there wasn’t anything to worry about,” Cora said.

“Good job,” Kira said offering him a high five.

“So … I may or may not have figured out why my brother approached you earlier … do you want to know?” Cora asked randomly and that caught the attention of everyone at the table.

Laura had cut off whatever she was saying to Braeden and spun towards Cora, “what?!”

Allison, Scott, Braeden, and Kira were all looking at him wide-eyed, Stiles sighed, “I guess you might as well tell me.”

“No hold on just a minute, what do you mean Derek approached him? Why didn’t you tell me?” Laura interrupted.

“I don’t know … nothing happened, it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Cora said.

“Yeah … it was really random and he seemed a little nervous if you ask me,” Kira said.

“Wait you were there,” Allison asked anxiously to which Kira nodded, “and you couldn’t text me about it?”

“Hey it’s like Cora said nothing happened and it wasn’t really a big deal,” Kira said.

“Not a big deal … it’s Derek,” Laura said.

Cora huffed, “okay maybe it is a little bit of a big deal but still nothing happened.”

“Did you know something about this,” Braeden asked turning to Scott.

Allison looked to him then and eyed him skeptically, “yeah Scott, did you know something about this?”

Scott held his hands up, “I swear I didn’t know anything … I was literally just eating with him and he didn’t say anything about Stiles ... he was acting a little weird though now that I think about it.”

Laura seemed pleased with his answer and spun around to face Cora, “Okay fine, tell us what he wanted,” Laura said to her.

“I was going to tell Stiles, thank you very much,” Cora said irritably to her sister before turning to look at Stiles, “anyway he said that he wanted to thank you,” Cora said.

“Thank him for what?” Laura asked anxiously.

“If you’d shut up. I’ll tell you,” Cora said shushing her sister before continuing, “he said he wanted to thank you for getting me to come around …”

“What?” Stiles wondered.

“That’s what he told me,” Cora shrugged, “he said that he was thankful that you helped get me to come around to actually talking to him again.”

“Okay but there has to be something else to that,” Braeden chimed.

“Maybe he’s just grateful for Stiles help,” Allison mentioned.

“Okay, but who said Stiles was trying to help him?” Kira wondered.

“Who said that he wasn’t?” Laura asked and they all looked to Stiles at once.

Stiles wondered what Laura was getting at, of course, Laura’s question demanded an answer and everyone looked to him for it, “Really?” He wondered when everyone became a skeptic, “Why would I try to help him?”

That question caused all of them to quickly look away and Stiles could see the guilt on their faces, “look regardless that’s what he told me … but now that I told you I think I would have liked it better if he told you that himself.” Cora said.

“I think he probably would have too,” Scott said looking elsewhere.

It took Stiles a minute to understand what Scott meant by that but he eventually caught on when everyone at the table was looking in the same direction Scott was. When Stiles followed their line of sight he was met with a menacing scowl directed in his general direction from none other than Derek himself. Of course, with Stiles luck, Derek caught Stiles looking at him but Stiles didn’t hold eye contact, instead, he opted to lean back in his seat and roll his eyes, “you guys want to get me killed … that was your plan all along,” he mumbled.

Laura turned around with a very serious expression as did Cora, “that’s not fair and it’s kind of messed up of you to say that.”

“Like you, implying that I would go out of my way to help your brother,” Stiles retorted.

Laura ducked her head down for a moment, “you’re right, I don’t even know why I questioned your intentions in this situation … I’m sorry.”

Cora sighed, “look let’s just change the subject, I shouldn’t have brought that up in the first place, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah how about we talk about this party that you guys are throwing tomorrow,” Braeden mentioned.

“It’s not just a party it’s Stiles birthday party,” Laura said.

“Yeah well you might wanna tell that to the school because a lot of people are under the impression you guys are hosting a rager,” Braeden said.

“And I wonder why they think that,” Laura eyed Braeden.

“Hey, I only told 2 people about it …” Braeden said a little scandalized, “and I didn’t even tell them they were invited they just invited themselves … and before you ask why I told them, I had to tell them because they were trying to invite me to something that I wasn’t interested in doing.”

“Yeah well … you know if it’s gonna be a big party, I think I’m gonna back out and just stay home or something,” Stiles said. He figured that now was as good a time as any to mention that he was uncomfortable with the idea of going to the party.

“What no way, you have to go; the only reason it’s happening is because of you, if you’re not going then we’re not having it,” Laura said.

“Yeah and at this point, it’s a little too late to cancel the party since a lot of people already know about it anyway,” Braeden said.

“I just don’t think I would be good in that kind of setting,” Stiles said.

“You’ll never know unless you find out,” Allison said.

“Hey if it makes you feel better I don’t really do parties either and I’m only going for you,” Kira said, “we can be each other’s support.”

The idea did make Stiles feel a little better but it still didn’t settle his unease about the whole idea; “yeah and if anyone gives you problems one of us can back you up and … make sure you’re okay,” Scott suggested.

“Not that anyone is going to give you problems,” Allison chimed in quickly, she then turned towards Scott and angrily whispered, “probably not the best idea to suggest something is going to happen Scott.”

“No … its probably good to say that,” Cora said surprisingly, “we got your back if something happens.”

Stiles sighed, “okay fine, I’m in … but I might have a curfew.”

“You have a curfew?” Braeden asked.

“My dad’s the Sheriff,” Stiles said.

Braeden nodded as if she understood immediately, “makes sense.”

“Why don’t you just tell him you’re staying the night at my place?” Scott asked.

Stiles looked down the table at him like he was missing the obvious, “that would have worked before everything happened … but if I told my dad I was staying the night at your house now … he probably wouldn’t let me go, I don’t even think he would consider it ...”

Scott’s face fell, “ye-yeah I … I understand.”

“You don’t necessarily have to stay out late … as long as you show up and look like you’re having a good time I think it should be okay,” Laura said.

Kira sighed, “good cause I kinda have a curfew too.”

“Are your parents in law enforcement too?” Braeden asked.

Laura scratched the back of her head and sighed, “we’ll figure this out.”

Derek's POV

Derek spent his entire class period running over the scenario of his run-in with Stilinski, why had it gone so wrong and why the hell couldn’t he pull himself together, he wondered. Isaac and Erica both seemed worried because it must have been clear to them that his mind was somewhere else but he wasn’t in the mood to explain what happened and Derek didn’t want to talk about it with so many open ears around them. As class ended and they made their way to lunch Isaac and Erica kept probing him to tell them what was going on with him but he didn’t let up and kept telling them to mind their own business and thankfully they did and didn’t bring it up while they sat down and ate lunch. Unfortunately for Derek Isaac and Erica could only keep their mouths shut for so long and as soon as Scott excused himself from the table to go see Alison the two of them went back on the assault and tried to get answers out of Derek.

“Okay Derek you really need to tell us what’s going on with you, I can tell there’s something going on with you and if I can tell there’s something going on with you I’m pretty sure everyone else here can too,” Erica said.

“Yeah just spit it out, you’ve got this weird vibe going on and it’s throwing me off,” Isaac said.

“Can you guys just drop it … please?” He asked.

“No, what is going on?!” Erica demanded.

“Yeah, Derek … what’s going on?” Paige asked frowning at him, “Is this about-“

Fate and the universe both hated Derek with a fiery passion or maybe his sister still had it out for him or it could be both but either way Derek wished he could shrink to the size of an ant and get the hell out of school because Derek would never admit it out loud but he was listening in on Stilinski’s table and his little sister whether intentional or not happened to mention the exact reason for his off mood a little too loudly for his liking and he knew his friends would not miss hearing it, “So … I may or may not have figured out why my brother approached you earlier … do you want to know?”

Derek froze in place as soon as he heard her mutter the words, this is one of the many times he’s cursed the world for providing excellent hearing towards his kind; his friends all gasped and/or tried getting his attention but he drowned them all out and looked in Cora’s direction and hoped his facial expression would express how he felt about her talking about the situation. Scott was the first one to notice him and in turn, everyone he was sitting with, Laura, Cora, Braeden, Allison, and Stilinski each noticed him looking their way.

“You guys want to get me killed … that was your plan all along,” Derek heard Stilinski say.

“That’s not fair and it’s kind of messed up of you to say that,” Derek could tell his sister was genuinely offended by that statement.

“Like you, implying that I would go out of my way to help your brother,” Derek immediately turned around and tuned out of their conversation after hearing Stilinski say that.

“Ouch,” Lydia said obviously hearing what Stilinski said.

“So, you wanna fill us in on what happened or are you gonna keep sitting there giving us the silent treatment?” Isaac asked and in turn, Derek sighed irritably and finally gave in.

“Isaac he’s brooding,” Lydia said.

“Yeah, he’s definitely brooding,” Paige agreed.

“Whatever, Derek come on fill us in,” Isaac said.

“I was gonna thank Stilinski for telling Cora not to be mad at me anymore,” Derek said.

“Why would you do that?” Erica asked.

“Because I felt like it … I felt like it was the right thing to do,” Derek said.

“Is that what you were talking about earlier in weight training? The stupid thing you wanted me to talk you out of?” Boyd asked.

Derek nodded, “yep … yeah, that was it.”

“So, you were just gonna thank Stilinski?” Jackson asked.

Derek nodded, “but why though … how did he help with Cora not being mad at you anymore?” Erica asked.

“You were there … in the parking lot, that day I left early,” Derek said.

“He didn’t tell her not to be mad at you, he just said not to be angry for him,” Erica mentioned.

“Yeah well he might as well have said that … and anyway because of that my sister hasn’t been treating me like I’m the worst thing to walk on the planet anymore, so I figured I’d go and thank him for that but … but I freaked out … I didn’t plan it properly and I just froze up and left,” Derek said.

“That’s it?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah that’s it,” Derek said irritated.

“Oh …” Lydia said sitting back in her seat, her face riddled with disappointment.

“That was anti-climactic,” Paige said.

“You sure nothing else happened?” Isaac asked.

“Yeah man, that’s really what’s getting you down?” Jackson asked.

“I’m convinced something else happened,” Lydia said.

“Same,” Isaac agreed.

“Whatever, shut up guys,” Derek said, they did have a point though, why was he so disturbed by his failed run in with Stilinski?

Erica scoffed, “anyways so the party at your house … when were you going to tell us about it and why weren’t we the first one’s invited?”

“What?” Derek asked confused, “what party?”

Everyone at the table snickered like something really obvious had gone right over his head without him noticing, “dude seriously?” Jackson asked.

Derek frowned, “you mean the party my sisters are throwing for Stilinski?”

“Ho-hold on,” Erica gasped, “what do you mean the party your sisters are throwing for Stilinski? I heard that you’re hosting some big party and there’s a whole bunch of people going.”

“Yeah, I heard the same thing,” Lydia said.

“Me too,” Paige agreed.

Jackson, Boyd, and Isaac also had heard the same, “I don’t think they meant for it to be a big party and I doubt they’re planning on having a lot of people there for it … but they planned a birthday party for Stilinski and that’s all it is,” Derek explained.

“That might’ve been what it was but it’s definitely not just going to be a birthday party for Stilinski anymore,” Erica said.

“It doesn’t matter, my parents and my aunt and uncle are leaving for the weekend and I just wanna be able to use that time to hang out with you guys outside of school and not worry about being grounded and not being able to do anything and ...” Derek looked around at his friends, “what?”

“I mean we can totally hang out … I think,” Erica said.

“You think?” Derek asked.

“Well, you still have to remember Boyd is grounded too and so are Jackson and Isaac so they can’t exactly hang out with you during the day … in case you forgot,” Erica mentioned.

Derek sighed, of course, the small little detail did slip his mind, “but I mean that doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t hang out …” Erica said looking to the girls.

“The boys could always sneak out at night and … maybe meet us somewhere …” Paige suggested.

“Somewhere like your house Derek,” Lydia said.

“Yeah … maybe tomorrow night,” Erica said.

“Definitely tomorrow night,” Lydia reaffirmed.

“But wait tomorrow is … oh … yeah, I can definitely try and sneak out for that,” Isaac said with a devious grin.

“Dude I’m all for it,” Jackson said, “I wanna witness this firsthand.”

“Boyd?” Erica asked.

Boyd sighed, “I’m down … I just can’t get caught by grams or I’m gonna be grounded for the rest of the year.”

“Tomorrow is the day of the party …” Derek said.

“Exactly and we’re going,” Erica said.

“My sister’s think I’m gonna be gone … I don’t think we’d really be welcomed there anyway,” Derek said.

“Um Derek I’m not sure if you’ve forgotten but the party is at your house so whether or not you’re welcome isn’t a problem,” Erica countered.

Derek frowned, “why do you guys wanna go?”

“It’s a party …” Isaac said as if that were enough of a reason.

Lydia sighed, “Allison is obviously gonna be there and apparently, Scott’s going too …”

“Scott’s going?” Isaac asked.

Lydia nodded, “yeah, yesterday he mentioned that he got … how did he put it, kind of invited, so I guess he’s going to go, anyway Allison will be there and I want to talk to her.”

“You can talk to her here,” Derek suggested.

“Or I can talk to her outside of school at your house in a different setting, in a much laxer environment,” Lydia counter suggested.

Derek didn’t even try to argue with her on that, he just gave in and rolled his eyes, Erica, however, was not feeling Lydia’s campaign to win Allison back, “I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to get her to be friends with you again … she’s clearly made her choice and if you haven’t noticed she chose Stilinski.”

“And I don’t blame her for that,” Lydia said.

“Why exactly? I mean she’s old enough to make her own decisions and she knew full well what she was doing when she decided to abandon us for that crybaby idiot Stilinski,” Erica ranted and hearing her insult Stilinski made Derek feel some kind of way but he wasn’t sure what it was he was feeling, anger, disappointment, he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Okay,” Lydia said nodding her head and you would be blind not to see that she was frustrated beyond measure, “since we’re talking about Stilinski why don’t we get to the bottom of why you don’t like him so much? We were going to talk about this before when we were eavesdropping on him in the parking lot a few days ago but that obviously got interrupted, so let’s find out now, what is your problem with Stilinski?”

Erica released a low growl, “I told you, he snitched and got my boyfriend and your boyfriend in trouble and-“

“And what? You think he shouldn’t have told someone what was happening to him? You think the boys shouldn’t have gotten in trouble? You realize you’re the only person here that feels that way, right?” Lydia questioned her angrily.

“I’m not I …” Erica looked around at everyone at the table and Derek could see that by the look on her face she was surprised to find out that she was alone in her feelings, “guys?”

“You see that no one here agrees with you … at all,” Lydia said harshly; “The resentment that you feel is totally unjustified and the way you’re acting is childish.” Lydia looked to Isaac, “Isaac how do you feel about Stilinski? Are you mad at him? Do you feel like he snitched on you and that you shouldn’t have gotten in trouble?”

Isaac frowned, “I feel bad … no I’m not mad at him and no I don’t think he snitched, I think he did what he had to do and we deserved what happened to us … we probably deserved worst.”

“What?!” Erica asked exasperated, “you can't be-“

“Shut up Erica,” Lydia cut in before turning to Jackson, “Jackson, what about you?”

“I’m with Isaac … he didn’t snitch … and we got less than what we deserved,” Jackson admitted surprisingly.

Lydia turned to Boyd, “Boyd, what about you?”

“I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I think we messed up and I hate that we did what we did to him because he didn’t deserve it,” Boyd said.

Lydia finally turned her icy gaze to Derek, “and what about you Derek? Do you agree with Erica?”

He didn’t have to think about his answer, his response was automatic, “no … no, I don’t agree with her, what happened to us was because of us … we got ourselves in trouble because we decided to be stupid and hurt somebody that didn’t deserve it.”

“There you have it,” Lydia said, “I would ask Paige how she feels about all this but considering she wasn’t here for any of it I won’t put her on the spot but I think I’m not wrong in thinking she agrees that the guys got off light and they were wrong for what they did.”

“And you wouldn’t be wrong assuming that,” Paige said.

“If you want to be upset about Boyd and everyone getting in trouble be upset but don’t get mad at Stilinski for it, be mad at Boyd, be mad at Jackson, be mad Isaac, be mad at Derek and be mad at me and yourself for standing by and letting them do what they did. They got themselves into trouble and we helped them, that is what you should be mad about, that is the only reason you should be mad in regard to this situation. We made mistakes and we need to own up to those mistakes, all of us, including you Erica and being mad at the person that was the victim in all of this is not owning up to your mistakes but making another mistake,” Lydia said.

Erica frowned, “okay …”

“Stop screwing up Erica … we’ve already done enough of that,” Lydia warned and surprisingly Erica said nothing in her defense and bowed her head down.

Derek sighed knowing that it was going to be up to him to ease the tension, “look let’s just do what you want to do and meet up around my house tomorrow and go from there, if one of you can’t make it just text us and let us know so we aren’t worried about you …”

Everyone agreed although Derek was still against the idea of them showing up to a party they were probably not welcomed at. Derek excused himself from the lunch table, deciding he wasn’t hungry enough to finish his lunch and he really wanted to be alone; he found himself walking down the main corridor aimlessly going nowhere, he still had another 10 minutes left before the bell would ring so he was doing what he could to waste time.

“Derek, wait up,” he heard from behind him.

He turned to see Paige running up to him, “oh hey Paige.”

“Hey yourself … you took off at lunch and didn’t really say much to anyone about why you were leaving,” she said.

“I just wanted to get away,” he said.

“You’re not upset that we want to go to Stiles party, are you?” She asked.

“Yes and no,” he admitted, “I don’t think we should go because it’s a party my sisters are throwing for him but it’s at my house so … whatever.”

Paige ran a hand through her hair, “yeah I … I get what you mean, you feel like you’re intruding in your own home, right?”

Derek nodded, “something like that …”

“Oh …” she said and looked away, “well um … maybe it won’t be so bad, you know?”

Derek shrugged, “maybe, I guess we’ll find out won’t we?”

“Are you okay Derek?” Paige asked to his surprise, “it’s just that you seem really off like your focus isn’t all there.”

Derek was focused, he knew he was but his focus was on something other than himself; as much as it bothered him to admit, the last few days the one constant thing he has been focused on is Stilinski and mending his relationship with his sister, “I’m fine … I just have things that I need to work out.”

Paige nodded but for some reason, she wouldn’t make eye contact with Derek, “yeah definitely I understand, I was … I was just a little worried.”

The conversation going on between them was weird, something was off with them, so talking seemed more like a job that you didn’t want to do rather than something easy and welcomed. Doing something completely uncharacteristic of himself Derek sighed and said, “look, Paige, did you need something? Cause I really just wanna be alone and I think I’m gonna head to class …”

Paige definitely wasn’t expecting for him to say that judging by her facial expression, “oh … yeah no um … I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, um … I-I guess I’ll see you later then.”

Derek nodded, “yeah see ya,” he said and turned about and continued walking down the corridor.

What in the hell had gotten into him? He had just basically dismissed the girl he had been head over heels for like she was nothing more than a pest bothering him. Why would he treat her like that? He did mention he wanted to be alone though but that still didn’t justify him dismissing her the way he did, she didn’t do anything to deserve that, he decided he would apologize to her later; but right now he let his mind reel on Stilinski’s words, “Like you, implying that I would go out of my way to help your brother,” why did he care what Stilinski said? When did he start caring about what Stilinski says? It shouldn’t matter this much to him but for some reason it does and Derek hates that. Just because he feels remorseful and regretful for the things he did, it doesn’t change his feelings towards Stilinski, he still meant nothing to him, at least that’s what Derek would like to believe.

Stiles POV

School had ended without a hitch, Stiles hadn’t run into Derek again that day, not that he was worried about that; what he was worried about was the fact that now people knew that the party Laura and Cora were hosting wasn’t a normal party but in fact his birthday party and much to his surprise people still wanted to come. But knowing that didn’t excite him the way it should, instead, it just made him feel anxious and paranoid cause the entire thing seemed like a recipe for disaster. He told Cora that much and she had gone out of her way to lecture him about why he needs to loosen up and quit being so self-conscious and enjoy life. Maybe she was right or maybe not, this wasn’t what Stiles expected when he finally revealed that he was being mercilessly tormented pretty much daily; his life took a complete 180 and was no longer the same, he was never alone, never fearful of someone coming after him, never hiding his wounds, he was just living and taking things easy, one day at a time.

It shouldn’t feel foreign to anyone to experience what he’s now going through but for him it does, now as he stands in the middle of his room and looks at himself in the mirror just a few short hours before the party he wonders if he’ll ever feel normal in this new direction his life is taking.

“STILES, YOU HAVE PEOPLE HERE TO SEE YOU!” He heard his father yell from downstairs.

“Oh-OKAY,” he called back. He knew it was Laura and Cora coming to pick him up, he told his dad they were going out to the movies to go see some new slasher flick; he knew that if he told him where he was really going, his dad and Parrish wouldn’t let him leave the house and probably would try and lock him in his room for the weekend, so he had no choice but to lie to him … sort of. They were going to see a slasher flick but they were also going to party, Stiles came up with the elaborate plan to have his pre-birthday party at the movies, that way he wouldn’t give it away to his dad that he was lying about his whereabouts and once the movie ended he figured he would just text his dad and Parrish that they were doing a double feature or going to the arcade that way he would have more time to stay out.

He ran downstairs and was greeted by both Laura and Cora, “you ready for the movie?” Laura asked giving him a hug.

“I’m just hoping I don’t embarrass myself and scream in the middle of the movie theater,” he said.

“You’ll be fine come on,” Cora said as she hugged him then turned for the door.

“Okay,” he turned towards his dad and Parrish, “I’ll be back later,” he said and waved his phone at them.

Both his dad and Parrish nodded, “please don’t forget to check in this time …” his dad said.

“Oh, they won’t,” came a voice from the front door. Stiles turned to see that it was Ben who was dropping off Kira.

“Ben nice of you to come by, did you bring the beers?” Stiles dad asked.

“Yes, sir Sheriff, as long as you have a working TV with cable and the sports network we’re good to go,” Ben said walking into the house with a large pack of wolfsbane beer.

“Are you guys watching the game here?” Stiles asked as Ben walked into the kitchen.

“It’s the playoffs kid and you know as well as I do these games are important,” his father said.

“Yeah but … Parrish you and Ben are baseball fans?” Stiles wondered.

“Uh yeah,” Parrish said.

“Of course,” Ben said from the kitchen.

Stiles deadpanned at them, “maybe you should check in with us so we know you all didn’t drink yourselves to death.”

“We’ll moderate our drinking,” Parrish assured him.

“Regardless of what happens in the game,” his father said reassuringly.

“I mean even if our team doesn’t win, there’s always next season …” Ben said handing Parrish and Stiles dad a beer.

“Not that anyone wants to wait that long,” Stiles dad whispered to himself, “look we’ll be fine, you kids go and have fun and be safe.”

Stiles scoffed and waved them off, he turned towards the door and gave Kira a hug, “hey Kira you ready?”

Kira shrugged, “not really but I think we’ll be fine.”

“You two are going to be alright, it’s just a movie,” Laura said as she walked out the front door.

“Come on guys, let’s go, we’re gonna be late,” Cora said and both Stiles and Kira followed her out and into Laura’s car and they headed for the theater.

The ride there was relatively quiet, which Stiles had to admit was nice Laura had the radio set to a good station and he was enjoying the song that was playing but the silence didn’t last the entire ride, “hey Kira … can I ask you something?” Laura asked.

Kira perched up next to Stiles, “ye-yeah sure what’s up?”

“I um … I don’t really know how to um …” Laura started and stopped herself which was unusual for her.

Stiles looked up into the review mirror and saw that she was looking directly at him, “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah what’s wrong Laura?” Cora asked next to her.

“Oh um … nothing-nothing I shouldn’t have even said anything,” Laura said.

“Why are you so nervous,” Cora asked.

“What I-I’m not nervous,” Laura tried and Stiles knew she was lying and if he knew so did Cora and Kira.

“You smell nervous,” Kira said.

“Yeah, and you’re obviously lying,” Cora said.

“Did I do something?” Kira asked.

“No-no you didn’t, it's just something that I was wondering … something that … that I can’t ask,” Laura said and Stiles noticed that she was looking at him again in the review mirror.

‘Something she can’t ask, what could she be talking about?’ Stiles wondered and then it clicked, “oh she knows …” he said.

Laura sighed and visibly relaxed, “okay … then … well, back at Stiles place that guy …”

“Ben?” Kira asked.

“Yeah him … he um … he said ‘they’ won’t, when Stiles dad told him not to forget to check in,” Laura said.

“Okay?” Kira said more like a question.

“What are you getting at Laura?” Cora wondered.

“She wants to know if you’re …” Stiles started and looked back up to the review mirror to see Laura once again looking at him and by the look on his face, he knew he was on the right track with his guess. “She wants to know if you’re like me … if you’re an Omega.”

“Wait, what?” Cora spun around looking at Stiles.

“We … we never really asked what you were when we met … I had just assumed you were a Beta or an Alpha but …” Laura stopped.

Kira was looking at Stiles and her expression told him that she wasn’t sure what to do and Stiles wasn’t going to answer for her, it wasn’t his place, “You …. You know about Stiles …”

“Yep,” Cora said.

“He’s an Omega,” Laura said.

“With pretty green eyes,” Cora said.

Kira sighed and closed her eyes and opened them to reveal her Omega green eyes, “and so am I,” she said.

Laura slammed on the brakes and Cora held onto her seat for dear life, “I knew it,” Laura exclaimed.

“YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!” Cora screamed.

Kira’s eyes reverted quickly, “you can’t tell anyone, please.”

“Oh, we know … we were filled in by Parrish,” Laura said.

“So you’re an Omega too … wow what are the chances, two Omegas in Beacon Hills,” Cora said.

Stiles was looking to Kira, “you okay?”

“Yeah … I’ve never told anyone about myself … not even my closest friends in Japan, it’s weird but … I’m happy,” Kira said.

“I’m sorry …” Stiles tried.

“No-no it’s not your fault, if anyone’s at fault it’s Ben but …” she looked up towards the front seat, “I’m trusting you guys with my secret and you know why you must stay quiet about it.”

“Don’t worry our lips are sealed,” Laura said reassuringly.

“Yeah you can trust us,” Cora said.

Kira looked to Stiles and nodded and all he could do in return was smile and nod back, Laura turned up the radio after that and the rest of the way they all remained silent and just enjoyed the music.

As they pulled into the movie theater Stiles started to wonder whether or not Allison, Scott, and Braeden were going to show. “Hey have you guys texted Allison to see if she’s coming? And how’s Braeden getting here?” He asked.

“Oh yeah we forgot to mention, Braeden is catching a ride with Allison, who’s also bringing Scott and … they’re getting a ride from Allison’s aunt,” Laura said.

“Allison’s aunt is bringing them?” Kira asked.

“Yeah … I guess,” Laura said, “actually they should be here by now, they left before us,” she clarified.

“They are, Allison just texted me, I guess Braeden has been texting you but you weren’t answering any of her messages,” Cora said.

“Obviously, I’m driving,” Laura said as she parked the car; each of them got out and Cora clarified where Allison, Scott, and Braeden were waiting for them.

Walking to the front of the theater they were able to spot them immediately but as they approached them Stiles saw a woman with them that he didn’t recognize and he assumed she must be Allison’s aunt. “Hey guys,” Laura said walking up to them.

“Hey,” Braeden said but something about the smile on her face seemed off, Stiles looked to Scott and Allison and they seemed to be acting a little weird too.

“You ready to see this movie or what?” Braeden asked them.

Stiles shrugged, “I think we’ll make it through it …”

“Yeah it shouldn’t be so bad,” Kira said.

“Oh, guys … this is my aunt Kate, she really wanted to meet some of my friends,” Allison said awkwardly, she turned towards her aunt and began introducing each of them individually, “this is Laura and her sister Cora and this is Kira, obviously, you met Braeden and Scott and this is the birthday boy Stiles,” she said ending on Stiles.

“It’s very nice to meet all of you,” she said in a light voice as she looked around at all of them; but Stiles didn’t let it go unnoticed how her eyes kept lingering on Kira.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Kira said politely.

“And happy birthday to you, how old are you now?” she looked to Stiles.

“Oh, I’m … I’m 16 now,” he said nervously, “oh and it’s nice to meet you too.”

“He’s a little shy,” Allison said in his defense.

“And cute,” her aunt said as she ruffled his hair, the action made Stiles' cheeks heat up. “Well I don’t want to keep you guys from your movie um …” she pointed to Laura, “Laura, right? You’re bringing Allison back?”

Laura nodded, “yep I’ll bring her back safely in one piece.”

Kate pointed to her, “I’m holding you to that. You kids have a nice night, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said and just before walking away she turned back to Stiles, “happy birthday again, you guys have fun,” it was odd because as she was saying that to him he noticed that her eyes were still lingering on Kira; Kate excused herself and began to walk back towards the parking lot.

It was quiet amongst the lot of them for a moment before Braeden finally broke the silence, “you think she’s out of earshot?”

“She should be …” Laura said.

Braeden looked towards the parking lot and turned back towards them, “let’s get our tickets and go inside,” she said anxiously.

“What’s wrong?” Cora asked.

“Let’s just get our tickets and go inside,” Braeden said.

“You aunt is …” Scott started but didn’t finish, “we should go inside,” he said changing his tune quickly.

“I’m missing something here,” Laura said.

After some more coaxing from Scott and Braeden they eventually got inside of the movie theater and went straight for the convenience line, the second they got there Braeden sighed and said, “Allison no offense but your aunt creeps me the hell out.”

“Um clearly,” Laura said looking at her phone, “what happened?”

“She’s really weird man, one minute we were having a normal conversation and then next thing you know she’s going off on Allison about her and her dad not following family tradition and following their code,” Scott said.

“Yeah, she definitely had a lot to say and I feel like she wanted to say more but she was holding back,” Braeden said.

“She seemed nice enough to me,” Cora said.

“But you weren’t in the car with us when she was going off,” Braeden said.

“Yeah true …” Cora said.

“Sorry … I was trying to tell you guys before she came that she’s a little out there,” Allison said.

“You got the point across just fine,” Kira said.

“Okay so Allison’s aunt is a little crazy, so what? We have better things to worry about, one being this movie and the other being the party tonight, if we miss this show time we can’t make the next one cause then we’ll get back to late and we won’t have time to set up for the party,” Laura said.

“In other words, she’s saying we need to shut up, get food, get to the theater, so we can watch the movie and get out of here on time,” Cora said.

“Perfect translation, starting right now it’s all about Stiles and his birthday extravaganza,” Laura said.

“Extravaganza?” He wondered.

“What I thought it sounded cool …” she tried.

“No, it sounded really stupid,” Cora said and they all laughed at that.

They got in line and waited for their food, in that time Scott had come up to Stiles to say hi and make small talk which wasn’t as awkward as Stiles thought it would be, so it was a plus. They got their food and headed for the theater, Stiles sat next to Kira and Cora mostly because Kira had asked to sit next to him in case she was too frightened by the movie and Cora just wanted to sit next to Stiles. The movie turned out to be a lot less frightening than Stiles would have guessed, there was a lot of gore and some jumpy moments but overall it wasn’t too bad and as soon as the movie ended they all said as much. They didn’t stay through the credits because Laura was adamant about them getting back to the house so that they could set up with time to spare, so they raced out to the parking lot and crammed into Laura’s car. Allison had to sit in the back on Scott’s lap and Cora sat in the back on Kira’s lap, Stiles got lucky and was free of anyone sitting on him and Braeden and Laura sat in the front seat.

Most of the drive back all they did was talk about the movie that was until they were about 10 or 15 minutes away from the Hale house, Stiles nerves got the best of him and his scent let everyone in the car know as much. “Stiles you couldn’t make it more obvious that you’re freaking out,” Braeden said from the front seat.

Stiles couldn’t get a handle on himself and he was thinking of every bad scenario that could possibly happen, actually happening, “Sorry … I just … what if this is bad?”

“What about this party is going to be bad?” Allison asked.

Stiles shrugged, “I-I don’t know … I don’t know how high school parties are supposed to work.”

“Listen, Stiles, everything’s gonna be fine, there’s gonna be a bunch of people just looking to have a good time and a reason to act stupid and all you have to do is mesh,” Laura said.

“Mesh?” He asked.

“Mesh … you know like blend in,” Braden clarified.

“Derek won’t be there Stiles … if that’s what you’re worried about,” Laura said, “he left the house before we went to the movies, I think he was pretty eager to hang out with his friends so we don’t have to worry about him or them coming.”

“Good for them no one cares,” Cora said unimpressed, “anyway Stiles you’re gonna be with me and Kira majority of the time so just talk to us or something.”

If Stiles were being honest Derek wasn’t really a thought in his mind, at the moment he and his friends were actually the least of his concerns; he sighed and leaned back in his seat, “fine … fine you’re right I just … I just need to relax and not think about this too much.”

“If it makes you feel better you can always do what we did when we were kids and do the little chant we came up with whenever we were about to do something … new,” Scott suggested.

Stiles was genuinely surprised that Scott even remembered that, “huh,” he frowned recalling all the times they did their little chant, ‘it’s gonna be okay if it’s not okay make it okay and if it doesn’t get okay bail and find something that makes you feel okay.’ It was a chant that turned into a ritual for them, they had said it the first day they started high school and the day they both tried out for the lacrosse team and that was the last time Stiles recalled them doing it.

“What chant?” Cora asked.

“Nothing …” Stiles said instinctively, “it was just something that we used to do, I’m fine …” he would be lying if he said he wasn’t repeatedly saying the chant in his head the rest of the ride there.

Upon arriving at the Hale house Laura and Cora immediately got to work setting everything up, Braeden and Allison offered their assistance, leaving Stiles alone with Kira and Scott in the living room. “Hey, you texted your dad right?” Kira asked.

Stiles nodded, “yeah I texted him when we got here, told him we were going to the arcade and probably seeing another movie after, he gave the okay. Did you …”

“Yeah,” Kira said quickly, “they’re fine with it, just told me to be safe … are you nervous?”

“Kind of … it’s more or less the first party that isn’t exactly a parent supervised party that I’ve been to,” Stiles said.

“And it’s all for you,” Scott said from behind him.

Kira seemed to look everywhere but at the two of them, “um I’m gonna go see if they need any help with anything,” she said quickly excusing herself.

“I kind of … I kind of hate this,” Scott said quietly.

Stiles turned to face him, “hate what?”

Scott scratched at his nose, “I don’t know, it’s just … it’s everything … everything about this day, right now,” he stopped himself and closed his eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled before he continued, “did you do the chant?”

“What?” Stiles asked a little bewildered by the change.

“The chant,” he repeated, “did you, do it? I know you did … even if you didn’t do it out loud I know you did it.”

Stiles shrugged, “I might have,” it was a wonder to him that even after their time apart Scott still knew him and his tendencies.

“Can we … just for old times’ sake and to keep our ritual we had going,” he suggested.

Stiles frowned, “last time we did it, nothing really turned out okay, you made the lacrosse team and shortly after that everything went downhill for me.”

Stiles could see the impact the reminder had on Scott as his eyes immediately began to water up but he didn’t falter, “yeah … last time wasn’t really uh … it wasn’t really a good thing.”

“It was for you,” Stiles said lightheartedly.

Scott gave him a half smile, “yeah I might’ve had fun but …” he fell silent for a short moment, “but what I lost outweighs what I gained.”

Stiles was surprised at himself and he was surprised at Scott’s words, not because he didn’t care but because he did, there was no lie in what Scott said; he was being 100% sincere and that made Stiles feel a little sorry for him, momentarily, “yeah … well, things happen and-and all we can do is learn,” Stiles said.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Scott said.

The tension building between them was suffocating the life out of Stiles; the person standing before him used to be someone Stiles had no reserves with, now, after everything, talking to him was like trying to force two opposites to come together, “fine,” Stiles drawled, “fine let’s do the chant.”

Scott immediately grabbed one of Stiles' hands and they began chanting away, “it’s gonna be okay if it’s not okay make it okay and if it doesn’t get okay bail and find something that makes you feel okay,” they said. Once they were finished they nodded at one another and went to find the girls to see how they could help in setting up for the party.

Derek's POV

Derek’s parents and his aunt and uncle were gone before either he, Laura or Cora got home from school on Friday; they had said their goodbyes in the morning before they left for school and his parents made sure to reiterate that he better be on his best behavior and that just because they were leaving does not mean he can do as he pleases. Of course, Derek made sure to assure them that he would be good but he wasn’t planning on not doing what he wanted. But the things he wanted to do seemed out of reach for him at the moment, he wanted to take his car out for a spin, he missed it; having it taken away from him actually hurt him deeper than he thought it would; and he thought that with his parents going out of town he’d be able to drive it but his mom made sure to take the keys with her on their trip, so Derek was shit out of luck.

With no car, Derek couldn’t drive and if Derek couldn’t drive he would have to walk to get to the places he wanted to go. He had initially made plans to meet up with Boyd, Isaac, and Jackson Friday night to have a guy’s night but the plans fell through, partly because no one could drive and also because Boyd, Isaac and Jackson needed a solid excuse to get out Saturday night without drawing any suspicion from their parents. So, Derek was forced to be patient and wound up spending Friday night finishing some of his homework and watching a horror movie marathon by himself while his sisters scurried about planning for Saturday night.

Saturday morning was weird, for starters, his sisters were in a great mood; by the time he had woken up and gone downstairs he had found them in the kitchen and they had fixed him a bowl of cereal and offered him a nice genuine good morning. “What’s going on?” He asked sitting down taking a seat at the table.

“Nothing,” Laura said cheerily, “we’re just excited for tonight … and this afternoon.”

Derek frowned, “this afternoon?”

“We’re going to the movies with Stiles to see that new horror movie that came out,” Cora said.

“Blood on the Walls?” Derek asked.

“Yeah that one,” Laura said.

“Lame,” Derek said before taking a bite of his food.

“It’s just a cover so Stiles can get out tonight,” Laura said, “what are you gonna be doing tonight?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know, probably just go hang out with Boyd or something.”

“How are you going to get to Boyd’s house?” Laura asked.

Derek looked up from his bowl of cereal, “uh I think Lydia is probably gonna drive over here and then take me.”

“And what if Lydia doesn’t show up? And since when does Lydia have a car?” Laura pressed.

“She’s always had a car but Jackson used to drive her everywhere so she never had to use it and if she doesn’t show up I’ll figure something out,” Derek said.

Laura sighed, “It’s just that you know with Stiles coming over and-“

Derek dropped his spoon into his cereal bowl and got up, “Yeah I get it, you don’t want me here when he’s here,” he walked over to the sink and dumped out what was left of his cereal and left the bowl in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, “you really know how to make a guy feel unwelcome in his own home.”

“Derek!” Laura called.

“Make sure nobody goes in my room,” he threw over his shoulder and ran upstairs.

He sat in his room for about an hour thinking about what would happen that night, if everything went to plan him and his friends would show up at his house just a few hours after the party starts and hopefully things would go over smoothly and neither one of his sisters would blow up on him. A knock at the door tore Derek from his thoughts, “what,” he called.

“It’s me,” came Cora’s voice from the other side of the door.

“Oh …” he said getting up, rushing over to the door to open it, “yeah?”

“I just wanted to come talk to you,” Cora said which surprised Derek.

“Oh …” he backed away, “come in,” he offered.

Cora walked past him and took a seat on his bed, “I get why you’re upset,” she said.

Derek grunted and took a seat next to his window, “I doubt that.”

“No I do …” she started, “you’re mad because we’re putting you out because you thought it would be a good idea to terrorize the person we’re throwing a party for.”

Derek huffed, “it’s not that …” it was that and hearing it out loud made Derek realize he was being stupid.

“It is that,” she clarified, “we just wanna make sure he doesn’t freak out seeing you here.”

“You don’t have to explain the reasoning I understand,” he said.

Cora scoffed, “Good then if you understand, you won’t be here when we get back from the movies, right?”

“Yes, Cora I’ll be gone and out of your guy's hair and you can have that stupid party … just make sure no one comes in my room,” Derek snapped.

“Fine … nobody will come in your room, I promise and I don’t really think you have to worry about that because I don’t think that many people are going to come,” Cora said.

Derek seriously doubted what Cora said, he knew that a good portion of the school knew about the party and even if not that many people were going to show up, he and his friends would be in attendance later on, “People are coming,” Derek said.

“Yeah, they are, whatever, nobody will come in your room, just make sure you close your door before you leave,” Cora said getting up off of his bed. “I’m gonna go get ready now … see you later,” she said walking for the door before stopping, “oh and … stay out of trouble.”

“No promises,” he joked.

With that Cora huffed and left his room since his sisters were getting ready to leave Derek decided that now was as good a time as any to get dressed and get out of the house. So, he sent out a group text to his friends and let them know he would be ready within the hour and immediately got responses from Lydia, Paige, and Erica; Lydia saying she would be able to get him in about 45 minutes while Paige and Erica both echoed the same tune saying they can’t wait for tonight. Isaac, Boyd, and Jackson all said they would be able to get out relatively soon and that they would let them know when; with that in mind Derek got dressed and was heading for the front door within forty minutes, “you’re leaving?” Laura asked just as he got a hand on the door.

“Yeah, Lydia will be here in a little bit,” he said looking back at his sister who stood atop the staircase.

“Oh …” she said before racing down the steps, “well before you go I just wanna say sorry … I know that it might seem like we’re kicking you out but … you know,” Laura tried.

Derek didn’t really pay her any mind, “yeah it’s cool, whatever, have fun … I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, okay … see ya,” she said with a frown on her face.

Derek walked out of the front and said nothing more, he was surprised to see that when he stepped outside Lydia was already parked out in front of his house, standing by her car, “you’re early?”

Lydia scrutinized him, “And that surprises you because?”

Derek huffed, I just wasn’t expecting you to be here already …” he said as he made his way over to the passenger side of her car.

Lydia shrugged, “I guess that’s understandable seeing as how I never really drive myself anywhere,” she said making her way around to the driver’s side of her car.

They both got in and buckled up and pulled out of Derek’s driveway and were on their way first to Erica’s house and then to Paige’s house shortly after. Isaac was the first one to let them know that he managed to get out of the house, so they went to grab him, then Boyd and then Jackson. Of course, there would be seating issues as not all of them were going to be able to fit into Lydia’s little accord but they made it work Erica sat on Boyd’s lap and Paige sat on Derek’s lap, which was a little awkward, to say the least but luckily the small talk the lot of them shared helped the time pass by fast and they weren’t driving for a long time.

They wound up pulling up to a little spot just outside of the preserve and not too far from Derek’s house, given the time that had already passed by, there was only about another hour before the party started and Derek and his friends agreed to show up at least an hour or two late.

“ugh I hate that we have to wait to show up,” Erica said as they stepped out of the car and they made their way into the preserve.

“And we have no one but ourselves to blame for that,” Lydia reminded her.

Erica sighed, “yeah … I realize that now.”

“Good because if you didn’t we’d have a problem,” Lydia said jokingly and bumped shoulders with Erica. Derek thought it was a nice sight to see that the tension between the girls had gone away now that Erica was no longer blaming Stilinski for their woes.

“Are we really going to walk through the damn preserve for hours before we go to the party?” Jackson complained.

“It beats driving around, wasting my gas,” Lydia said.

“Yeah come on Jackson, it’s not like you don’t run through here once a month anyway,” Boyd said.

“Yeah but that’s different, it’s the moonlight run which is only a few days away and right now it’s definitely not the moonlight run, it’s just walking,” Jackson whined.

“It’s exercise,” Derek corrected him.

“Yeah, it’s exercise,” Paige agreed next to Derek.

“Besides we’re not walking far, we’re just going to the creek, which is right …” Isaac pointed straight ahead, “over there.”

Jackson scoffed and simply scurried ahead, everyone laughed at him as he made his way over to the creek because he looked like a 2-year-old throwing a tantrum. As they arrived they all sort of found a place to sit and relax and they began talking among themselves, Jackson, Isaac, and Lydia were in a pretty heated conversation while Erica and Boyd were too busy focusing on one another and minding their own business which left Derek and Paige alone to talk, “so how’ve you been?” she asked.

“Fine since the last time you saw me,” Derek said.

Paige shrugged, “I don’t know the last few times that I’ve seen you, you haven’t really seemed all there.”

Derek thought about their last few encounters and immediately realized that he never apologized to her for brushing her off two days ago, “yeah … sorry, I just haven’t really been feeling like myself I guess or maybe it’s because I have a lot on my mind, I don’t know.”

Paige patted his shoulder lightly, “it’s okay … you have a lot going on right now and I can understand how all that might be hard to adjust to.”

This was one of the many reasons Derek fell for Paige, through anything she understood how he felt and never disregarded his feelings, “thanks, Paige,” he said.

Paige cocked her head to the side, “for what?”

“For being there,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” she said and smiled at him, Derek wasn’t sure what it was about that moment but it completely threw him off; it could have been the way she was looking at him or it could have been setting they were in that was messing with the mood but Derek was certain that something was off and he couldn’t tell what it was.

He broke eye contact and cleared his throat and attempted to make more small talk, which went over pretty well considering they got lost in a conversation about an upcoming book to TV show they were both interested in. Two hours went by in the blink of an eye and next thing they knew Lydia had shot up announced that it was time for them to go.

This was it, they were about to go crash a party, well not necessarily crash the party but they were going to a party they weren’t exactly expected to go to. They got back to Lydia’s car and piled in and Lydia had gotten them back to the house in a record amount of time, the only problem was parking. Derek could not believe the sight before him when they drove up to his house, there were cars everywhere and people all over the place; he’d expected at least a good portion of people would show up to the party but what he saw completely blew his mind. The amount of people at his house rivaled the amount of people that always showed up to Jackson’s ragers, “this is not what I expected,” Jackson said.

“I don’t think any of us expected this many people to be here,” Lydia said as she turned around and drove back towards the road and found a place to park.

“Am I the only one feeling a little anxious about this?” Erica said.

“Hey, you guys wanted to do this and we’re here already so we might as well just go in and try and have some fun, I don’t think we’ll get kicked out … I hope we don’t get kicked out but I doubt we will but either way we should still go in,” Isaac said.

“Remember we’re not here to cause trouble, all of us need to make sure we stay on our best behavior and whatever you do, if you run into Stilinski do not do anything to him,” Lydia warned.

“When did we become the school losers?” Jackson asked and everyone fell silent.

“Holy shit he’s right … we’re losers, we sound like a bunch of losers,” Isaac said.

“No offense but considering you guys tormented somebody over something really stupid … you all are kind of are losers,” Paige said and at first, no one said anything but Derek was the first one to break the silence when he laughed out loud, everyone joined in soon after that.

“We are a bunch of losers,” Derek said opening his door, “let’s go,” he said and Paige got off his lap and got out of the car and he followed her out, everyone else got out of the car and followed them towards Derek’s house.

People were outside running amuck, some dancing to the music while others were talking among themselves. “Yo Derek you’re here!” Danny said coming off of the front porch, he came up and greeted all of them, “I didn’t think you guys were gonna be here … actually, nobody did.”

Derek glanced around at all the people there and he could only hope that the inside of the house wasn’t getting destroyed because he was not looking forward to an extreme clean up job. A few more members of the football team noticed them and they came up and greeted them, making small talk and offering them drinks. Eventually, more people noticed Derek and his friend’s presence at the party and they all greeted them happily, at first Derek wasn’t sure why everyone was being so cheery towards them but he eventually deduced that it was because they were at a party and the feel good atmosphere had something to do with it.

After a while Derek and his friends had all split up, Lydia going off to find Allison, Jackson along with Isaac went off with Danny to go play a round of Kings Cup; Boyd and Erica, as usual, were getting lost in each other somewhere, which left Derek and Paige alone to venture among the people at his house. “Crazy party,” Paige said as they stepped into the house and made their way to the kitchen, “I never in a million years could have ever dreamed of a party like this going on at your house … your parents would kill you.”

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not the one throwing the party and it’s also a good thing that the party’s not for me,” Derek said as he made his way towards the refrigerator. There was booze everywhere in the kitchen, all along the island at the center of the kitchen as well as all on their counter tops, with snacks littered in between the many different bottles. Derek opened the refrigerator and wasn’t surprised to see that it was packed full of even more booze.

“They really went all out for this,” Paige commented.

“Don’t ask how I know this but I have a funny feeling they didn’t plan for any of this,” Derek said.

“Well planned or not, it’s pretty crazy,” Paige said.

Derek nodded, “yeah, you want a beer or something?”

Paige shrugged, “sure I guess, it’s a party might as well let loose a little.”

Derek pulled out two beers and easily opened both of them and handed one to Paige, “Derek …” came Laura’s voice over the blaring music from behind him.

He turned around to find her looking at him like he had lost his mind, “Oh hey … nice party.”

Laura held out her hands, “what are you doing here?”

Derek took a swig of his drink, “you honestly didn’t expect me to stay out all night, did you?”

“No, but I expected you to stay out a little longer than what you did,” she complained, “you brought your friends too?”

He shrugged, “Yeah, so?”

“Derek, you know we threw this party for Stiles,” Laura said.

“And you know I live here, if me coming home was going to be a problem, maybe you should have planned something else,” Derek snapped.

Laura ran a hand through her hair and huffed, “you’re right … you’re right I’m sorry, just don’t cause any problems, okay?”

“You don’t have to worry about us, just go, have fun, get away from me,” he said shooing her off.

Laura scoffed and rolled her eyes, “whatever, try and have a good time,” she said, she greeted Paige with a hug before leaving the kitchen.

Derek sighed, “I feel like I need a break already.”

“Hey, look at it this way, at least now we know she’s not going to kick us out,” Paige joked.

Derek smirked, “yeah, whatever.”

“Derek,” Scott’s voice came from the direction Laura left in, he walked up to him with a grin on his face, “hey man, what are you guys doing here?”

“Well you know, I live here and I guess we just wanted to come check things out,” he said.

“Oh cool, this parties crazy, we didn’t really set up for all this; we only had a few packs of sodas and snacks and then a few people showed up with drinks and then more people showed up and next thing we knew the house was packed and Danny brought his speaker’s and his system and got things set up and got some music going and from there it just got a little crazy,” Scott explained.

The music had cut off abruptly, “HEY EVERYONE CAN I GET YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!?” Derek heard Braeden’s voice coming from somewhere.

“Oh shit, I gotta go,” Scott said racing off back towards the living room area.

“AS YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW, THIS IS NOT JUST A NORMAL PARTY,” Braeden announced.

“Hell no, IT’S A FUCKING AWESOME PARTY!” Came an unrecognizable voice from the crowd.

“NOT ONLY THAT,” Braeden continued, “IT’S STILES STILINSKI’S BIRTHDAY PARTY,” a bunch of people cheered upon hearing that. “AND WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOU’RE AT SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY?” No one had an answer, so Braeden answered for them, “YOU SING THEM HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” The house erupted in cheers, “QUIET DOWN, QUIET DOWN,” Braeden said it was at this moment Derek managed to find where she was and where Scott had run off too; Braeden was standing halfway up the staircase and next to her stood both of Derek’s sister’s, Scott and Allison and they were all surrounding Stilinski.

“AT THE COUNT OF THREE I WANT EVERYONE IN HERE TO SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FRIEND STILES, CAN YOU DO THAT?!” Braeden yelled and basically, everyone in the whole house responded with a loud ‘YA.’ Braeden counted them off and everyone started singing happy birthday to Stilinski, even Paige who stood next to Derek was singing happy birthday to him. It was odd, never in a million years would Derek have guessed that there would be a wild party being thrown at his house for Stilinski; to Derek it just seemed like another slap in the face at how much things had changed in such a short amount of time and he couldn’t help feeling bitter about that.

Derek’s eyes roamed over the mass of people littered throughout his house singing happy birthday to Stilinski and he half expected to look back up and see Stilinski looking down on them with a smug expression but he was surprised to find that Stilinski seemed a little scared and not only that he seemed, “he seems … so sad,” Derek blurted out just as they were finishing the song.

Paige clapped next to him and quickly put a hand on his shoulder, “did you say something?”

Derek looked down at Paige and back up to Stilinski, who gave everyone a meager wave and said thank you and nervously shouted ‘PARTY ON,’ before bolting off the stairs and out of sight. “Nothing … I was just thinking out loud,” Derek said.

“This was nice of your sisters to do,” Paige commented.

Derek shrugged, “yeah I guess.”

Paige swatted his arm and pointed to their left, Derek looked and saw Jackson and Isaac playing a round of beer pong in the living room and they looked like they were actually having a great time, “I’m glad to see they’re having a good time,” Paige said.

Derek wasn’t sure if Paige wanted to go over and join them but he knew he didn’t want to, there were currently too many people in his house and he wasn’t exactly in a party mood, “hey you wanna go outside or something?”

Paige looked to him concerned, “yeah sure … are you feeling okay?”

“You really had to come with your friends?” Cora said from behind him.

Derek didn’t bother turning around to acknowledge her, “It’s not like we’re doing anything and I live here too,” he said before walking out of the front door. He walked for a while, just long enough so that he was away from the festivities and the people.

“You’re not okay,” Paige said next to him.

“No, I’m not,” Derek sighed and took a swig of his drink, “I just … I just can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Wrap your head around what?” Paige asked.

Derek gestured back to his house and all of the people, “this, everything, my situation; I just … I can’t believe how much has changed.”

“So, wait,” Paige frowned, “you’re upset that your sisters are throwing a party for Stiles?”

“No … or maybe a little I don’t know, I just can’t believe that there’s a party going on at my house, a huge wild party that looks like one of the parties Jackson usually throws and it’s all for Stilinski,” Derek said.

“So …” Paige said and was clearly waiting for him to get to the point. “Oh, come on Derek, don’t tell me you’re upset because none of this is for you.”

“No … that’s selfish and I’m selfish sometimes but not that selfish … I’m just upset over the fact that all this is happening and it’s all because of what I did, what we did …” he said.

“What you guys did,” Paige corrected him.

“Yeah you know what I meant,” he said.

Paige huffed, “yeah I know what you meant,” she then ran a hand through her hair, “listen why don’t we talk about something else … something that we should probably get off the table, something that’s been kind of bothering me since I found out about it.”

Derek frowned, ‘was she mad because of how standoffish he was with her prior to today?’ He wondered, “what is it?”

One thing was certain whatever was bothering her was causing her to become really anxious and nervous at the same time, “it’s just that … it’s just …” she scoffed, “ugh why can’t I say this without feeling like a complete idiot?”

“Just say what you need to say, you’ve never had a problem doing it before … even when we first met,” Derek said.

“Yeah well, when we first met I didn’t think I would be talking to you about mating and being with you for the rest of my life,” she spat before covering her mouth.

Derek’s eyes grew wide, “what?”

“I can’t believe I just said that …” she said shaking her head and covering her eyes, “look ever since you told me that you were going to ask me to be your mate, I … I’ve sort of been thinking and … and well I … I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

Was this really happening, did Paige just say that she would be his mate if he had asked her, “you’re … you’re serious?”

Paige rolled her eyes at him and swatted him on the face, “yes stupid,” she quickly backed away and ducked her head down, it was a funny sight, the dim light coming from the moon revealed that Paige was completely flushed.

“You’re blushing,” he commented.

“Shut up, Derek … this is so embarrassing,” she said.

Derek rubbed at the spot where Paige had swatted him, “so you would have said yes if I had asked you to be my mate before you left?”

Paige shrugged, “maybe … I mean I was leaving and I thought that maybe I was never going to come back here but … I think if you did ask back then … I might have considered it.”

Derek nodded, “good to know.”

“Bu-but … but now that I’m back and I’m here and I know how … how you feel, I … I’m open to the idea,” she sighed, “what am I saying? I’m more than open to the idea I think it would be great.”

Derek frowned, “wait, what?”

“I think … I mean if you’re still up for it, I think that maybe we should be mates … I think that, no I … I feel that that’s what’s best for both of us,” she said.

This was fates way of making Derek look like an absolute fool, again, having the one person that he fantasized about having a future with, stand before him professing that she would be willing to spend her life with him after it was too late; had they of had this discussion before, they would have started dating, eventually fell in love with one another and in time would have been bonded through a mating ceremony and went on to have a few kids that they would raise to the best of their abilities and through all of that they would grow old together and live their lives to the fullest. They weren’t soulmates so there was no guarantee for a future like that and Paige could potentially find her soulmate and want to be with them; but Derek felt that if they really worked for it, they could have it, easily. But that vision will never come to be, “I … I,” Derek tried.

“Look I know it might seem a little out of the blue and I know that we wouldn’t technically be mates right off the bat because, hello we still haven’t really seen what it’s like to be in a relationship with one another but Derek, you’re literally one of my best friends, if not the best and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t think we could make this work because I think we could, I know we could. We’ve been friends for years, we know how to deal with each other and we know most of our limits and being in a relationship, we’ll get to figure out a little more about one another and eventually we’re going to know each other like the back of our hands,” she giggled nervously. “And-and I know that … that Stiles is your … your um, your soulmate and if that were to ever become something, I wouldn’t stand in the way of it; but … by the looks of things, I don’t think that’s something we’ll have to worry about and you know …”

Derek was still unable to find his voice, he was too busy wondering if maybe he had done something terrible in a past life to be cursed with such shitty luck, “Derek … say something,” Paige said.

“You … me … you wanna …” he tried and couldn’t get a bearing on anything.

“Look,” she said stepping into his space, “I know that this must be a lot to take in and I know that you said that when you found ‘the one’ you’d be all for them and do whatever you could to make things work or maybe it’s just … maybe you’ve changed your mind about me and the way you feel …”

“I didn’t,” Derek said quickly, he could at least admit to himself and to her that he did still have a desire for the future he’d envisioned, no matter how much his other half opposed it.

Paige smiled at that, “well look I know this is different, for both of us and a step in a new direction for our relationship but I’m willing to give it a shot if you are. I mean I’m not blind or stupid Derek, I’ve spent years with you and watched you grow into who you are now and obviously only an idiot would think that you aren’t really attractive and aside from your looks and your flaws I know that you’re a good person and that’s what I like about you.” She tittered suddenly, “God if I’m being honest when you started coming to school talking about soulmates and saving yourself for ‘the one’ I won’t lie … I kind of thought what it would be like if I was ‘the one’ and I started imagining life with you and … and it seemed nice.”

“But you-but you said before that you thought of someone like Stilinski as your soulmate,” Derek mentioned.

“Yeah because he’s funny and he listens and he … he seems really nice; but Derek you’re funny to me and you listen when I need you to and you’re really nice to me,” she said and stepped a little closer to him, they were nearly toe to toe. Derek looked down at her and peered into her eyes and saw longing and hope, she raised a hand and cupped his face, “I know this is different for us and it’s probably a little weird but I hope that it’s something we could get used to,” she said and Derek found himself unable to respond. It was like he had forgotten how to control his body, he was a toddler all over again trying to figure out how everything works, his mouth, his arms, his legs, everything just wasn’t cooperating with his brain.

“Do you … do you think this could be something that you still might want?” She asked through his silence.

‘Yes, this is what I’ve wanted for a long time,’ would have been his response if he could get a handle on himself. Actually, he probably would have wound up kissing her already and telling her a bunch of sweet nothings and assuring her that their future together would be solid and he would always remain devoted to her regardless of the circumstances that may come their way. If things were different this scenario would have played out a lot differently; but things are the way they are because fate was cruel and had a plan to make Derek look like an utter fool and there was no changing that.

Paige must have felt that her actions would be better than her words because one moment Derek was looking down into her eyes and the next she was equally pulling him in and leaning into kiss him; it would have probably been a great kiss if Derek could enjoy it but the second her lips met his a searing pain spread throughout Derek’s body; just like before when he was with Braeden only now the pain happened instantaneously. Derek threw himself back and out of Paige’s grasp, he dropped his beer and held onto his arm, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his mark, only to see that those awful black veins had returned in full force. Derek gasped and collapsed onto his knees and dry heaved, “DEREK!” Paige screamed as she tried to come closer to him.

“Stay back,” Derek heaved, “don’t come near me … please, just stay right there.”

“Derek, I don’t understand, what’s going on? What … what is wrong with your arm?” Paige asked frantically.

“I can’t,” he rasped out, “I can’t …” he said again; “it’s too late, we can never … we can never,” he tried.

Paige took one small cautious step forward, “Derek … Derek, I don’t understand, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on?” Lydia said racing over to them.

Paige turned and moved to the side as Lydia ran over, “It’s Derek, there’s something wrong with him, we were … we were just talking and-“

“Derek, what’s happening?” Lydia asked cutting Paige off.

“I can’t,” he rasped.

“Hey,” Boyd’s voice boomed as he came along, Erica was just behind him, “what happened?”

“We heard Paige scream and came running over here.” Erica said, “is Derek okay?”

“We’re trying to find that out,” Lydia said.

“Hey … hey, your arm … this is …” Boyd began but cut himself off.

“Boyd, you know what this is?” Lydia asked.

“Boyd if you know anything please tell us, he’s in pain,” Paige pleaded.

“It’s because … it’s because of his mark,” Boyd said after a moment.

“His soul mark? How do you know?” Lydia demanded.

“We … we went to the hospital, the night after Jackson’s last party … before we got in trouble. When he was with Braeden something happened and-and …” Boyd stopped as soon as Derek sat upright.

“It’s mate rejection;” Derek said as the pain from his mark started to ease.

“Mate rejection only happens with somebody that’s already mated to their soul mate and we all know who your soulmate is and we know you’re not mated to him,” Lydia said.

“Apparently, it happens even if you’re not mated,” Derek sighed, finally getting a handle on himself.

“Wait … if it happened with Braeden, then … then that means you two never …” Erica started.

“Yeah, we never did anything,” Derek clarified.

“So, the reason she was screaming that night was actually because this happened?” Erica asked.

“Yeah … yeah, but it was worst,” Derek answered.

 “That’s beside the point,” Lydia started looking at him skeptically, “the real question is why this is happening … I know that you and Stilinski are soulmates but you two aren’t even mated and you don’t even like each other, so why is this happening? Does it happen with anyone? What were you doing that caused this?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care to find out,” he said getting up off the ground, holding onto his left arm, “ and … and we were talking about the possibility of mating and-“

“I kissed him,” Paige said cutting him off.

“what are you guys even doing out here anyway?” Derek asked.

“I was going to get something out of my car,” Lydia said.

“We were … exploring,” Erica said.

“You mean you were exploring each other,” Lydia said.

Derek felt hot like he was running a fever or like he had been out playing a game of football on a hot day and he needed to cool off, “I’m gonna go inside,” he said.

“Derek wait, are you okay, do you really think you should go back around all those people?” Paige stopped him.

“No, I’m not okay and all those people are in my house and I need some water or something,” he answered and started walking back towards the house. As he made his way back he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see a figure sitting in the windowsill of his room, “I told them not to let anyone go into my room,” he said and raced towards his house with his friends at his back shouting for him to come back.

Stiles POV

The party was more than what Stiles had expected, initially, when people had started showing up it was okay, not too overwhelming, kind of like a small get together where there were just the right amount of people to just kick back and have a good time. But then more people started to show and once Danny arrived and set up his music system and people started busting out booze, things got crazy quickly. Stiles had forced himself to remain close to Cora and Kira, majority of the night; Scott and Allison wound up grabbing a hold of him partway through the night and forced him into playing a round of beer pong and King’s Cup, which didn’t go so bad, he was actually pretty good at both games. Cora and Kira stopped him eventually afraid that he may get a little drunk if he kept playing and they drug him away and back towards the little spot they had for themselves just outside the kitchen.

Stiles wasn’t sure where Laura and Braeden were for most of the time, once the party got out of control the two of them disappeared and started socializing with other people there. But that only lasted so long as the two girls wound up reappearing eventually and dragging Stiles, Cora, and Kira to the stairway and lead them halfway up the steps, Allison was already there waiting anxiously for them and by the look on her face and Braeden’s face Stiles figured they had something planned for him. But before they could enact that plan Laura raced off the steps and disappeared mentioning she would be right back and she did, in fact, come right back and Scott came along shortly after to which Braeden started announcing that the party was meant to be Stiles birthday party.

It was weird for Stiles when practically everyone in the house started singing happy birthday to him; it wasn’t that long ago that a good portion of the people in attendance thought he was some drug addicted freak that was unable to present and now they’re here singing cheerily to him like everything that happened in the past had been forgotten, it made Stiles a little sad but he knew that he couldn’t dwell on it or it would just tear him down and remind him of all the other horrible things he went through and right now he was supposed to be happy and having a good time. So, he did his best to savor the sight and sound before him and when everyone was finished singing to him he nervously waved and said ‘thank you, PARTY ON’ before he quickly ran off the stairs and back to the little area he had been hanging out in the entire night.

“You sure know how to make an exit,” Cora said.

Stiles ducked his head, “all the attention is kind of weird and it kind of feels forced.”

“Probably would have been better if we just had another small party like the one we had on your birthday,” Kira mentioned.

Stiles shook his head, “no this is fine … I mean I don’t know if I could do this all the time but it’s definitely a nice change of pace.”

“Stiles,” Laura called walking up to him, “hey you ran off so fast, is everything okay?”

“Yeah … I think I was just feeling a little overwhelmed by everything,” he said.

Laura’s eyes widened, “oh … oh my god I didn’t even think about how you might react to something like that, I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Stiles said quickly, “seriously it’s fine, thank you by the way.”

Laura gnawed at her bottom lip, “I don’t know if you should thank me just yet …”

“Is something wrong,” Cora asked.

Laura sighed and looked around the room, “I don’t know how you’re gonna feel about this but considering you’re here and they’re here you might eventually run into them so I might as well just tell you that my brother and his friends are here.”

Cora shoved Laura’s shoulder and forced Laura to look at her, “what do you mean, our brother and his friends are here?”

“They’re here somewhere, enjoying the party,” Laura said.

Cora scoffed and walked off without another word, “it’s not really that big a deal,” Stiles said.

Laura and Kira both turned on him and looked at him like he was crazy, “Stiles …” Laura tried.

“I don’t need you to walk on egg shells around me, I’m fine and it’s fine if your brother is here, it’s his house too; I wouldn’t want you to do something for me that’s going to inconvenience somebody else … even if it’s your brother and his friends,” Stiles said.

“I just wanted to make sure you could have fun without having to worry about anything,” Laura explained woefully.

“I appreciate that I do … but I’d rather not cause anyone any problems,” he said reassuringly, “I think I’m gonna go grab a soda from the kitchen, do you guys want something?”

“No, I’m good for now,” Laura said.

Stiles turned to Kira, who shook her head, “I’m fine too.”

He nodded and made his way to the kitchen alone and opened up the refrigerator and grabbed a soda, “so you’re Stilinski …” he heard from behind him and turned to see someone who he recognized as a member of the football team but he wasn’t sure of his name.

Stiles fixed him with a quizzical look, “I prefer Stiles and you are?”

“Mitch,” the guy said, “you’re Hale’s soulmate right?”

Stiles couldn’t help the irritation he felt at hearing the question, “depends on which Hale you’re talking about,” he said.

Luckily for Stiles the guy seemed to be a good at reading body language, “sorry, I should have known that probably wasn’t something you’d want to be asked right out the gate,” he said.

“Yeah,” Stiles sighed and looked him over and wondered why this guy was even conversing with him, “did you need something?”

The guy, Mitch, shrugged, “not really, I was just trying to make conversation I guess … I’ve sort of been watching most of the night.”

Strangely enough, he wasn’t lying but that only helped to make Stiles worry, “okay why …”

Mitch must have known that Stiles was feeling uncomfortable and immediately raised his hands in mock surrender, “no, no, no, I swear it’s only because … well because I’m sort of interested in you.”

Stiles did feel a little relief to know that the guy wasn’t watching him because he was targeting him, “okay … why are you interested in me?”

“Oh … um, well because I like you?” He said as more of a question than an answer.

“You sure about that?” Stiles glowered.

Finally, the act that Mitch was playing let up, “look I came over here because I figured you need somebody to talk to,” he shrugged, “or maybe something a little more, I don’t know. What I do know is, you’re Hale’s … or I’m sorry, you’re Derek’s soulmate and I know that the two of you probably will never get together and I happen to hate Derek and I also happen to know for a fact that he doesn’t like when things that are supposed to belong to him get taken by somebody else; so I’m coming to you with a proposition you probably won’t refuse.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Stiles asked in a mild manner.

“You and I should claim each other, for the time being at least, this way I make Derek jealous that I have what’s his and you … you get to be with me,” Mitch jeered.

Stiles decided to play along with the conversation for the moment, “and what do I get out of being with you?”

Mitch shrugged, “like I said you get to be with me, of course, it’s all a charade that we have planned between the both of us but …” Mitch looked Stiles over and shrugged, “you’re cute enough, it doesn’t have to stay a charade and we can add some benefits into this little deal we’ll have going, that way you’ll net yourself a good alpha and all the benefits of being with one and I’ll get the satisfaction of knowing that I got what was supposed to belong to Derek.”

‘Belong to Derek,’ Stiles couldn’t help but laugh at that which took Mitch by surprise, “that’s funny,” he said in between giggles, “I wasn’t aware I belonged to anyone.”

Mitch’s brows furrowed, “you’re his soul mate, aren’t you? Clearly, you’re a beta and he’s an alpha and by rule, you belong to him.”

Stiles scoffed, he couldn’t help but feel disgusted at the conversation at hand, “and what rule says that I belong to him? If you haven’t noticed, we don’t like each other, he has no claim over me; I don’t belong to anyone.”

The cheeky look coupled with the douchebag grin told Stiles that Mitch was a certified douchebag, “you know you’re actually pretty cute when you get mad,” Mitch said, leering at Stiles and making him feel violated.

Stiles knew the conversation was heading somewhere that wasn’t going to turn out good for him and he knew he needed to end it quickly, “Wow, so you’re really going to stand there and disrespect me like I’m nobody?”

Mitch shrugged, “well you are nobody, what you think just because Hale’s sisters threw this party for you and all these people showed up, you’re somebody? Listen, I’ll do something for you nobody else is willing to do, I’m gonna tell you the truth; this party and all these people that showed up, only happened because people felt sorry for you or they just wanted an excuse to party. None of this happened because anyone genuinely cares about you, you’re still Stilinski the school loser and a total nobody,” Mitch smirked mischievously when he noticed his words had an effect on Stiles and took the opportunity to lean in a little closer to the point that he was almost invading Stiles space, “you see the truth hurts doesn’t it? But think of it this way, at least you know I’ll always tell you the truth, so you know that when I say that if you get with me you’ll go from being a nobody to somebody who has someone that might actually give a damn about you, you know that I mean it.”

Mitch placed his hand on the refrigerator behind Stiles and partially caged him in, “get with me and I’ll make you happy, hell we’ll make each other happy … in more ways than one.”

‘Happy,’ hearing that brought back the resolve that Stiles momentarily lost, “happy? You’re gonna make me happy? How? You think me being with you will make me happy? Are you serious? I-I-I’m not even happy with myself, so what the hell makes you think you can make me happy?!” Stiles shoved Mitch’s arm away so that he no longer felt caged in, “you’re just another piece of shit and you need to stay the hell away from me.”

Obviously, Stiles reaction was not what Mitch had expected, as he stood momentarily shell-shocked before releasing a low menacing growl, “listen, you little fucking shit if you-“

“Hey Mitch, what are you doing?” Stiles heard from behind Mitch taking both him and Mitch by surprise, when Stiles peered around Mitch he saw both Isaac and Jackson glaring at Mitch.

“Lahey? Whittemore? What the hell do you want?” He asked gruffly.

“We were coming to grab something to drink but you’re in the way and it sounds like you’re bothering him,” Isaac said.

“Yeah, not sure if you’ve noticed but it sounds like he doesn’t want to have anything to do with second rate trash like you, so why don’t you leave him alone?” Jackson asked. Had hell frozen over or were Isaac and Jackson really coming to Stiles defense?

“Leave him alone? Weren’t you two just fucking around with him like yesterday? Oh, wait, no that was probably more like two months ago, and how long did that last, for a year, right?” Mitch jeered, “Listen if you guys got a problem, we can settle this right now; I’m sure I can take both of you no problem, you little Beta bitch boys.”

“You think you can take me,” Laura asked pushing past Jackson and Isaac. Mitch nearly backed into Stiles when Laura stepped up to him, “what’s the matter, you scared of a girl?”

“I don’t fight chicks,” Mitch said and turned to face Stiles, “think about what I said,” he excused himself after that.

“Are you okay? What did he say?” Laura asked frantically.

“Nothing … he didn’t say anything and I’m fine,” Stiles struggled to say.

“Stiles please, I can tell you’re upset,” she said.

Stiles shook his head, “I’m fine,” he looked at the soda he was holding and sat it on the counter next to him, “turns out I’m not really that thirsty, where’s your bathroom?”

Laura sighed, “use the one upstairs, just turn left and it’s the second door on the right.” Stiles tried to make a move to get there but Laura blocked his path, “Stiles, are you okay?”

Laura’s concern may have been genuine but it made Stiles feel inadequate and pathetic and feeling that way made him feel like he was back to square one and that just made him angry, “I said I’m fine,” he snapped. “I’m sorry,” he said a moment later and didn’t give Laura time to say anything back as he made his way past her and towards the staircase. Once upstairs he found the restroom and let himself in and splashed his face with some cold water and took a good look at himself in the mirror, ‘this party and all these people that showed up, only happened because people felt sorry for you or they just wanted an excuse to party. None of this happened because anyone genuinely cares about you, you’re still Stilinski the school loser and a total nobody,’ Mitch’s words rang in Stiles ears like an echo in a long dark cave. Stiles patted his face a few times and tried his best to pull himself together before he went back downstairs to rejoin the party; but he couldn’t pull himself together, he couldn’t even find it in him to rejoin the party.

So, once he opened the door to the bathroom, instead of making his way back downstairs, he let himself into the nearest room and hid in there. Surprisingly Stiles felt at ease the moment he entered the room, it was pretty dark and he wasn’t sure who’s room he was in and he wasn’t going to fish around to figure out. He leaned back against the door and took a few deep breaths and tried to reign himself in, ‘I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay,’ he chanted in his head. In front of him was a windowsill that looked really inviting and he couldn’t help himself as he made his way over to sit in it. Stiles looked out the window and saw a mass of people outside enjoying themselves and looking like they were having the time of their lives; carefree, not having to watch their backs under any circumstances, they were just living. “I’ll be okay,” Stiles whispered to himself as his eyes started to water as the realization set in that being okay seemed like a farfetched dream that would never happen. He’d never allowed himself to full-on cry, he just didn’t believe in letting other people get the better of him but now he was at his wit's end and he’d heard somewhere that sometimes it’s okay to just let go and stop holding everything in.

One tear fell, then another and then another and soon he was sobbing, he brought his knees up to his chest and tucked his head away and cried to himself. If he could he would remain in this room in this very spot for the duration of the party, or at least for as long as he could stay but his time to himself didn’t last long because one moment he was in the room alone and then next thing he knew the door to the room flew open and a pair of crimson red eyes greeted him.

Derek's POV

All Derek saw was red, he raced past the many people that were littered throughout his front yard and house and made his way to the staircase and bound upstairs without a second thought. He turned the corner and made his way down the hall and towards his room, once he got to the door and heard that there was, in fact, someone in his room he swung his door open without hesitation, ready to throw them out. He spotted the person instantly, sitting on his windowsill and he half expected to find someone else in his room, but from what Derek could see it was just that one person. He clenched his fist and was getting ready to stalk into his room when the scent hit him like a ton of bricks, a foul mixture of sadness and anger blended with something underneath that almost seemed sweet; it was an odd scent that seemed familiar to Derek but he couldn’t figure out what it was until he saw who the scent was coming from.

Straight ahead just across his room, sitting in the spot where Derek usually finds himself looking up at the night sky and getting lost in the stars, sat the person Derek had taken his anger and frustration out on for the past year. Suddenly the anger Derek felt at someone invading his space had all but gone and he found himself immobile, not sure what to do with himself other than stare. “What do you … uh … are you … do you want me to get my sister?” Derek asked eventually finding his voice.

 Stilinski sat there just looking over his arm starring back at Derek, “no …” he whispered.

Great, then what was he supposed to do, he wondered, “do you … do you maybe need something?” Derek asked hating how uncertain he sounded.

Again, Stilinski still remained in the same position peaking over his arm at Derek, “no …” he whispered again.

Derek could feel himself becoming restless and not just himself but his wolf as well, “do you …”

As soon as Derek was going to ask another question Stilinski lifted his head from his knees and wiped his face with his sleeve, “I’m fine …” he said as he got up, he took a few deep breaths before he started walking towards Derek, “I don’t need anything … sorry about … your room,” as he gestured around the room fear and anxiety shrouded his scent, he must have realized then where he was.

“It’s fine,” Derek said quickly trying to reassure him and do away with the awful scent he was giving off.

Stilinski simply nodded and tried to make his way past Derek only to trip over his own two feet and force Derek to catch him before he could fall. Derek held his breath as he held onto Stilinski, the stupid kid was a menace even to himself, Derek thought; Stilinski fidgeted a little in Derek’s arms trying to right himself and Derek helped him out by easily standing him upright making sure to keep hold of him just in case he fell over again.

Derek wasn’t sure when but he eventually wound up losing himself for a moment, it could have been for a multitude of reasons one being Stilinski looking him dead in the eyes without blinking or maybe it was the weirdness of the atmosphere, whatever it was Derek found himself lost in Stilinski’s eyes for a moment. “Uh … um th-th-thank you,” Stilinski said without breaking eye contact.

Derek blinked a few times and looked around his room and then realized that he still had his hands on Stilinski, he quickly withdrew them and held them at his sides, “I-I told you to be careful.”

“Derek,” he heard his name from down the hall. He turned to see his friends running upstairs, Paige was leading them, “what are you …” she stopped when she noticed Stilinski standing in the doorway of his room.

Boyd, Erica, Lydia and Paige stood in the hallway silent, none of them seemed to have anything to say, “th-thanks again,” Stilinski said drawing back Derek’s attention, “I-I’m gonna go,” he wiped his face once more and then made his way past Derek, down the hall and passed by Erica, Boyd, Lydia and Paige without a second glance and disappeared downstairs.

“I have so many questions,” Lydia said turning back to Derek.

But he wasn’t in the mood to entertain those questions, in fact, he wasn’t in the mood for anything other than sitting in his room and figuring out what the hell just happened. “I don’t have any answers,” Derek said.

“Was he crying?” Erica asked.

Derek frowned at the question, “can you guys give me a minute?”

Paige took one small step forward, “Derek …”

“Just give me a minute,” he said, “I’ll be downstairs in a little bit but I just need a minute,” he walked into his room after that and shut his door. With the music blaring and the many people in and outside of his house talking, yelling and screaming it was hard for Derek to find his place and sit down and be alone with his thoughts; too much was happening at once and he was having trouble processing it all, what made things worst was Stilinski’s scent was stinking up his room and it was driving his wolf insane. If he could just get a handle on things if he could just get out if he could just figure out what to do with himself things would be so much easier to deal with.

A knock at his door caught him by surprise, “go away,” he growled.

“Derek let us in,” Cora’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Give me a minute,” he said.

“Derek open the door right now, it’s an emergency,” Cora said with urgency.

Derek growled and threw his door open, “What do you-“ he cut himself off when he noticed Cora was accompanied by Stilinski and a girl that he didn’t know, his friends were just behind them with a look of concern on their faces.

Cora pushed her way into his room dragging the girl and Stilinski in with her, “stand right there … don’t go near the window,” Cora told the girl, Derek had never seen Cora this frantic and Derek could scent the worry and fear coming off of her in waves as well as the girl and Stilinski.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked.

“What’s going on,” Lydia asked from outside of his room.

“We need to use your room for a minute,” Cora said to Derek and then looked at his friends standing near the door, “You guys need to go back downstairs, right now,” Cora said.

“Is something wrong,” Erica asked.

“Derek, take your friends back downstairs,” Cora commanded.

The urgency in her voice caused him to take action so without a second thought Derek turned towards his door and walked out of his room, “guys come on,” he said and ushered his friends towards the staircase.

“Derek,” Cora called from the doorway of his room, “get Laura,” she said and slammed his door shut.

Whatever was going on was something serious and it had his sister in a frenzy, “dude what the hell?” Boyd asked as they made their way down.

“I don’t know but I gotta find Laura,” Derek said looking around as they made their way downstairs.

“She’s over there,” Paige said pointing towards the living room.

Derek nodded, “okay, can you guys stay down here, please?”

Each of them nodded and he made his way over to Laura, “hey I need you upstairs now.”

Laura happened to be pretty buzzed and she was currently playing a game of flip cup with Braeden and a few other people, “okay, let me finish this game really quick and-“

He grabbed her arm and drug her in close and whispered, “No Laura, listen, Cora is in my room with Stilinski and another girl I don’t know and she’s freaking out.”

He let go of her then and she leaned back from him and he watched as the realization of what he said dawned on her face, she then turned to Braeden, “hey I gotta go handle something really quick, you guys finish without me okay.”

“Hurry back,” Braeden said.

Derek took Laura’s hand and lead her to the staircase and together they made their way upstairs; as soon as they made it to the top Laura rushed to Derek’s room with him just behind her and knocked on his door, “Cora it’s me, open up,” she said.

Cora immediately opened the door and let them in and shut the door behind them, the girl Derek didn’t know was crying and Stilinski looked like he was about ready to have a mental breakdown and Cora had never looked so disheveled in her life; “what’s going on?” Laura asked.

Cora took a deep breath and looked in between Laura and Derek, “I think … I think we have a really big problem.”

“Is-are mom and dad home or something?” Laura asked frantically.

“No, Laura! I think it’s worst …” Cora said and looked to the unknown girl, “Kira tell her.”

The girl, Kira, sniffled and tried to collect herself, “before I moved here from Japan, there was a man that was stalking me and … and well he was basically the reason we left Japan and moved here so I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore and I wouldn’t have to be afraid.”

“Did you see somebody that looked like him or something?” Derek asked.

Kira gasped, “no … I saw him, I was standing by the front door looking outside and I noticed a figure in the distance and I know it was him.”

“Okay but all you saw was a figure? M-Maybe it was somebody that was probably from the party and they’re probably buzzed or really drunk and they’re trying to walk it off until their sober enough to go home?” Laura tried.

Kira shook her head frantically, “no … no you don’t understand I know it was him, he had the same outfit on, he’s wearing a black trench coat and he has a black hat on so you can’t see his face.”

Laura walked up to Kira and cupped her face, “sweety maybe you’re just scared and that man stalking you probably screwed with your mind a little and-“

“Laura …” Cora called from nearby the window.

“What Cora, we need to calm her down,” Laura said.

“Yeah well …” Cora gulped, “there’s a man with a black trench coat and a black hat on standing outside.”

Derek walked up behind his sister as did Laura, “where?” He asked and followed Cora’s line of sight until he spotted someone that was just on the outskirts of where anyone from the party would be; Laura gasped when she spotted him too.

Derek backed away from the window, “alright so it’s just a guy … I’ll take a few people and we’ll go out there and tell him to fuck off.”

“No, you can’t do that, you don’t understand, anyone that’s involved with me will only wind up getting hurt; he kidnapped my friend in Japan, they’ll take you too;” she said frantically between tears.

“They?” Derek wondered.

“The group that’s kidnapping Omega’s,” Kira stated

Derek frowned, “why would they be interested in you? Are you …”

“She’s like Stiles, she’s an Omega too,” Laura said.

“Guys, that man is walking towards the house,” Cora said from by the window.

“Should I … should I call my dad,” Stiles said from the corner of the room finally making his presence known.

“No,” Laura said, “no you can’t … if you did that, you would get in trouble and who even says the guy is here for you; nobody knows about you except us and I know none of us have said anything.”

Kira ran her hands through her hair and sighed, “she’s right, you can’t do anything; we can’t do anything.”

“Would the guy even do anything, with all these people here?” Derek asked.

“I don’t know,” Kira said.

“What if we don’t have to do anything?” Cora asked.

“What?” Laura asked.

“What if we just went about the party like normal and snuck out and took them home?” Cora wondered.

It wasn’t a bad idea, with all the people in their house they would have the perfect cover to sneak out and get both Stilinski and Kira away, “it’s not a bad plan but what if this guy comes in the house while we’re trying to leave,” Derek asked.

“Laura will be here,” Cora said.

“What no, I’m taking them home, I’m the only one with a car here,” Laura protested.

“Laura in case you haven’t noticed you sort of reek of booze and if I can smell it in here past everything, then who says Stiles dad won’t? Remember he’s the sheriff …” Cora said thoughtfully.

“How are you guys going to get there then? You only have your permit so if you show up driving them home you’ll get in trouble too,” Laura said.

“Derek will drive us,” Cora said.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea …” Stilinski said.

“Why?” Cora turned on him.

“Because how is my dad going to react if he sees me getting out of a car with him in it?” Stilinski asked gesturing to Derek. The comment made Derek feel a little uncomfortable but it was understandable, of course, Stilinski’s dad would feel a certain way about Derek especially after what Derek did to him.

“Lydia and Erica can take you …” Derek mentioned.

“What no! We know how they feel about him,” Laura argued.

“Do you?” Derek asked only because he highly doubted his sister had any idea that the two felt remorseful for their involvement.

Cora scoffed from behind them, “Derek will come with us before we get to Stiles house I’ll drop Derek off at the end of the block and he can wait for me to pick him up.”

“But you still have to deal with the fact that you don’t have a license so you shouldn’t be driving by yourself,” Laura reminded her.

“I’m not getting out of the car, I’m just dropping them off and leaving, that’s it,” Cora said.

Derek figured that if the man was, in fact, walking towards the house, they didn’t really have time to be arguing about the driving situation, “Look we can just go with Cora’s plan, waiting isn’t doing us any favors and we don’t know what this guy might try and do,” Derek said.

“I’m happy you seem so concerned,” Laura said, “I mean that,” she clarified.

Derek could have taken that as a backhanded compliment but he wasn’t in the mood for arguing with his sister at the moment, “how are we going to get out without that guy seeing us?” Stilinski asked.

“Um, who the hell is that guy?” Derek heard someone ask outside, Cora immediately ran to the window as did Laura and followed shortly by Derek. The man had made his way to the front of the house, near the porch and was now surrounded by a crowd of people.

“He’s going to take me away,” Kira cried.

“Kira it’s going to be fine, we’ll get you out of here,” Cora said.

“STRIPPER!!!!!!!!!” The crowd yelled from outside.

When Derek looked back outside, the man dressed in the black trench coat and hat had thrown his clothes off to reveal he was nothing more than a stripper. “Who the fuck hired a stripper?” Laura asked.

“How did someone get a stripper to come to this party … they do realize we’re all in high school, right? Cora asked.

“Wait, a stripper?” Kira asked bewildered.

“The guy you were afraid of is just a stripper,” Derek told Kira, “and if memory serves correctly, this has Danny written all over it.”

Cora leaned her head against the window and started laughing, “we really almost bailed out of here because of a stripper,” Laura joined in on the laughter and Derek couldn’t help the smirk that found its way on his face but when he glanced over at both Stilinski and Kira and saw they weren’t exactly laughing about the issue his smirk quickly disappeared.

After a moment Laura sighed and ran a ran through her hair, “well since the crisis is averted we should probably get back down there and keep things under control.”

“Actually, we’re gonna go,” Stilinski said.

“What? But-but Stiles, it’s still early and the party is in full swing; come down and enjoy yourself, play some games, mingle, have fun,” Laura tried.

“We have to go home,” Stilinski said, “as much as it would be nice to stay out late and have fun, you know our situations are different, we have to be home before my dad and her parents start asking questions about where we are because if that happens and I lie about where I am and my dad sends someone to check on me and I’m not there, then my dad’s going to have the whole station looking for us; and if they find out we’re here doing this … I’m most likely going to get grounded and you guys will probably get in trouble too.”

“I’ll be Lectured and grounded,” Kira clarified, “and my parents will not hesitate to find a way to contact your parents and disclose everything that happened in their absence … my mom and dad do not mess around when it comes to my well-being and-and if they knew what just happened, they wouldn’t think that was funny at all, they’d be terrified because that was terrifying and now I just wanna go home.”

“Oh-oh right … I um … I should’ve known better, I’m sorry; I just … I just wanted you guys to have a good time,” Laura said sadly.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate all of this because I do but … I think I-we should go home now … and-and think of it this way, if we leave, you don’t have to look after us anymore and you can enjoy your party and have a good night,” Stilinski said.

“The point of the party was for you to have a good night Stiles …” Cora said.

“And I did,” he said, the odd thing about it was he wasn’t lying but based on his scent, as odd as it was to Derek, he could tell that Stilinski was still upset just as much as he was when Derek found him in his room.

“Are you sure?” Laura asked.

“Yeah,” Stilinski said and gave her a small smile and still he wasn’t lying but his scent was throwing Derek off. Stilinski stood next to Kira and asked, “you ready to go?” She answered with a nod in response and together they made their way towards Derek’s bedroom door before Stilinski came to an abrupt stop and turned around, “oh … can we get a ride?”

Laura huffed, “yes Stiles you can have a ride,” she said playfully.

Cora held out her hand and blocked Laura, “um you’re still not giving them a ride, I can still tell you’ve been drinking; so, you can go back downstairs and get me your keys and I’ll drive them back myself.

“You still don’t have a license,” Laura retorted.

Cora scoffed and rolled her eyes and looked back at Derek and then to Stilinski, “I know we didn’t ask you this before because it was kind of an emergency situation, but do you mind if my brother comes with us?”

Stilinski shrugged, “it doesn’t matter, it’s just a ride home …”

“Are you sure, because I can always take Laura and drop her off at the end of the block and have him stay here instead,” Cora clarified.

Stilinski sighed, “it’s not really that big a deal … I don’t have my license yet and my dad lets me drive the jeep to school every day, I don’t think he’ll mind if you just take us. Why don’t you guys talk about it and figure it out really quick, we’ll wait for you downstairs …” Stilinski turned towards Derek suddenly, “oh and sorry again about coming into your room earlier.” With that he walked out of the room with Kira, leaving Derek alone with his sisters.

Both Laura and Cora stepped in front of Derek and scrutinized him, “um what is he talking about?” Laura asked.

Cora crossed her arms, “why did he say, ‘sorry again?’ Did you talk to him before we came in here?”

Of course, they would pick now of all times to interrogate him about something stupid, “I was outside and I noticed someone was in my room sitting next to the window and I got pissed and I came up to kick them out and it was him and he was … he was crying.”

“Why was he crying?” Cora asked.

“I-I don’t know … I asked him if he needed anything and he said he was fine,” he said.

Cora shook her head and frowned, “he wasn’t fine, he’s never really fine or okay … he’s just dealing with whatever’s going on with him and putting on a mask so people don’t see how hurt he is.”

“I think I have an idea why he was upset …” Laura said, “he originally came up here to use the bathroom because I told him he could but before that he was … I think he was being harassed by that guy on the football team, what’s his name … um … he replaced you when you got in trouble,” Laura told Derek.

“Mitch?” He asked.

“That’s him,” she said, “he was saying something but I couldn’t really hear a lot of it but I know Jackson and Isaac were there and they must have heard what he said because it sounded like they were … defending Stiles.”

 “Well, that’s kind of a shocker …” Cora said.

“You didn’t hear anything at all?” Derek asked Laura.

“No, I couldn’t really hear anything over the damn music,” Laura said.

So, Mitch was messing with Stilinski now, Derek wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much but he told himself he would figure out what went down later, “okay,” he said, “we need to get Stilinski and that girl Kira home.”

“Careful Derek, it almost seems like you might care …” Cora said.

“What?” he asked, genuinely confused, “aren’t you two responsible for them? They’re supposed to be out with you, so if something happens to them, it comes back to you and then you get in trouble and so do I and I don’t want to get in trouble again. So, Laura give Cora your keys and stay here and watch the house while we go and take them home.”

“Hold on, who said you’re even going?” Cora asked.

“I did, Laura isn’t even sober and you can barely drive, so I’m going with you to make sure you don’t wreck her car while you’re trying to drive them home,” Derek said.

Cora was actually shocked into silence that he was bossing her around, “I-I’ll go get my keys …” Laura said and ran out of his room.

Derek made an attempt to follow Laura but was blocked by Cora, “Derek I swear if you say one wrong thing to Stiles or hurt him while we’re-“

The loss of control that came next was sudden and it took Derek by surprise, his claws lengthened and his fangs were very much present in his mouth and an overwhelming fit of rage consumed him, “I’m not going to hurt him, EVER,” he growled ferociously before coming back to his senses and immediately changing back to his human form.

Cora was visibly shaken, “wh-what was that …”

Derek gasped as he struggled to get ahold of himself, “I don’t … I don’t know,” Derek said.

Laura came bursting back into the room, “hey I got my keys they’re waiting at the top of the stairs for you … what’s going on?”

Cora stiffened up and quickly turned to Laura, “nothing … nothing we were just going over some rules …”

“I’ll meet you by the car,” Derek said and walked past Laura and towards the stairs, Kira was sat near the top of the steps while Stilinski was just below her, “We’re going now …” he told them and they got up and began making their way downstairs. Derek saw his friends waiting at the base of the steps, Scott and Allison immediately gravitated towards Stilinski and Kira to figure out what was going on, while Isaac, Jackson, Boyd, Erica, Lydia and Paige surrounded Derek to get some answers.

“What’s going on?” Erica asked.

“Can’t really talk about it,” Derek told her and turned to both Isaac and Jackson, “when I get back I need you two to fill me in on what happened with Mitch and Stilinski,” he said and made his way by them and moved closer to where Stilinski and Kira were talking to Scott and Allison.

“Wait, Derek where are you going?” Paige asked.

“We’re taking them home,” Cora said coming down the steps and walking over to Stilinski.

“I’ll be back later, try and have a good time,” Derek said to his friends and moved near Cora.

“Stiles, what’s wrong? You’re not telling us something I can tell,” Scott said.

“I-I’m fine I just have to go home, my dad is gonna get worried, if you guys see Braeden can you tell her I said thanks and I’ll see her later?” Stilinski asked.

Allison nodded, “Kira you’re going too?” Allison asked.

“Yeah, I have to go too, my parents are pretty strict about my curfew,” Kira said.

Both Allison and Scott frowned but nodded, Kira and Stilinski said their goodbyes to them and made their way past the many people heading towards the front door, “wait, Derek, you’re going too?” Allison asked from behind him.

“I gotta make sure Cora doesn’t wreck Laura’s car,” he said.

“But dude if you show up to his house, his dad will shoot you,” Scott said.

“I’m getting out at the end of the block, I’ll be fine,” Derek said and followed Cora, Stilinski, and Kira out of the house.

“Geeze being outside makes you really see that there’s a lot of people here,” Kira mentioned.

“We definitely did not plan for this and I already know I’m going to hate cleaning up, hopefully, nothing gets broken but by the looks and sounds of things I doubt that,” Cora said.

“I can help,” Derek said, “I’ll have the guys stay the night and they can help clean up in the morning.”

“So, you’re just going to kick Lydia and Erica to the curb?” Cora asked jokingly.

Derek smirked but didn’t answer, “hey are you sure you won’t get in trouble for this?” Stilinski asked Cora, “I mean I get that you can clean everything up but how will you mask the scent?”

“Don’t worry we have that covered, Laura got some stuff that I guess a lot of people use at other parties and it completely dissipates the scents so everything smells fresh and new,” Cora said.

“Huh … cool,” Stilinski said. Soon after they got into Laura’s car and Cora started up the engine and drove them home. The ride was quiet and supremely awkward, there was too much tension in the air, the smell of fear and anxiety quickly clouded the car and it was driving Derek wild and he figured it was having an effect on Cora as well cause she opened her window halfway to Stilinski’s block.

Just before they pulled onto Stilinski’s block Cora stopped the car and looked to Derek, “wait here,” she said.

Derek nodded and got out of the car, relieved to have some fresh air, Cora pulled off the second he closed the door and he watched as she drove down the street and parked in front of the place Derek assumed was Stilinski’s house. He watched as Stilinski and Kira got out of the car and said their goodbyes to Cora up until something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. It was too dark to tell but Derek could have sworn he saw movement across the street from where he was and instinctually he flashed his eyes and searched around but saw nothing. He shook his head and laughed at himself for a moment and figured that maybe what happened back at his house was making him paranoid, he looked back down the block and saw Cora pulling away from Stilinski’s place and driving back over to him; he got back in the car as soon as she pulled up, “that wasn’t so bad … we probably over-thought it a little,” Cora said as he put his seatbelt on.

“Better safe than sorry,” he said.

Cora sighed, “Yeah … hey, Derek?”

Her tone made him worry, “Yeah?”

“Back at the house … when I told you not to hurt Stiles and you … you lost control, does that happen all the time or was it just random?” She asked.

Derek scrubbed a hand over his face, “there’s a lot of things happening with me right now that I can’t really explain … that was just one of the many things I’m going through.”

“What else is going on?” Cora wondered.

Derek debated on telling his sister about the issue of mate rejection that keeps constantly happening to him, “well … I don’t … I’m having problems … with mating ...”

“What do you mean? Who are you trying to mate with?” She pressed.

 Derek huffed, “it’s not even mating, in general, its doing anything with someone else, I can’t … not anymore. I … I tried to uh … to uh … to get with Braeden and uh it didn’t really work out so well for me.”

“Are you talking about before you got in trouble?” She asked.

“Yeah … at the party after the last game I played before I got suspended,” he said.

“Yeah, I might have heard something about that … so you didn’t get together with Braeden then?”

Derek shook his head, “no … I started throwing up this black stuff and um my mark was killing me and I had these black veins coming from it … I went to the doctor and I eventually found out that it was … that it was mate rejection.”

Cora narrowed her eyes at him, “but mate rejection only happens with mated couples that share a soul bond, you and Stiles aren’t even mated.”

Derek frowned, “apparently, we don’t have to be …”

“Derek … that doesn’t make any sense … are you sure that it wasn’t something else?” Cora asked.

He nodded, “yeah I’m pretty sure, it’s happened multiple times and it only started after my mark appeared. The first time was when we were in the cafeteria and Braeden was going to kiss me, I felt … I felt horrible, it was the first time I’d ever felt pain like that and we hadn’t even done anything yet. The second time was when I was going to get together with Braeden … I thought at first that maybe I was just sick or something cause I was able to do more but … before I could really get into it … I just … I lost it.”

Cora had a frown on her face, “I can’t believe I’m talking to you about your escapades …”

“You asked the questions, I’m just answering,” he said.

Cora gave him a small smile, “yeah … so is that it? You ever think maybe it’s just you and Braeden aren’t compatible?”

Derek stifled a laugh, “Cora compatibility is not the problem if it was then I would be back at the house … talking to Paige.”

“Talking to Paige?” Cora wondered.

Derek nodded, “yeah … tonight she uh … she told me that she would have said yes if I had asked her to be my mate and she said that she was interested in the idea and wanted to give it a shot, so she …” he laughed at himself, “she tried to kiss me … she did kiss me and I-I couldn’t even enjoy it because …”

“Oh … Derek,” Cora said sadly, reaching over to examine Derek’s arm; “have you told mom or dad?”

“It wouldn’t make a difference,” Derek said pulling away from Cora.

“Derek, they can probably get you some help and figure out what’s going on with you,” she said.

“No, they can’t; I already went to the doctor and he already told me that there’s nothing that could be done, it’s permanent and there’s no changing that,” Derek said.

“Well maybe mom and dad know someone who knows someone and they can-“

“No Cora, just … just no, who would they know? Who? And how can they help me?” Derek asked her and waited for her to answer; after a moment, he realized he was being unfair to her, “I’m sorry … it’s … this is just hard to talk about.”

“Yeah, well I can sort of understand why,” she said.

“Hey,” Derek said quietly, “um … does Stilinski … does this happen to him too?”

Cora frowned at him, “Derek I-I don’t know … I really don’t,” she said earnestly. “The only reason I can’t say for sure is because … well … I don’t think dating and getting together with people is at the top of Stiles priority list; to be honest we’ve never really talked about mating and people we’re interested in because …. Well because I don’t think he’s at a place where he’s comfortable sharing himself with someone like that and I don’t know when he will be or if he ever will.”

There was nothing but truth in Cora’s words and for some odd reason that made Derek feel bad, “yeah … that was probably a stupid question,” he said.

“But it’s not … if this is affecting you like this, who says the same won’t happen to Stiles,” Cora said.

The bitter part of Derek hoped that Stilinski had to deal with the same problems he did but at the same time a large part of Derek hoped that he didn’t. He sighed and leaned back in his seat, “we should probably get back.”

“Yeah,” Cora said looking out on the road, “we can find out more about this later if you want?”

Derek shrugged, “pretty sure there’s nothing we can do about it either way but okay.”

“We can at least look into it,” she said as she put the car in drive.

Just before they pulled off Derek glanced at the side rear view mirror and caught a glimpse of something that immediately had his adrenaline pumping the moment he saw it. Just behind where they were parked, standing at the end of Stilinski’s block was what appeared to be a man dressed in a black trench coat and a black hat, ”Co-Cora stop the car,” Derek said anxiously.

Cora slammed on the brakes, “what? What’s wrong?”

Derek got out of the car the second it was at a complete stop and looked in the direction where he saw the man but there was no one there, “what?” he whispered to himself.

“Derek, what’s wrong, what are you doing?” Cora asked frantically, as she got out of the car.

Derek looked over to her and back in the direction he thought he saw the man, “I thought … I thought I …” he cut himself off and shook his head and laughed at himself again, “I’m just seeing things,” he said and jumped back into the car.

Cora got back in as well and buckled herself back in, “what was that?” She asked.

“Nothing,” Derek said, “I thought I saw something.” With that, they pulled off and headed back to the party.

Scott's POV

The day was good, the party was great but Scott couldn’t help feeling a little underwhelmed simply because Stiles seemed more distant than ever regardless of the progress they had made in the last few days. The way Stiles left the party made Scott feel uneasy, he was clearly upset because Scott could smell it all over him even with the many scents looming in the house. No matter what he said Stiles didn’t budge and claimed that he was fine; but Scott knew that he wasn’t and he knew something was going on but he wasn’t sure what, “I … I hope Stiles is okay,” Scott said to Allison as they made their way into the kitchen.

“Me too,” she said, it was a wonder to Scott that not even Allison knew what the deal was; whatever was going on with him was serious and he was keeping certain people at an arm’s length in regard to whatever he was dealing with.

Scott grabbed a few snacks from the counter and made small talk with Allison for a little bit to try and take his mind off of Stiles until Lydia came along, “hey guys …” she said as she approached.

“Oh … hey Lydia,” Allison said.

Scott offered her a smile and a slight wave, “how’s it going.”

Lydia sighed, “well I don’t know … this is the first party that I’ve ever been to where I haven’t been formally invited,” she shrugged, “but it’s not so bad.”

“It’s pretty great actually … it’s more than what we expected,” Allison said.

Lydia nodded, “yeah …”

The conversation was heading in an awkward direction and Scott did not want to stick around for it but he also didn’t want to leave Allison, this was a rare chance that he got to spend time with her outside of school and he wasn’t going to squander that because of a little awkward conversation, “hey listen … I know that we have a lot to talk about but … I um … there’s something that’s kind of bothering me and I get the feeling that it might be concerning you too,” Lydia said.

“What?” Allison wondered.

Lydia glanced over to Scott, “I actually think it might be concerning both of you …” just then Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Jackson and Paige all came up behind Lydia and stood next to her offering both Scott and Allison a lame ‘hello,’ while all sharing the same look of concern.

“What’s going on?” Scott wondered.

“Oh, come on Scott, you guys were talking to Stilinski before he left out of here with Derek, his sister, and that other girl … you tell us what’s going on,” Jackson said.

Scott glanced over at Allison and Allison glanced over at him, “we uh … we don’t really know much … if anything at all …” Allison said.

“Something happened upstairs,” Lydia said.

“Yeah … one minute Stilinski was in Derek’s room and the next, he’s walking by us and going back downstairs only to come back with Cora and some other girl that you hang out with now Allison,” Erica said.

“Who? Kira?” She asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s her,” Paige said. “They came upstairs and-and well the girl, Kira, she looked like she was afraid or something and-and then they all went into Derek’s room and Cora was freaking out about something and then she told Derek to take us back downstairs and he didn’t tell us anything.”

“You think something happened,” Scott asked.

“No, we know something happened, we just don’t know what,” Lydia said.

“Stilinski was getting hassled by that idiot Mitch a little bit ago … but Jackson, Laura and I scared him off,” Isaac said.

That peaked Scott’s interest, “wait Mitch was bothering Stiles?”

“Oh my God, if it’s not one thing it’s another,” Allison said, the hitch in her voice told Scott that the news upset her.

“Yeah he was … he was saying some pretty weird shit, from what I heard he was talking about hooking up and making Derek jealous,” Jackson said; “but Stilinski … he didn’t … he said … well, he didn’t like the idea of it and sounded like he was getting pissed off.”

 “Yeah well when you consider what he’s been through, I doubt that that idea is something that he’d want to entertain or even think about,” Allison said.

“Yeah,” Jackson said sadly.

“Have you guys tried talking to Laura at all? I know she didn’t leave when Stiles left,” Scott said.

“We tried … but she told us not to worry about anything and she told us that the only reason Derek left with Stilinski was because he needed to make sure Cora didn’t wreck her car,” Isaac said.

“And?” Allison pressed.

“She wasn’t lying,” Lydia said.

Allison sighed in relief, “then maybe things aren’t as bad we are making them out to be and we’re just overreacting.”

“Well even if that’s the case, there’s still something else … something that involves Derek,” Paige said.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked immediately.

Paige frowned, “well … you see um … we were outside earlier just before he left and we were talking and discussing some things … things pertaining to us and being together … and well I attempted to make a move or rather I did make a move …”

“So, you and Derek are together now? Congratulations,” Scott said.

“Yeah,” Allison said her brows furrowed, “that’s great … I guess.”

“No um … we aren’t together … or um we can’t be together … th-that’s what Derek was trying to say anyway …” Paige said.

“What she’s trying to say is that something happened to Derek, something that seems extremely similar to mate rejection,” Lydia said.

“Wait how come you guys didn’t tell us this,” Jackson asked, Isaac, echoed his question.

“Mate rejection? That’s not possible … not for him at least, if it’s one thing I know for sure it’s that Derek and Stiles are definitely not mated in any way shape or form,” Allison said.

“Well, they are in some way …” Scott mentioned.

Allison turned on him, “What?”

“Their marks,” Lydia said.

“Just because they’re soul mates doesn’t mean anything, I-I can’t imagine Stiles even thinking of being tied to him in any way,” Allison said.

“But he is, you should know that,” Erica said, “he has the mark that ties him to Derek and vice versa.”

“No, just because he has the mark now doesn’t mean anything; he still has a choice. You know that … or at least I hope you do,” Allison countered.

“Yeah, we know Allison … but apparently, Derek didn’t have the luxury of having a choice,” Paige said sadly.

“What?” Scott asked and soon after he was filled in on what happened outside, no one could figure out the reason why this would happen but they didn’t dwell on the subject long because there were too many lingering ears and they didn’t want people to gossip. So instead Allison gravitated more towards the girls and started conversing with them about something while Scott started conversing with the boys, asking them how they managed to even come to the party only to find out that each of them used the excuse that they were attending a school function that could benefit their behavioral troubles; and when they asked how Scott managed to come he simply told them that his mom encouraged the idea only because Stiles was involved.

They talked for a few minutes, closer to a half hour and then Derek finally came back with his sister. When he sent word via text that he was back they all rushed outside and met him near Laura’s car. Cora had gotten out and told Derek that they’d talk later before she excused herself and went inside, “so how’d everything go?” Scott asked.

Derek frowned, “well I’m alive, right? I told you I was getting out at the end of the block …”

Scott huffed, “yeah … yeah, that’s good.”

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way let’s talk about what’s going on with you,” Jackson said.

“Yeah … mate rejection? How are you going through it?” Isaac asked.

“I’m interested in knowing that too,” Allison chimed.

Derek sighed, “I don’t know, it’s just something that’s happening to me and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“That’s it?” Jackson asked.

“That’s it,” Derek clarified.

“But there has to be some explanation why it’s happening and some way you can cure it or something,” Scott said.

“There is no explanation for why it’s happening other than something that doesn’t apply to me and as far as a cure goes … there is no cure. I went to the doctors already and the guy told me as much, so I’m just gonna have to accept it and move on,” Derek said.

“You’re not gonna try and at least do something about it?” Paige asked.

“What can I do? What? Cut off my mark? I’ll bleed out before it can heal and even when it does finally heal just before I die, the mark comes back. There have been people that have tried to do as much, of course, they weren’t going through what I’m going through because if they were then I’d have some explanation as to why this is happening. But regardless, I can’t do anything, there’s nothing, absolutely nothing in this world that can change what’s going on with me and I have to accept that … even if I don’t want to.” Derek explained, Scott could see the pain in his eyes and he could hear how hurt he was about it, which only made him feel bad. “I don’t want to talk about that … what I want to talk about is what happened with Stilinski and Mitch,” Derek said looking between Isaac and Jackson.

Jackson and Isaac filled Derek in on what happened and afterward, Derek decided that they should keep an eye on the situation much to everyone’s surprise. After their little discussion was done they went back into Derek’s house and did their best to enjoy the night while it lasted.

Stiles POV

According to Cora, Laura, Allison and Braeden, the party went on to be a huge success and no one got in trouble; thankfully Stiles dad and Parrish, as well as Ben all, were pretty smashed by the time he and Kira walked in the door; so they avoided being interrogated about their night. But Stiles wasn’t free from interrogation for long, just before school Monday morning he was ambushed by Cora, Laura, Allison, and Braeden and hassled about what happened with Mitch the night of the party, Kira even turned on him and asked a few questions herself to which Stiles had no answer to anything being asked. If he were being honest he didn’t want to talk about what happened and that’s why when first hour came to an end and Cora offered to walk him to his next class he politely declined and told her that he was going to stop by the bathroom and then stop at his locker much to her disappointment.

But being alone probably wasn’t the best idea at the time for him because not only were a bunch of people he didn’t know complimenting him on an awesome party but when he decided to stop at his locker he was ambushed by someone he wasn’t expecting, “Stilinski … how you doing man?” Stiles turned to find that the person asking the question was one of the last people on the planet he wanted to talk to, Mitch.

Stiles sighed, “hi,” he said turning back around and grabbing some things out of his locker.

“Oh, I’m sorry I forgot you prefer Stiles,” he said mockingly, “so did you think about what I said the other night?” Mitch asked behind him.

Stiles frowned, “no,” he turned around, “and I would appreciate it if you would not bring that up and … and …”

“And what?” Mitch pressed, jeering at him.

“And … please stay away from me,” Stiles said wishing he had more confidence in his tone.

“Oh,” Mitch said sounding a little disappointed he looked down at the floor and backed away from Stiles a little bit. Stiles thought that maybe he was going to leave after that but he was sorely mistaken, “well … that’s not gonna happen, you little fucken freak,” he said menacingly.

Stiles backed into his locker, “pl-please I-I don’t want any trouble.”

Mitch smirked, “there’s not gonna be any trouble …” he said stepping into Stiles space, “all you have to do is agree to my plan and you’ll be golden, you’ll be better than golden you’ll be mine. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Stiles turned his head away, why did this always happen to him, he wondered, why couldn’t things just go right all the time instead of steering into the wrong direction, “please,” he tried again. He hated how pathetic he felt in that moment, unable to do anything except cower away and hope that Mitch would take the hint and leave him alone.

Stiles felt a hand grab hold of his chin only to gently turn his head towards Mitch, “hey look at me, I asked you a question, doesn’t that sound nice.”

Stiles wasn’t sure what came over him then but the anger he felt at being handled so easily and treated like he was lesser, made him fume with rage, “GET OFF ME,” he said shoving Mitch back with more force than he had expected. Mitch was thrown back and nearly hit the lockers on the other side of the hall but he managed to get his footing and stopped himself before that could happen.

“What the … what the hell?” He said awestruck before a look of hostility overtook his face and he charged back at Stiles but stopped himself just before he came into contact with him. “You think you can do that to me, YOU LITTLE FREAK,” he exclaimed punching the locker next to Stiles head and denting it, “I will fucking END YOU-OOF“

One moment Mitch was in Stiles face screaming at him and the next he was on the floor scrambling to get back up. “Who the … who the fuck did that?”

“Hey Mitch looks like you took a pretty nasty fall,” Stiles heard and looked to see Derek standing just in front of him. He strode over to where Mitch was struggling to get back up and offered him a hand, “you need some help up man?”

“Get the fuck away from me Hale,” Mitch swatted Derek’s hand away and managed to get himself back up. “What are you doing?”

“I’m just walking to class,” Derek said nonchalantly.

“Nah fuck that, you’re lying,” Mitch spat, “you’re defending him now aren’t you?” He asked looking between Stiles and Derek, “What did you two just randomly kiss and make up and forget everything that happened between you? Or is this you trying to right your wrongs Hale?” Mitch pressed, “either way it doesn’t matter because you’re still a piece of shit at the end day.”

“And what about you?” Derek asked.

Mitch didn’t answer, instead, he grunted and backed away from Derek and pointed at him, “this isn’t over, you hear me Hale, THIS ISN’T OVER!”

With that Mitch retreated down the hall leaving Derek to watch him as he left, eventually though Derek turned back and made his way over to Stiles cautiously, “are … are you okay?” He asked lightly.

Was he okay? No, would he be okay? Probably, was he upset about what just happened? Yes, but he would never say that out loud. In fact, Stiles wasn’t really sure what he should say at the moment, ‘yeah, I’m fine,’ came to mind but he just couldn’t bring himself to say as much; Instead Stiles found himself staring blankly ahead at Derek asking himself, ‘why exactly did Derek Hale just defend him?’

Chapter Text

Stiles POV

“Hey …” fingers snapped close to Stiles face drawing him out of his thoughts and back to reality, “are … are you okay?” Derek asked him.

Stiles frowned and looked down the hall where Mitch retreated and then back towards Derek, “yeah, yeah I’m fine … I-I could have handled him myself, you know?” Stiles wasn’t exactly sure what Derek was doing but he had it in his right mind that Derek didn’t know what he was doing either.

Derek gave him a stiff nod, “yeah … um, well ... I-I just was passing by and saw what was going on and figured that I’d lend a hand … just in case.”

Stiles couldn’t help how weary he felt in the given situation considering he was talking to the same guy who just a few months ago was one of his worst nightmares, “well-well thanks … I guess,” he struggled to say. Derek hadn’t given him a verbal response, instead, he opted to give Stiles another stiff nod and afterward the two fell into an extremely awkward and very uncomfortable silence. Stiles knew that his nerves were getting the better of him, he couldn’t help but think that in any given moment Derek may snap and do something to him. The anxiety and slight fear that he felt must have been rolling off of him in waves because Derek took two steps back and swiped under his nose in response.

“Listen,” he said, “I just-I just wanted to make sure Mitch left you alone … he’s only bothering you because of me and I don’t … I don’t …” Derek took a deep breath and sighed, “I don’t want to cause you any more problems.”

Uncertain of what he should do, Stiles nodded and quickly turned around and pulled a few things out of his locker expecting Derek to just walk away and let that be the end of their conversation; but Derek didn’t leave, he stayed in the same spot and didn’t utter a word and it was putting Stiles on edge. “Do you … do you need something?” Stiles asked as he closed his locker and turned back around.

Derek visibly clammed up, “uh no … just-just be careful,” he said and walked away without another word.

Stiles was taken aback by that, seriously, why now of all times did it seem like Derek was concerned for his well-being? Things just weren’t making a lot of sense to Stiles as of late and at the moment he would probably give anything to go back to being scarce, avoiding as much drama as much as possible but right now he just had to deal with his situation and go on with his life. He slowly made his way over to his French class and took a seat at his desk when he arrived, drowning out all the noise around him.

“Stiles,” a hand waved in Stiles' face suddenly and he looked up to see Ms. Morrell in front of him, “are you okay? I was calling your name when you walked into class and you didn’t say anything.”

Stiles blinked a few times, “oh yeah sorry I was … I just had some things on my mind.”

Ms. Morrell nodded, “okay … well, I actually wanted to talk to you about the proposition I offered you, I know this is sudden and I know you asked if we could wait things out but … the grades I got back on some of these tests beg me to take appropriate measures and I only wanna do what’s best for all of my students and considering your grade and how quickly you tackled the test … I just … well, I thought I’d ask, can you please consider tutoring? I know this may be overstepping especially considering everything you’ve been through but I could really use your help.”

Stiles gawked but managed to collect himself, “uh yeah … yeah sure I can-I can tutor, that’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing anything you don’t want to do,” Ms. Morell said.

Stiles wasn’t sure why he was agreeing to tutor people but it was too late to fall back now, “no it’s fine, I’m-I’m happy I can help.” He knew he was most likely going to regret agreeing to do this.

“Great then you’ll start tomorrow, I’ll arrange a space for you in the library that way students can go to you after school if they need help,” she said.

“Wait it’s after school?” Stiles asked.

“Oh right, I forgot to mention the times you would be doing it; yes it’s immediately after school in the library, it’s not every day I’m going to put you down for Tuesdays and Thursdays if that’s okay with you?” She asked.

Stiles nodded, “ye-yeah that’s fine …” he said and even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Ms. Morrell asked him again.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” he said quickly, “like I said I’m happy I can help.”

Ms. Morrell smiled and made her way back to the front of the class and as soon as the bell rang she started teaching; the problem was while she was teaching throughout the class period, Stiles found himself somewhere else, lost in his head thinking about the run in with Mitch and Derek. He thought about it so intently that he missed the entire lesson, the lunch bell being the thing that managed to draw him from his own thoughts. He cursed himself for allowing himself to get so carried away that he missed the entire class period but it couldn’t be helped; he gathered his things and got up, leaving the class with Ms. Morrell thanking him again for his help.

As soon as he was outside of his class, he tried making his way towards the cafeteria until he felt someone grab hold of his arm and they started violently yanking him in the opposite direction, “you and me need to talk,” he heard the person say, “now,” they growled out and without even needing to look Stiles knew that it was none other than Mitch. He pulled Stiles along, his grip on his arm growing tighter and tighter, if Stiles let him keep hold any longer he would surely have a bruise that would take a while to fade away. So, he struggled only a little and he managed to break free of Mitch’s grasp, “don’t touch me,” Stiles said.

Mitch seemed a little perplexed by the fact that Stiles was able to get out of his hold but that didn’t last for long, he was on him in a matter of seconds, pushing Stiles back into the wall and caging him between his arms. “You think you and Hale can just embarrass me like that and I’m going to let you get away with it?” Mitch growled out. “What are you two a thing now? You got some sort of kink for bullies? Huh?” He asked hitting the wall behind Stiles.

Stiles didn’t answer anything, he simply kept his head down and avoided eye contact with Mitch, similar to what he did earlier; it was the usual routine he followed whenever he ran into Derek or one of his friends and they started messing with him, the cowards routine. A routine he had to follow because he couldn’t fight back at the time, because he was weak, because he was unpresented and because even if he tried to fight back it wouldn’t make a difference.

“If you have a thing for bully’s, why don’t I take it upon myself and join the club? Maybe then you’ll think the plan I came up with is a good idea,” Mitch threatened.

It was in that moment that Stiles realized that his routine was outdated before he would be so scared he trembled as he waited for whatever pain may come his way. Before he did not feel a sense of self-worth, before the instinct to protect himself had died after the second time he tried to defend himself in a situation like this but now that instinct had sparked back to life, now Stiles valued himself, now Stiles wasn’t afraid.

“Listen, close kid, if someone bigger than you ever has you cornered, you need to know the good places to hit them so they’ll back off.” Stiles thought back to the lessons that his father used to teach him when he was younger. “It doesn’t matter if you turn out as an Alpha or a Beta, you hit someone who’s not trained how to fight in these areas, they’ll leave you alone.” His father’s words rang in his head, he did not turn out to be an Alpha or a Beta but an Omega and even he knew that should be enough to handle this; he balled his fist up just as Mitch was getting ready to make a move and threw a quick Jab at Mitch’s side just below the ribs, right in the stomach and hit him again in the same area before shoving him back.

Mitch stumbled back gasping for air, “you little … you little shit,” he said as he struggled to breathe.

“You think I’m gonna stand here and let you do whatever you want to me?” Stiles asked.

“You,” Mitch coughed as he struggled to get his sentence out, “you punk, you-you let Hale and his pack of mutts sling you around for a year and you decide you want to fight back now?”

“It’s not that I let them, I just wasn’t able to stop them from doing anything,” Stiles shot back. “I hadn’t presented yet so no matter what I did I always wound up the same, hurt. Now I don’t have to …”

Mitch struggled to keep his composure, “why-why does this hurt so bad?”

“My dad’s a cop, when I was growing up he taught me a thing or two about defending myself,” Stiles said. “Now I’m only going to tell you one more time, leave me alone; I don’t have anything to do with Derek and I don’t want to have anything to do with you or your vendetta with Derek,” Stiles said and before Mitch could say anything back to him he turned and walked away.

As he made his way down the hall towards the main corridor he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself, an overwhelming sense of pride overtook him and he had no problem indulging in it. He was about to come around the corner when he came upon Boyd, Isaac, Erica, and Derek, they seemed to be in a rush until they came upon Stiles, “hey … how-how are you here? I thought … I thought I saw Mitch …” Boyd tried.

“Oh yeah, he was … he was-he wanted something and I didn’t give it to him …” Stiles said.

“But he was-“ Boyd tried but Stiles quickly cut him off understanding what he was getting at.

“Yeah, he was but …” he looked over at Derek, “I told you, I can handle myself,” Stiles said offering a small smirk and leaving the group behind to make his way towards the cafeteria.

Derek's POV

“What the hell?” Isaac said from beside Derek.

“What does he mean he can take care of himself? If that was the case how come he never … oh …” Erica stopped suddenly and when Derek looked over at her, she appeared shocked looking down the hall that Stiles had just come from.

“What?” Derek asked as he turned to look down the hall and saw none other than Mitch struggling to walk and keep his composure.

“Hale,” he grumbled as he approached them.

“What’s wrong with you?” Derek asked as Mitch approached him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“You and that little freak boy are both gonna get it you hear me? I’m gonna kick your ass and then I’m going for him and-“ Derek didn’t let him finish what he was going to say as he punched him square in the jaw. He would have gone for more blows but Isaac and Boyd were on him in a millisecond holding him back from Mitch.

Mitch whined as he held his now injured jaw, “cheap shot Hale.”

“Yeah well next time you’ll know it’s coming, just let me know the time and place!” Derek shouted back.

“Derek come on, he’s not worth it,” Isaac tried.

“Yeah man, let this go, if you get caught fighting in school, you’re gonna get in trouble again,” Boyd said.

Derek tore himself from their grip but made no attempt to go after Mitch, “any time before or after school,” he pointed at Mitch, “you just let me know when and I’m ready.” Without another word Derek turned and headed for the cafeteria accompanied by his friends.

No words were spoken between them as they made their way to the lunch line and got their food, the silence between them was only broken when they sat down at their table and greeted Lydia, Jackson, and Paige. “Where were you guys?” Lydia asked as they sat down.

“Um …” Erica looked to Derek seeking approval to tell them what happened, he nodded, “Boyd sort of told us that he saw Stilinski get ambushed by Mitch after class and he came and found us and Derek wanted to check it out …” she explained.

“Figures he’d keep up with his games; That guy really doesn’t know when to quit does he,” Jackson said.

“So, what happened?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah what happened Derek?” Came Scott’s voice from behind him.

“Hey Scott,” Isaac said pausing, “you don’t exactly look very happy,” he finished carefully.

Scott ignored Isaac and took the initiative and found a seat at the table and sat down waiting intently for Derek’s answer, “he said he could handle himself …” Derek said.

“So, what? You didn’t do anything? You just left him there?” Scott asked and with each question, he became a little more irate.

“No man chill out, it’s not what it sounds like,” Boyd said quickly.

“Then explain it,” came Cora’s voice and Derek turned to see her walking over to their table.

“Yeah, we’d really like to know what happened,” Laura said beside her, both she and Cora offered a weak greeting to everyone.

“Forgot to mention I’m not the only one that wants to know what’s going on,” Scott said.

Derek sighed and leaned back in his seat, “Guys relax, you don’t need to gang up on him,” Paige pleaded.

“Nobody’s ganging up on him we just want to know what happened,” Cora spat.

Erica sighed, “well it’s like I was saying before, Boyd told us that he saw Stilinski get ambushed by Mitch and then he came and told us and then we went to check it out and by the time we got there Stilinski was fine … he handled it himself, I guess.”

“What do you mean he handled it himself?” Cora asked.

“Did you guys just leave him to take care of himself or …” Laura asked worriedly.

“No-no listen he literally took care of himself,” Isaac said quickly, “by the time we got there, he was already leaving coming here to the cafeteria.”

“Mitch looked like he was having a pretty hard time getting a handle on himself when he was coming down the hall after Stilinski,” Boyd said trying to restrain from laughing

“Wait … you’re saying Stilinski beat up Mitch?” Jackson asked surprised.

“That doesn’t sound right,” Lydia said; “how did he manage to fight off an Alpha if he’s only a Beta?”

“I don’t know if he fought him off, he probably just did something to incapacitate him,” Derek said thoughtfully.

“That’s beside the point, Mitch is obviously going to be a problem so what are we going to do about it?” Cora asked.

“Wait how do you guys even know something happened? Did he tell you?” Erica asked.

“No, he didn’t tell us anything, we found out from Allison … she said she overheard some girl saying that she saw Mitch and Stiles talking and that it didn’t exactly sound like a pleasant conversation and by the time Allison got to the cafeteria and told us about it, Stiles was already heading towards the cafeteria and when we asked him about it he said everything was fine and brushed it off like nothing happened,” Scott explained.

“But obviously we knew something happened,” Cora said.

“Wait … sorry to chime in but if he’s fine and not worried about it, why are you guys making this such a big deal?” Paige asked.

“Paige, you were at the party, you know that Mitch was messing with him there and he was only doing it to get at Derek,” Laura said.

“Yeah but … if this was really a problem that you guys should concern yourself with, wouldn’t he have asked for your help? Speaking of Stiles, where is he?” Paige asked.

“He’s sitting back over at our table with Allison, Kira, and Braeden and he shouldn’t have to ask for help, not in a situation like this,” Cora said.

“What situation would that be? I mean from what I hear, it sounds like a normal situation that he’s more than capable of handling himself,” she said.

“He wouldn’t be in this situation if Mitch didn’t have an issue with me,” Derek said.

“So, you guys are defending him now?” Paige asked, “I don’t mean to sound like … mean or anything but it’s just that a few months ago all of you with the exception of Cora, Laura, and Scott, hated Stiles, now you guys are jumping to defend him at the drop of a dime? What changed?”

“Hey, hold on, nobodies jumping to defend anybody …” Erica said and took a quick look around the table before saying, “well at least I’m not but I will say that I don’t have a problem with him anymore.”

“I just don’t think he deserves to go through any more problems caused by us,” Boyd said.

“I agree,” Isaac said.

Jackson shrugged, “yeah, same here.”

“Is there a reason you have a problem with them wanting to suddenly stick up for him?” Cora asked.

“No,” Paige said holding her hands up in mock surrender, “I just wanted to know what the deal was … I’ve known you guys for a while now and I’ve never known you to drop a grudge like that so fast.”

“Well it’s dropped with a good reason and you should get over it,” Cora shot at her. “Anyways, what’s the deal?” Cora asked dismissing Paige entirely.

“Derek punched Mitch in the jaw,” Isaac said holding back a laugh.

Laura swatted him upside the head, “what?! Derek, you know if you get in trouble again mom and dad are gonna kill you, right?”

“You punched Mitch?” Scott asked perking up in his seat, a small smile creeping its way onto his face.

“Seriously?” Jackson asked anxiously.

“Yeah, I punched him and I would have probably done more but thankfully Isaac and Boyd were there to hold me back,” Derek said.

“Okay, so you punched him, what happened after that?” Cora pressed.

“I told him if he wants to fight then he can just let me know where and when,” Derek said.

“Nice,” Scott said offering him a fist bump.

“You know he’s going to bring some of his friends to that fight, right?” Jackson asked.

“And I’m sure you guys wanna have a go at them, so I’m expecting you to be right there with me,” Derek said.

“You know I’m totally against this idea … but if you do wind up fighting him just make sure it’s not during school,” Laura advised.

“Hey, hold on don’t get carried away,” Lydia said, “why did you punch him?”

“He said he was going to kick my ass and then he was going to go after Stilinski and then I just punched him,” Derek said.

“So, you punched him because he said he was going to go after Stiles?” Paige asked seeming a little down and Derek could have sworn he scented jealousy coming from her.

“No, I punched him because he said he was gonna kick my ass,” Derek said.

“Okay that’s cool, obviously you guys have some sort of plan on handling this situation but can you make sure you handle it and keep Stiles out of it?” Cora asked. Derek noticed Scott's attention shift elsewhere and the dopey grin usually saved for Allison appeared.

“He kind of wants you to stay out of it too,” Allison said as she approached the table.

“What? What do you mean?” Cora asked defensively.

Allison sighed, “it’s just like I said, he wants you to stay out of it and you three coming over here trying to figure out a way to handle his situation after he told us not to worry about it, was kind of disrespectful.”

“We’re just trying to help, he doesn’t deserve to go through any more crap; he’s been through enough,” Cora said.

“Yeah and that’s nice of you and I understand that you want to look out for him because he’s your friend,” Allison said and turned to face Scott, “and Scott, I know the reason you’re doing this is because you’re trying to make up for failing to be there for him before, but you guys have to realize that he is his own person and if he wants our help, he’ll ask and we should respect him. So, if he tells us not to worry about it, we shouldn’t worry about it.”

“She’s right, you know?” Paige piped up, “he is his own person and he can handle his own problems just like everyone else.”

“Careful Paige, jealousy doesn’t look good on anyone, not even you,” Laura affronted, confirming Derek’s suspicions and causing Paige to slouch back in her seat and hold her head down.

“Look Laura, Cora and Scott, you three need to leave this alone and you also need to apologize to Stiles when you get the chance,” Allison said before turning to address everyone else, “and the rest of you, as far as Mitch goes you guys can do whatever you want … just try and stay out of trouble.”

“I still feel like we should do something,” Cora said.

“We can’t,” Laura said before throwing her head back and sighing, “Allison is right, we need to apologize to Stiles and we need to stay out of this.”

“But-“ Cora tried.

“No but’s Cora,” Laura interjected, “let’s just go back to the table and apologize to Stiles now and sit this one out.”

“Oh … um, you can’t exactly apologize to him now, he left,” Allison said.

“Where’d he go,” Scott asked jumping up out of his seat.

“He said he needed some time alone so he just left,” Allison said.

Cora scoffed, “great,” she said throwing her hands up, “see you guys around.” Cora said excusing herself from the table.

“She’ll be fine,” Laura said watching Cora’s retreating figure.

“Yeah,” Derek sighed; he knew she was probably really upset over the fact that Stilinski was probably angry with her.

“Well that kind of kills my plans for after school,” Laura said to herself.

“What plans?” Derek asked.

“I was going to invite Stiles out to the coffee shop after school with me and Cora but considering what just happened … I figure it’s probably best we give him some space so … you should come,” she said cheerily.

“What?” Derek asked flabbergasted.

“You should come to the coffee shop with us after school, I was thinking we could do something else some other time but now as good time as any,” Laura shrugged. “I-I mean I know you might have practice after school but you’ll be back in time …”

“Are-are you sure … I mean … what-what about dad? He’s going to be here after school to pick me up,” Derek wondered.

“Okay and? You realize that you’re my brother and he’s my dad too and I can just text him and tell him I’m giving you a ride home,” Laura said scrutinizing him.

“Yeah sorry, that was stupid,” Derek said mentally berating himself for not thinking before saying anything.

“So, is that a yes or no?” Laura asked.

“Ye-yeah I’ll go, definitely,” Derek said quickly.

“Cool,” she said and looked up at the table, “it’s an open invitation, the rest of you are welcome to come if you want, you’re just gonna have to find your own way there cause all of you can’t fit in my car.”

“I might be able to go,” Isaac said, “I’ll just tell my dad that I’m staying after to catch up on work and then going straight to practice, all my stuff is here anyway.”

“I could probably get away with that excuse,” Jackson said.

“It’ll work for me … I gotta start seeing a tutor after school starting tomorrow so I should be in the clear,”” Boyd said.

“I’ll go,” Allison said happily.

Scott frowned, “I can probably go too, I just have to lie and say Stiles will be there and my mom will let me.”

“If Boyd is going then so am I,” Erica said.

“Obviously I’m going,” Lydia said.

“Great,” Laura said turning to Paige, “and you Paige?”

“Uh yeah, I’ll go too,” she said weakly.

“Good, so as far as getting there goes, with me, Derek and Cora riding in my car I can fit at least 3 more people,” Laura explained.

“The rest will come in my car,” Lydia said.

“I’ll ride with you Laura,” Scott volunteered and looked up to Allison, “you’re riding with me, right?”

Allison nodded, “yeah.”

“I’ll go with you to Laura if that’s okay,” Paige offered shortly after.

“Okay, then my car is full, the rest of you can catch a ride with Lydia,” Laura said, “I’m gonna head back, so I’ll see you guys later … Allison, Scott are you coming or?”

“Actually, I’m going to stay behind … I need to talk to Lydia and Erica, in private if that’s okay?” Allison said.

“Yeah, I’m good here, I’ll see you later,” Scott answered

“Oh, okay cool, I’ll see you guys later then,” Laura said dismissing herself from the table.

Lydia and Erica finished their food and gathered their things and left the table with Allison, “so what’s that about?” Derek asked.

Scott sighed, “it’s nothing, she just wants to apologize to them for skipping out on you guys when everything happened, you know?” He fell silent for a moment before saying, “And speaking of which I’m sorry again that I ratted you guys out but I had to.”

“Yeah, we get it, no worries,” Isaac said.

“It needed to happen,” Jackson said.

“Yeah, I actually hate to think what we might be doing right now if it didn’t happen,” Boyd said and while Derek knew he meant it in a light-hearted manner it didn’t stop him from actually thinking about what they might be doing if they never got in trouble and the thought made Derek sick.

“Um … sorry to jump in but would you guys mind if I talked to Derek alone?” Paige asked suddenly.

“Oh … yeah sure, we’ll just be here if you guys need anything,” Isaac said.

Derek wondered what Paige wanted to talk to him about, “I’ll catch you guys later,” he said as he got up from his seat gathering his things. Paige followed suit and the two of them made their way out of the cafeteria; “so what’s up?” Derek asked as soon as they were outside.

“A lot but not really, you know?” She said.

“I guess,” Derek said, “are you okay?”

She didn’t answer right away, she simply walked down the main corridor before turning down a random hallway when she finally decided to speak, “it’s just … ever since the night of the party I’ve been thinking about what happened and I’ve been thinking about you and my feelings for you and I guess I just realized that I might like you more than a little, I might just like you a lot and-and well this feeling has been growing ever since you told me that you wanted to ask me to be your mate and I … well I don’t know, I just-I just feel that I’m kinda being robbed.” She fell silent for a moment and then turned to face Derek, “Derek I … I’m having a hard time coping with the idea that we can never give us a shot; I can’t stop thinking about the idea of us and how good we’d be together and I just … I really want it.”

This wasn’t a conversation Derek was expecting to have now or at all, he had never thought of actually having this conversation because he never thought he’d be in the situation that he’s in now, a situation that not even he’s ready to cope with yet, “Paige … I-I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” Derek said as he tried to figure out the best way to go about having this conversation.

“What are you sorry for? I know you want this too, it’s just …” she looked down at his arm where his mark was, “it’s just that.”

Derek glanced at his arm and turned it over to look at his mark, “Paige listen, I should have never let that conversation happen, I should have never told you that I was going to ask you to be my mate.”

Her eyes widened with surprise, “What?”

“I knew before that there was a possibility that what happened to me after we … after we tried …”

“kissing,” she said for him.

“Yeah, kissing, I knew that what happened would probably happen and …” he stopped suddenly and thought to himself, ‘what am I doing?’ He was beating around the bush and not giving Paige a straight honest answer and prolonging this was only going to hurt her more so he needed to just put it out there, “look I knew that there was no way I could be with you; I went to see a doctor to figure out what was going on with me and my mark after I tried … you know, getting with someone else and it didn’t exactly work out and the same thing happened with them as it did with you and I was told it would probably always happen and there was nothing I could do about it,” he said allowing himself a moment to catch his breath.

“I should have never lead you on like that and I should have never opened you up to the idea of us ever being together because I knew that it was something that could never happen and for that I’m sorry,” Derek said.

“What if it could happen?” Paige asked.

“It can’t,” Derek said.

“But what if it could? Would you consider it then?” She pressed.

There was no point in Derek having false hope and there was no point in him giving Paige false hope because in the end it would only lead to his and her disappointment and he was already having a hard enough time coping with his situation, “there’s nothing to consider because it can never happen, Paige …”

“Look I’ve been doing some reading online and trying to figure out if there was something that you could possibly do to counteract your so called mate rejection and I came across a remedy that apparently-“

“Paige!” Derek exclaimed, cutting her off, “you’re not listening to me, there is nothing that you or I can do to change what is,” he lifted his arm and showed her his mark, “this is natural and happens to everyone and history has proven there is nothing you can do to change this.”

“It’s not natural Derek, the mark maybe but what’s happening to you? No, that isn’t natural, I know that soulmates can choose whether or not they want to be with whoever shares their mark but you can’t apparently; you don’t get to have a choice and that isn’t natural and I think it’s best if we find a way to fix it so you can choose how you want to live and who you want to live with,” she said and ran a hand through her hair, “how do you even know that that’s a real soul mark anyway? What if it’s something else, what if he did something to you and-“

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Derek asked cutting her off.

“Derek, I’m just asking the questions that you probably haven’t thought of, I’m trying to go through every possibility,” she tried.

“I’ve gone through every single possibility probably a hundred times in my head since this mark appeared, I’ve thought of everything and anything and every idea, every plan that I’ve thought of only results in disappointment because nothing works. It’s not some unnatural mark on my arm, it’s a real soul mark and I know it’s real because it appeared the same time as Stilinski’s while I was holding onto him getting ready to punch him in the face cause he ran into me trying to get to the nurse’s office because he was presenting,” the second Derek let the last few words out of his mouth he felt the same way he did when he realized how horrible of a person he was for doing what he did to Stilinski.

Paige gasped, “I just, I just want you to be happy, I’ve thought about the possibility of you winding up alone and spending the rest of your life by yourself and it hurts; I know you’ve made mistakes and you have your flaws but you’re a good person.”

‘The possibility of you winding up alone and spending the rest of your life by yourself,’ The words repeated in Derek’s head like an echo in a cave, “I’ll be fine,” he lied, “I will be fine,” he said correcting himself. “Whatever happens with me happens and you shouldn’t let that bring you down; besides I have my family and I have you and our friends and that’s more than enough to let me know that I’m not alone.” Derek knew his attempt at reassuring her fell through by the look on her face so he tried a different method, “look I’ll be the first one to tell you that the thought of being alone forever sucks but I’ll deal with it, I’m dealing with it one day at a time.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to spring all of this on you, at least not right now but I couldn’t hold it in any longer,” she admitted.

“Yeah go figure, you’ve always been one to say what’s on your mind,” Derek said.

Her eyes downcast, “yeah,” she sighed, “I still think it sucks that we can’t give it a shot.”

“It is what it is; like I said I’m sorry for even telling you that I was going to ask you to be my mate and I’m sorry that I let what happened at the party happen but … but we can’t ever be together.” Derek said, he was quite surprised at how easy it was to admit that.

“That’s something I’m gonna have to come to terms with myself,” Paige said, “thank you for talking to me, even if this wasn’t what you were expecting.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Derek said wanting desperately to get away from anymore conversation, “Hey, I’m gonna go run to the bathroom before the bell rings, I’ll see you after school, right?”

She offered him a small smile, “yeah, I’ll see you after school,” she said and with that Derek left her there in the hallway and found the nearest bathroom and went inside and just stood there thinking to himself about everything and nothing at the same time. A chapter in his life’s book had just ended, a relationship that never was; something he recently wanted more than anything was lost to him forever, one would figure losing something like that would cause a person to be in distress but Derek was handling it really well and that surprised even him.

After a moment in the bathroom, the bell rung and he left and made his way back to the main corridor and found himself slowly making his way to his next class to finish out the rest of the school day. By the time he was in his last class he received a text from Laura telling him that she’d be waiting for him by the stairs to the student parking lot. The final bell rang shortly after that and he met her just where she said she’d be, along with Paige, Allison, Scott, and Cora, “Alright are we all here?” Laura asked.

“Looks like it,” Derek said.

“Did you invite Kira and Braeden?” Allison asked.

“Yeah, Braeden has cheer practice, so she can’t come and Kira and her family are doing something with Stiles and his dad so she can’t make it,” Cora said and Derek caught the frown that Scott was sporting when Stiles was mentioned.

“Did you get a chance to talk to him?” Allison asked.

“I texted him and told him I was sorry and he said everything was fine so I guess he’s not really mad,” Cora said.

“Yeah, he told me the same thing,” Laura said, “but that’s beside the point right now, we don’t really have a lot of time, Derek and Scott need to be back here on time for practice, so we should go.”

With that each of them followed Laura to the car, they spotted Lydia and her group leaving the school parking lot and told them they’d meet them at the coffee shop. It didn’t take long for them to get there at all, it was only a few miles away from the school; if Derek were to guess the time it took to get there he’d say it was about a 10 to 15-minute drive. Jackson and Boyd were waiting in the parking lot as they pulled in, “Hey, everyone else is inside ordering what they want,” Jackson said as they got out of the car.

They flocked into the coffee shop, waited in line and ordered their things and wound up pushing a few tables together so they could sit together as a group. The whole occasion reminded Derek of the times before he had gotten in trouble when everything was easy and every day brought good laughs and new memories to cherish; it was something he missed dearly and he was grateful that he was at least getting the chance to experience it again. A quick glance around the table showed Derek’s most valued friends and family getting along, Allison, Lydia, and Erica seemed to be talking as if whatever rift they experienced had been patched up and Jackson, Scott, and Isaac were joking around like they’d used to; surprisingly Boyd was in a heated conversation with Laura, Paige and Cora and Derek found himself trying to juggle a conversation with each group. He had gotten so caught up in everything going on he wasn’t aware of how much time had passed it was only until Laura had mentioned their mom had texted her looking for Derek that he’d realized that he was without his phone. “Crap, I left my phone in your car … is she mad?” He asked getting up from the table.

“No, I don’t think so, she just asked where we were and if everything was okay,” Laura said as she handed him her keys.

“She’s probably going to be mad,” Derek thought, feeling a bit pessimistic, he excused himself from the table and went outside and fumbled with Laura’s car keys until he managed to hit the unlock button and shuffled through his bag and pulled out his phone and immediately called his mom.

“Hello,” she answered on the first ring.

“Hey mom, um I’m not sure if Laura texted dad or not but she’s giving me a ride,” Derek answered.

“I know, she did text your father but you guys aren’t home, so, where are you?” She asked and the usual edge in her voice that indicated she was mad was not there.

“Laura wanted to stop by the coffee shop before we came home, is-is that okay?” Derek asked.

“That’s fine Derek,” she said and Derek just knew she was smiling on the other end of the line, “it’s good that you guys are hanging out again but that doesn’t mean that you’re still not in trouble.”

“I know,” he said his mom had gone on to say something but he didn’t catch it because he heard a voice, Stilinski’s voice, wherever he was he was close by. He tried pinpointing where Stilinski was but he was having a hard time and then he found him, he was coming out of the convenience store across the street and he was with Kira, the two of them were laughing about something.

“Derek, are you there?” He heard his mother ask.

He snapped back into the conversation with his mom, “yeah mom, sorry I got distracted.” He said and looked back over to the convenience store.

“Okay well you guys get home I-“ Derek didn’t hear the last part of what she said, as his eyes followed Stilinski and Kira he noticed someone off to the side of the store watching them as they made their way to Stilinski’s jeep.

“Hey mom, I gotta call you back,” he said and hung up the phone. The man in question was a little eerie, he was wearing normal clothes, jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap with sunglasses but Derek wondered what his reasons for watching Stilinski and Kira so intently.

The man had turned around and from what Derek could see he was talking to someone but he couldn’t see who, from where he was standing he was just outside of view of seeing who the individual was. The man turned back around and looked right back at Stilinski and Kira and then turned around again and started speaking to someone again and Derek took it upon himself to move a little to the side to get a better view of who the guy was talking to. At first, he couldn’t see around the man and then he moved a little to the side and that’s when Derek saw someone dressed in a black trench coat and black hat, with his or her face completely covered; just like the person he thought he saw the night of the party when they dropped off Stilinski at his house. He remembered everything Kira had said about a man stalking her in Japan with the exact same description.

Adrenaline started coursing through him, was this the same guy that had been stalking her? She said that her friend was kidnapped just so they could get to her, would they take Stilinski too? Who was this guy and what did he want, “Derek did you hang up on mom?!” Laura said rushing out of the coffee shop and over to where Derek was; “Derek, hey Derek,” she said snapping her fingers in his face, “Derek, why did you leave my door open?!” she cried as she ran over to her car to close her door, “Derek, what are you doing?! Here, I have mom on the phone, you made her mad genius,” she said handing him her phone.

He looked down at it and back up at her and then across the street and then back at the phone before taking it from Laura, “Mom I gotta call you back …” he said and hung up the phone again.

By now he was breathing hard, uncertain of what he should do, “Derek, why did you hang up?!” Laura exclaimed.

“Laura, come with me,” he said taking her hand and pulling her towards the street.

“Derek, where are we going, why did you hang up on mom?!” Laura asked.

He stopped and held Laura by her shoulders, “Stilinski is right across the street with Kira and there are two guys watching them, one wearing regular clothes and the other has on a black trench coat and a black hat,” he said making sure he kept his voice low enough that only she could hear him.

Her eyes widened and she looked behind him and back at him, “we …” she started and looked back behind him and her eyes scanned the area and she must’ve seen the men Derek was talking about, “we have to get over there, right now, RIGHT NOW, come on!” She said as she pushed past him and looked both ways across the street before crossing, Derek following closely behind her.

“Stiles, Kira, hey, what are you guys doing here?!” Laura said as they made their way over to the convenience store, Derek knew she was keeping her voice leveled so she didn’t raise any flags.

Kira and Stilinski both looked at them from just outside of his jeep and seemed a little stunned to see them running up to them, “uh hey … we were just picking some extra stuff up to cook for dinner tonight.” Stilinski said.

“Cool,” Laura said, Kira had run around from the passenger side of the jeep to join in on their little chat.

“What’s going on, what are you doing here?” Kira asked.

“Oh, you know, just hanging out, we all came to the coffee shop over there,” Laura said as she pointed back to the coffee shop, “and Derek here left his phone in the car and I came out to check on him and then we noticed you guys.”

“Oh,” Stilinski said eyeing her skeptically, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, you know what, why don’t you come join us at the coffee shop?” Laura asked suddenly.

“Oh, we can’t my parents are already finishing up some of the food for tonight and we need to get back so we can get them this so they can finish everything,” Kira said.

“Oh, okay well you should join us for just a few minutes,” Laura insisted.

“Did you hear her? We have to get back …” Stilinski said with an edge of worry in his voice.

“Yeah, I know but you uh you’re missing out on … well …” Laura was losing her nerve and Derek could tell and now was as good a time as any to jump in.

“Please, come with us, please,” he pleaded.

“What’s going on?” Kira asked flabbergasted.

“We’re just doing some things over there and I really think you guys should come join us,” Derek said trying not to sound too frantic.

“Yeah, you guys should totally come,” Laura agreed.

“HEY GUYS WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE?!” Derek heard Scott yell from across the way and he couldn’t be more thankful for the big dope than he was right now, “IS THAT STILES?! HEY STILES, WHAT’S UP MAN?!”

“Please come,” Derek said looking Stilinski dead in his eyes hoping he would agree to join them.

Stilinski looked around frantically and looked to Kira for an answer before he said anything, “oh-okay fine just five minutes though,” he said as he placed the bags from the store in his jeep.

“Great, I’m so happy you’ll get to see everyone,” Laura said and lead the way back across the street. Scott ran up to them as they made their way over, Cora came outside shortly after that wondering what the commotion was about.

“We should get inside,” Laura said.

“I uh … we don’t really have time,” Stiles said and Derek could smell the anxiety rolling off of him.

“Trust us,” Laura whispered and that seemed to seal the deal and Stilinski entered the coffee shop along with Scott, Kira, Cora and Laura with Derek being the last to enter glancing over his shoulder checking to see if the man was still in the same spot he was before and he was and he was looking right at them.

“What’s going on?” Stilinski asked the moment they got into the shop.

“You guys are kinda freaking me out,” Kira said.

“Listen, Stiles, Kira I don’t want you guys to freak out but is it possible that one of your parents can come and get you right now?!” Laura asked.

“Why?” Stiles asked.

“Laura, what’s going on?” Cora asked.

Derek was staring intently across the street making sure the men didn’t make any moves, “Derek … Derek, are they still there,” Laura asked him.

“Yeah,” he answered without taking his eyes off of them.

By now everyone else had caught on that something was up and came over to figure out what was going on, “Are you guys okay?” Paige asked as she walked over, “Oh hey Stiles, I didn’t know you would be here.”

“Stiles?” Allison said walking over to give him a hug.

“What’s going on?” Lydia asked.

“We’re trying to find out,” Scott said.

“Stiles, can you call your dad and tell him to come here?” Laura asked.

“Why?” he asked and Derek could hear his heart louder than anything else in the room and the way it was racing told him that Stilinski was starting to freak out.

Laura beating around the bush and not telling it to him straight was helping no one and judging by the look on Kira’s face she was equally as freaked out as Stilinski; so, Derek moved making sure to keep his eyes on the man across the street as best he could while making his way over to Stilinski, “come to the window,” Derek said as he backed up next to him.

“What?” Stilinski asked

“Derek, what are you looking at?” Cora asked as she made her way over to the window, Derek knew he probably couldn’t convince Stilinski to do anything for him and that was his own fault, so he moved to stand by Cora and ever so discreetly pointed out the two men in question and when she spotted them she immediately left from standing near the window and moved back to Stilinski and pulled him over to the window to show him what they were looking at.

“Stiles, what do you see?” She asked.

“Uh, well I see outside and I see my jeep and the store and a few cars and the street and a bird,” Stilinski answered, Derek knew he was being sarcastic only because he didn’t know what was going on.

Cora shook his shoulder, “no, Stiles look at the store, towards the left side.”

“Okay …” he said and Derek watched as he observed the area, “I’m still not seeing what you’re … you’re … I …” his pulse skyrocketed, his heartbeat rung loud in Derek’s ears, “I have to call my dad, I-I have to call my Dad.”

Kira had moved to the window to figure out what was going on and it did not take her long to spot the root of the problem, “hehe found me,” she whispered as she backed away from the window.

Derek had been so distracted by the sound of Stilinski’s frantic heartbeat that he didn’t hear Scott walk up next to him, “what’s going on?” he said and Derek didn’t know what to say, unsure of how to answer him.

Allison had moved near Stilinski and Cora, “what are you guys looking … hey, that car … hey, I think that’s my aunt,” she said as she looked out the window.

Scott moved next her as did Derek, Cora, and Laura; from what Derek could see, there was a woman who had just pulled into the parking lot who he presumed was Allison’s aunt (Kate) and she was getting out of her vehicle but that wasn’t the only thing he saw, the two men who were hidden away on the side of the store were on the move and they were making their way into the parking lot. Before long they had walked up behind Allison’s aunt’s car, “who are those guys,” she asked.

The two men had stopped right behind Allison’s aunt’s car and stood there waiting until she turned around but something unexpected happened, Allison’s aunt ran to hug the man who wasn’t disguised under the trench coat and hat. Soon after that, the man in the trench coat took off his hat and his trench coat and then Allison’s aunt was hugged up on him, “they must be people she knows,” Allison said; eventually Allison’s aunt and the two men disappeared into the store.

Derek, Cora, Laura, Kira, and Stilinski all released a sigh of relief at the same time, “that was too close for comfort,” Laura said offhandedly.

“Oh my God, I swear this town is trying to drive me insane,” Kira said.

“At least I don’t have to call my dad now,” Stilinski said.

A short moment of silence had passed before Kira gasped and said, “speaking of your dad we have to get the food back so they can finish dinner.”

Stilinski gawked, “oh yeah um … yeah we should go,” he turned to face Derek, Laura and Cora, “thanks um I’m sorry but we have to go, I’ll see you guys around,” Stilinski said as he made his way towards the door along with Kira who offered everyone a little wave goodbye before she exited the coffee shop with Stilinski.

Derek, Cora, and Laura watched the two of them as they crossed the street and got in Stilinski’s jeep and pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared down the street. “That could have been as bad as the party,” Laura said.

“Or worst,” Cora chimed.

“Luckily it wasn’t anything,” Derek said. He caught Laura scrutinizing him out the corner of his eye, “what?” he asked as he turned to face her.

“Nothing, it’s just … it’s nice that you were looking out for him but how did you know he was at the store?” she asked.

“A question I’m sure you can ask him later,” Lydia said before Derek could answer, he turned to see all of his friends looking at him and his sisters expectantly, “why don’t you tell us what that was before we get kicked out of here.”

“In case you haven’t noticed the owner is a little on edge right now and I guess we pissed off some of the other customers here,” Jackson added.

“You mentioned that what just happened could have been as bad as the party, what’s that supposed to mean and why were you guys so worried about those guys?” Erica asked.

“A better question would be why were Stiles and Kira, so worried about those guys my aunt seems to know?” Allison asked.

“Is Stiles in some sort of trouble,” Scott asked.

Derek couldn’t find the words to answer them, “I-I … well …” he tried.

“Derek come on, give us something, the way you guys were freaking out just now has us all a little worried,” Isaac said.

“Your questions are gonna have to wait,” Cora said suddenly as she moved to stand in front of Derek and Laura to grab their full undivided attention, “mom says we need to be home now and Derek you’re in trouble and mom is probably going to ground you, Laura.”

“What but I didn’t do anything,” Laura shot back.

“Take that up with her, we need to leave before I get sacked too,” Cora said as she made her way past everyone and over to the table to grab her things.

“I know you guys want some answers but we don’t really have time to talk about that and it’s nothing really important, we have to go,” Laura said as she moved past everyone following Cora.

Derek stood alone with everyone waiting on him to give them an answer, “you heard what she said … we gotta go,” he said and tried moving past them but Paige and Lydia blocked the way.

“You owe us something,” Lydia said.

“Yeah Derek, what was that?” Paige asked.

Cora pushed his bag past the two girls and pushed them apart so she could get through, “like I said our mom said we need to get home,” she said handing Derek his bag.

“Besides that, the guys need to get ready to go to practice, you only have a little more than a half hour till you have to be back at the school; so, If you rode with me and need a ride home or back to the school we are leaving now,” Laura said making her way back to the front of the coffee shop and over to the door.

“Wait hold on we’re getting our stuff,” Scott said and ran to grab his things along with Allison.

“Paige, you need a ride,” Laura asked.

Paige sighed and moved to get her things, Scott, Allison, and Paige were back to the front of the store quickly and headed out behind Laura and Cora; Derek stayed behind to offer his friends that remained something, “I’d tell you but it’s nothing important, so don’t worry about it,” he said and left the store.

During the ride back Scott and Paige were relentless with their questions but Derek and his sisters remained vigilant and kept quiet; Allison was the one who got the two to stop asking questions thankfully because if Derek had of done it he probably would have hurt their feelings. They dropped Scott off first, followed by Allison and lastly Paige who gave Derek a wary glance before leaving the vehicle. Then the three siblings were on their way home, “mom is probably going to kill you guys,” Cora said from the backseat.

“If we go then you go too,” Laura said.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in this car who isn’t in trouble,” Cora said.

“For now,” Laura said.

Cora scoffed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t worry about it, Derek … hey, Derek, you never answered my question back at the coffee shop,” Laura said.

“What question?” He asked.

“How did you know that Stiles was even there?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know, I just heard him talking to that girl Kira and then I noticed him.”

“Wait you heard him?” Cora asked sitting up, “wouldn’t you have to be like listening out for him in order to do that? I mean I know we have good hearing but it’s not good enough to notice someone we barely interact with.”

Derek frowned, “look I don’t know alright, mom was saying something to me and then I heard him.”

“Wait you were listening to mom and you somehow managed to hear him across the street over her while you had the phone to your ear?” Laura asked.

“That doesn’t sound right,” Cora chimed.

“What do you want me to say? That’s the truth, if I told you anything else I’d be lying,” he said defensively.

“Okay fine, geez … it just-it doesn’t make sense,” Laura said.

Derek grunted, it didn’t make sense to him either but he wasn’t making a big deal about it, so he didn’t understand why they were. “It doesn’t … it doesn’t, oh shit.” He said as they pulled into their driveway and spotted their mother sporting a very menacing scowl, “I’m never gonna get to do anything.”

“At least I might be in the same boat with you,” Laura tried.

“Time to face the music,” Cora said cheerily as she opened the back door to the car and got out.

Time wasn’t something Derek had much of, he glanced at the clock and realized that he only had about 15 minutes until he needed to be back at the school and if he hurried he could make it there with about 3 to 5 minutes to spare and save himself from doing 200 suicides for being late. He looked back out his window at his mother and then glanced out the front window and sighed, ‘what the hell, it’s not like I did anything wrong,’ he thought to himself and opened his door and got out of the car as did Laura. His next move must have come as a surprise to his mother because instead of standing around looking like a deer caught in headlights he made his way towards the porch, up the steps and said, “Hi mom, sorry I hung up on you … twice, I saw Stilinski and I thought he was in trouble and I made sure that he wasn’t; I have practice in,” he pulled out his phone to check the time, “about 14 minutes and I need to get my stuff and be back at school on time or coach is going to make me do 200 extra suicides,” he finished and walked past her into the house, making his way upstairs and into his room.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel like pissing himself after doing what he just did but at the end of the day all he did was tell the truth even if he did leave out some details, it’s not like he had the time to explain the entire situation and it’s not like he could explain to his mother why he was worried about the guy disguised in a black trench coat and hat without getting his sister’s in trouble for throwing a rager over the weekend.

He pulled out his sports bag and started packing everything he needed into it quickly, Laura had barged into his room seconds later looking a bit perplexed, “what was that?” she asked.

“What was what?” he asked not really wanting to entertain anymore conversation as he didn’t have the time.

“You just … you just … with mom,” she tried.

“Yeah, I told the truth, so what? Do you need something? I kinda have to go, oh are you giving me a ride?” he asked her.

“No, moms giving you a ride, she’s waiting for you downstairs,” Cora said from the door, “pretty sure you’re not in trouble anymore …”

“How do you know?” Laura asked.

“Because when I came in the house with her she didn’t seem mad anymore,” Cora said, “see you when you get home Derek,” she said and excused herself.

“Huh … well, I guess that worked out then,” Laura said.

“You’re welcome,” Derek said and threw his bag over his shoulder, “get out of my room, I’m leaving.”

“Ugh fine you douche, I’ll see you when you get home, have fun at practice,” Laura said as he moved past her and made his way downstairs. His mother was waiting on him at the base of the steps with a water bottle in hand, she didn’t say anything when she handed it to him. They walked out of the house and got into the van and made their way to the school.

“Derek,” she said when they were about halfway there.

“Yeah?” he responded looking aimlessly out his window.

“You said earlier that the reason you hung up the phone on me … twice, was because you were making sure Stiles was okay?” She asked.

He sighed, “Yeah, you were saying something to me on the phone and then I heard him coming out of the store across the street and I saw someone and thought he was in trouble.”

“And you made sure he was okay?” She pressed.

“I needed Laura’s help but yeah,” he answered.

Derek noticed her nod out the corner of his eye and noticed a little smirk on her face, “Okay, that’s all I needed to know.”

Derek frowned, “am I in more trouble than I already was?” He asked as they pulled into the school parking lot.

“No,” she said and went silent for a moment as she stopped the vehicle, “in fact I would say for your little deed some restrictions may be lifted, maybe.”

‘Really? Defending Stilinski was all it took to get in her good graces and get him out of trouble?’ He wondered.

“I’ll think about it,” she said crushing whatever budding hope Derek felt, “go, you don’t wanna be late do you?”

Derek looked at the clock and noticed he had about 3 minutes to be in the locker room, “crap,” he said and opened the door and almost bolted but he turned around and said, “thanks for the ride mom,” and sprinted into the school and made it to the locker room in the nick of time; although as soon as he made it to the locker room and found himself the subject of nonstop questions from Isaac, Jackson, and Scott and he wished he came in late.

Stiles POV

To say the least, the two weeks, give or take, for Stiles had been a little too weird for his liking, what with the whole Mitch situation and Mr. Hotshot aka Derek coming to his defense; also, the creepy guy in the trench coat who was a nobody and just one of Allison’s aunt’s friends. To Stiles dad and Parish bonding and becoming actual friends with not only Ben but also Kira’s parents, which led to them becoming a big group that stuck together for the moonlight run, although that wasn’t so bad and was actually a great experience with no hitches. To Derek and his friends basically regaining their popularity and shooting them back up to the top of the social food chain after they absolutely molly whopped the last football team they went up against; thus causing a few issues for Stiles as Derek gained(regained) some suitors who were more than a little interested in him and they had no problem asking Stiles if he was okay if they pursued Derek, to which he always answered with, “I don’t care.”

That was only the tip of the ice burg, the day Stiles had started officially tutoring for French, he found out that Boyd was one of the people he was going to be tutoring which was awkward, to say the least because at first Stiles wasn’t really sure how to interact with guy, of course he’s had his run ins with him where Boyd usually tried to apologize for his past actions but that’s just that; now Stiles has to actually sit with him and help him out and in order to help him, he has to actually converse with him, which on the first day didn’t really go over so well cause Stiles wasn’t really sure what to say or even do but that was more so due to him being nervous. The second day was easier than the first and so on and so forth, one would think that with Boyd, having bullied Stiles not so long ago, would have someone else tutor him or he would go to Ms. Morrell directly but come to find out Stiles was the only one tutoring for French at the moment and Ms. Morrell felt it was a good opportunity to help both of them get past their rocky history and she assured Stiles that Boyd would be on his best behavior especially if he wanted to continue playing sports for the rest of the year.

Cora and Laura had pretty much mended their relationship with their brother, although Stiles did find that Cora was still a little bitter about everything that had transpired but with time she would get over it. In fact, Stiles found that it probably wouldn’t take a lot of time as Cora had been explaining to Stiles that she, her brother and her sister had been doing a lot more things together as of late, which Stiles fully encouraged. The only problem was, with Cora and Laura mending their relationship with their brother it meant he was around more, for instance when Stiles and Cora were walking with each other between classes Derek would sometimes show up out of the blue, alone or with one of his friends and Stiles was forced to leave the conversation; not that anyone said he had to, he just felt it was appropriate and he didn’t particularly want to be around Derek or any of his friends unless he needed to be. This same thing started occurring at lunch as well because Allison had squashed whatever issue she had with Lydia and Erica, the two felt that it was okay if they took it upon themselves to join Stiles and his friends at their lunch table which led to Jackson and Boyd joining and of course Derek and Isaac; Stiles tried to eat lunch with the group for one day and it did not go well only because Stiles wasn’t comfortable and that is the reason why for the past week he’s been back in the library during lunch time. That, in turn, did sort of cause a minor rift with Stiles, Laura, and Cora as they felt that Stiles should at least try and give Derek and his friends a chance.

“Are you gonna eat lunch with us today?” Cora asked as they worked on their assignment in Mr. Harris’s class.

“Nope,” Stiles answered.

Cora sighed, “why? It won’t be bad I promise, none of them have anything against you.”

They had been going through this same routine for a week and Stiles was tired of repeating himself, “look, stop it alright,” he said voice raised, “stop trying to make me be around them, I don’t want to be around them.”

Cora gasped, “Stiles I’m not-that's not what I’m doing.“

“No, that is what you’re doing,” he interjected, “you’re trying to force me to be around them and I’m not having it; I don’t like your brother and I don’t like his friends because of what they did to me; you can get over what happened because it didn’t happen to you but I can’t and if you or Laura were really my friends you would understand that.”

“Stiles,” Cora frowned, “that’s not fair.”

“No, what isn’t fair is what you’re doing,” he said and the bell rung immediately after; he packed up his things quickly and got up, “I’ll see you around,” he said bitterly leaving Cora in the room without another word. He had every right to be mad at Cora, it was ridiculous what she was doing and she should have known that Stiles wasn’t going to react well to it.

Of course, snapping at Cora while they were in class would eventually get around, when Stiles was at lunch minding his own business in the library he got a surprise visitor from none other than Scott, “Hey Stiles,” he said as he approached him.

“Hey Scott,” Stiles said sparing him a glance before looking back to the book he was reading.

“You mind if I sit with you?” Scott asked tentatively.

Stiles sighed, “yeah sure.” Scott sat down next to him and didn’t say anything for a moment which was a little awkward and Stiles couldn’t focus on reading with Scott staring at him, “so … what’s up?” Stiles asked closing his book.

“Oh yeah … well … you know … um … yeah …” Scott stammered.

Stiles frowned, “okay?”

Scott huffed and grabbed the bridge of his nose before saying, “look, Cora, is pretty upset that you’re mad at her and … basically, everybody knows that you snapped on her.”

Stiles shrugged, “Okay … so?”

“So?” Scott asked surprised, “Stiles why are you mad at her?”

Common sense sometimes didn’t grace Scott with its presence, “Well you just said everybody knows that I snapped on her, so you should know why I’m mad, right?” Stiles asked.

Scott didn’t say anything for a second and Stiles could practically see the gears in his head turning, “yeah you’re right that was sort of a dumb question,” he said when everything finally registered.

“Glad you got it,” Stiles said.

“But … is it really that bad to sit at a table and eat lunch with them? I mean you forgave me and you talk to me now …” Scott tried.

“Yeah it is, I can’t just pretend like last year didn’t happen because it did, and by the way, I haven’t forgiven you for anything,” Stiles said and Scott frowned, “I’m still not over what happened and I won’t be for a while.”

“And I shouldn’t have expected you to be,” came Cora’s voice from behind Scott.

“Oh, hey Cora,” Scott said.

“Hey, you mind if I talk to Stiles alone?” She asked.

Scott nodded and got up, “yeah I should probably go back and see Allison, see you guys later.”

Cora took a seat as Scott left out of the library, “back to your old spot, I see.”

“Yeah,” Stiles answered, “can’t really think of anywhere else I’d rather be.”

Cora sighed, “can’t really blame you for that …” she said. “I’ve been a lousy friend the past week and I’m sorry, I really am. I just think that with me and my sister talking to my brother again … it made me think differently and for some reason I got the idea that we could all get along and everything would be great; which is weird because before I never really hung out with my brother during school or anyone for that matter.”

“You just kept to yourself,” Stiles stated.

Cora nodded, “yeah … and then I met you and everything for me changed; before people were scared of me for stupid reasons and it was hard to talk to anyone besides my sister and my brother and even then, I didn’t really talk to them while we were in school cause they had their own friends, now I have friends and if I’m being honest, I like having friends and I don’t really wanna go back to having no friends.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and pulled her bag onto her a lap, “my most important friend is mad at me right now because I got stupid and assumed that he was over what happened and I tried forcing his tormentors onto him and I failed to respect his wishes and I really hope he can forgive me for that because I don’t want him to be mad at me and I really value him as a person.”

“I’m not mad at you, I’m just disappointed … what happened, happened and I’m just not over it yet and I really don’t wanna be around your brother or his friends unless I have to be. I know that you, Laura and your brother are trying to fix things between you guys and I’m happy that you’re doing that but I’m just not there yet and I don’t know if I’ll ever be and I don’t need anyone trying to force me to that point. I just need you and everyone else to respect me and what I want and things will be fine,” Stiles said.

Cora nodded, “I understand … so do you forgive me?”

Stiles scoffed, “obviously,” he said.

Cora grinned and opened her bag, “good cause I brought us lunch and I don’t think I can eat all of this by myself.”

Stiles could laugh at how reminiscent this encounter was to the first time they sat together in the library, “why did you bring all of this?” He asked.

Cora glanced at him and pulled out a sandwich for him, “it’s a peace offering, if I couldn’t win you over with words then I would do it with food.”

“Smart,” Stiles said nodding his head and taking the sandwich from her.

“You mind if we join you guys?” Came Kira’s voice from the end of the aisle, she was accompanied by Allison, Braeden, Scott, and Laura. “Lunch just doesn’t seem right without you there, Stiles.”

“Yeah and no offense it’s a little weird eating with Derek and his friends,” Braeden said to Laura. “It just seems a little … tense.”

“And we don’t really wanna force you into an uncomfortable situation where you feel like you have to remove yourself from us,” Allison said.

“Yeah and I’m still trying to earn your forgiveness, I need you around for that,” Scott said dimwittedly.

“Scott,” Allison sighed.

Scott staggered, “What?!”

Laura had walked over with a solemn expression and took a seat on the other side of Stiles, “I’m sorry that I disregarded how you would feel about being around my brother and his friends.”

Stiles shrugged, “no problem, besides Cora basically apologized for you already … I hope this isn’t going to cause an issue with him.”

Laura sighed, “no, actually they were pretty understanding surprisingly; it was weird, my brother heard about you getting mad at Cora and he wasn’t even upset about it … said he had an idea where you were coming from.”

Cora snorted, “don’t repeat that, it was weird enough seeing the way he was acting.”

“It was mature,” Braeden said as she walked over to join them, along with Allison, Scott, and Kira.

“A lot more mature than he’s been in the past,” Scott said.

“I think you should thank Lydia for that,” Allison said, “she’s the one that spilled the beans about what happened and to my understanding as of late she’s sort of been a voice of reason.”

Scott frowned, “I wouldn’t give her all the credit … lately, Derek’s been acting a lot different when it comes to Stiles, I don’t know how to explain it without sounding stupid but he’s just different.”

“And that’s great,” Cora said with a hint of sarcasm, “but I’m sure we have established that as of right now the topic of my brother and his friends is a little touchy and not something our friend Stiles here wants to talk about so we should move onto more important things like what you guys are going to eat because I only brought enough food for two people …”

They all shared a laugh and eventually decided to head to the cafeteria to grab lunch and since then things have been going kind of smooth for Stiles; Derek kept his distance and stopped popping up randomly and things sort of went back to the new normal for about a week or two; there were some odd things that took place during that time, the oddest of them all but not surprising was the running rumor that Derek and Paige were an item; people looked at Stiles with pity in their eyes for a good day or two but that eventually stopped when word that the rumor wasn’t true got around.

Now it was a random Tuesday, the day was going by without a hitch and then Stiles found himself walking to his last class of the day and that’s when things sort of took an interesting turn; as he was making his way down the hallway he was flanked by a small group of guys, 4 to be exact, Mitch was among them with a sinister grin plastered on his face, “hey there Stilinski, you miss me?” He asked.

Stiles looked around at the other three guys and didn’t recognize any of them, he then turned to Mitch and sighed, “Do you need something?”

“Yeah,” Mitch answered and stepped forward, “you.”

“Sorry, but I’m pretty sure I told you that I didn’t wanna have anything to do with you,” Stiles shot back confidently.

“And I’m pretty sure I don’t care,” Mitch said.

“What, are you gonna try and force me to be with you? Hate to break it to you but it doesn’t work like that,” Stiles said.

The other three guys snickered and Stiles didn’t understand why until he looked back at Mitch and got his answer, “sorry buddy, but that offers off the table; it could have been good for the both of us, you’d have some arm candy and someone a lot of people want and I’d get the pleasure having what Hale could never and will never have and I’d also be with you … in more ways than one,” he said eyeing Stiles up and down before moving in on him, “but now I just really, really wanna pay you back for what you did to me when I asked you nicely to consider my offer.”

“Oh, so that’s what you’re doing,” Stiles said, “you and whoever these guys are, are gonna teach me a lesson?” Mitch nodded at that and Stiles huffed, “I guess the statement really is true then, if you can’t beat them, join them.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mitch growled.

“It means you’re no better than Derek,” Stiles said, “in fact … you just might be worst.”

Mitch’s eyes turned alpha red, “you’re gonna regret saying that freak,” he said as he prepared to charge Stiles but he never got the chance to actually do anything because just as he was about to strike, Stiles through a quick jab at his throat causing Mitch to stammer back, he held onto his throat and struggled to catch his breath, “what the- you little fucker …” he rasped and Stiles used the opportunity to punch him in the face thus knocking Mitch to the ground. Unfortunately for Stiles, Mitch’s friends were on him in an instance holding him back and using that opportunity to get a few hits of their own in, one or two punches to the ribs to be exact but that was all they got before the three were abruptly ripped away from him by someone else.

Stiles quickly picked himself up to figure out who the unknown helper was and he was surprised to see that it was Boyd and Derek. The three guys didn’t even try to put up a fight against them instead they opted to scurry away and move past the small crowd of people that had gathered around. Derek made a move over to Mitch who was still on the ground and manhandled him as he picked him up and slammed him against the wall, “you and me, after school, call your friends if you want but we’re settling this today,” he growled and dropped him back on the floor. Derek then surprised Stiles and moved over towards him along with Boyd and the two started talking about absolutely nothing and Stiles didn’t understand why until a teacher had pushed through the small group of people gathered around watching and asked what was going on.

Derek took the opportunity and answered the teacher, “Mitch was being stupid and wound up getting himself hurt,” to which everyone who was watching started laughing at him. The teacher eventually told everyone to quiet down and head to class as he helped Mitch up off the floor and sent him to class as well with his head hanging low.

Stiles sighed when Mitch was out of sight and looked between Derek and Boyd who were both giving him their full attention and said, “thanks,” the two nodded to him and didn’t say anything as they left.

As Stiles watched their retreating backs he wondered what the hell they were even doing there in that moment because he was pretty certain neither one of their classes were anywhere near the vicinity of his. He shrugged it off and went and walked to class and didn’t really struggle not thinking about it until school was out and Cora and Laura were blowing up his phone about what happened. They wanted Stiles to meet them in the student parking lot to talk but he had to decline because he had to tutor which didn’t go over so well because as of late the only person Stiles had been tutoring was Boyd and Boyd was nowhere to be found; he didn’t show up to the library until about 15 minutes before Stiles was set to leave.

He raced in with his bag slung over his shoulder, his clothes were a little dirty as if he was rolling around in the dirt, Stiles eyed him up and down and opted not to question him about his clothes or his whereabouts only because he wasn’t sure how the conversation would go, instead he asked, “what can I help you with today?”

Boyd shrugged, “just need to make sure that I have my conjugations right and that’s about it,” he said as he pulled out his notebook, opened it and passed it to Stiles.

Stiles took it and checked everything Boyd had written down and wasn’t surprised to see that everything was right, Stiles learned that Boyd was a very quick learner; Stiles nodded and handed the notebook back to him, “everything looks good to me, you should be set for the test,” he said.

“Cool,” Boyd said putting the notebook back in his bag, “hopefully I don’t forget anything when I’m actually taking the test.”

Stiles frowned, “just treat it like our tutor sessions and you should be fine.”

“Yeah, I hope,” he responded and went quiet for a moment, “can I ask you something?”

Stiles shrugged, “I guess …”

“Mitch … was that the only time that he’s bothered you lately?” He asked.

Stiles frowned, “yeah ... why?”

Boyd shrugged, “just wondering.”

If there was ever a time when Stiles hated being so damn curious it was now because he was actually about to engage in conversation that didn’t involve tutoring with one of the people he thought he’d never speak to, “did you guys …” Stiles started gesturing at Boyd’s dirty clothes, “get into it or something?”

“Yeah you could say that,” Boyd said; “it’s been coming for a long time, we’ve just sort of been waiting for it to happen.”

Stiles thought on that for a moment before asking, “Can I ask you something?”

Boyd nodded, “Sure.”

Stiles couldn’t really think of a way to ask his question without it sounding too creepy, “Why were you and Derek there earlier in the hallway? I-I mean I know that you guys don’t have class around there so … why were you there?”

Boyd smirked, “Oh so you’ve been stalking us?”

Stiles deadpanned, “no … before everything happened I had to memorize every place you guys would be so I could avoid you.”

Boyd’s smirk quickly turned into a frown and he nodded, “Oh … sorry, well um … Derek has one of Mitch’s friends in his third hour and he said that he heard him talking about possibly doing something to you and he wanted to make sure nothing happened.”

That took Stiles by surprise, “why?”

Boyd shrugged, “to be completely honest, I don’t really know but I have an idea … I think he’s just trying to be better, you know? I think maybe he’s making0 better choices so he can feel better about himself …”

Stiles huffed, “that doesn’t … that doesn’t really make sense.”

“What?” Boyd asked

“Your idea,” Stiles said, “it doesn’t make sense, none of this makes sense; I mean you guys are suddenly looking out for me now?”

Boyd frowned, “I know people can be bad and do terrible things and I know that what we did to you was worse than terrible but … people can chance … we can change.”

Stiles sighed, “yeah maybe … I guess.”

“Can I ask you something else?” Boyd asked suddenly.

Stiles looked over to him and said, “Sure.”

“How come you haven’t … you know, tried to get back at us or anything?” He asked.

Stiles contemplated the question only for a moment before answering, “what’s the point? I get back at you and then you guys try and get back at me and then it turns into this endless cycle of issues that I don’t want.”

Boyd nodded, “okay but if you were to get back at us we really wouldn’t be warranted to retaliate considering everything that we did to you.”

Stiles shrugged, “maybe but again what’s the point?”

“The point?” Boyd asked surprised, “the point is you get to say you got back at us for everything we did because we deserved it.”

Stiles smiled, “in other words you want me to get even with you guys, I could do that …” he then leaned back in his chair and sighed before saying, “but the only way to get back at you and get even would be to do what you did to me and I honestly don’t think I’d be able to sleep at night knowing that I was going out of my way to make someone feel as miserable as you and your friends made me feel. Being scared, alone, ostracized … and hurt, not having anything to really look forward to when you wake up and just feeling like you’re nothing …” Stiles huffed and sat up, “Doing that could really drive a person to start seriously considering suicide and I … I just couldn’t do that to someone.”

Boyd was frowning down at the table now, “yeah I um I guess I get that,” he said sadly.

Stiles smiled sadly at Boyd and started gathering his things together, “well if you don’t need help with anything else, I think I’m gonna go.” He said and got up and threw his bag over his shoulder, “see you around.”

Boyd couldn’t even look at him when he said, “yeah see you.”

Stiles was heading towards the exit of the library but stopped when he caught sight of Derek looking directly at him, “Oh … hi,” he said.

Derek looked like he was struggling with something and Stiles wasn’t sure what and he didn’t necessarily care to find out, instead of saying hi back Derek simply nodded at him; Stiles wasn’t going to stand a wait around for Derek to say anything so he opted to leave, just before he walked out of the library he took a quick glance over his shoulder and noticed Derek walk over to where Boyd was sitting and took a seat next to him, Boyd asked him as he was sitting down, “you here to drag me to practice?”

Stiles could have sworn that Derek was either crying or on the verge of crying by the way his voice cracked when he answered, “I don’t really feel like going to practice anymore,” but Stiles couldn’t be sure and he didn’t stay in the library to find out.

Derek's POV

Cruising, that’s how Derek had been feeling as of late, like he’d been cruising through life at a steady pace making things right, for the most part. He was kicking ass with the football team, back in his family’s good graces and his reputation at school was all but revitalized; things were arguably better than they were before but Derek just wasn’t satisfied because unlike before he doesn’t just think about himself anymore, lately he’s found himself very mindful of a certain person that he used to loathe; so much so, he became partially concerned about his well-being. At first, he didn’t realize it but as time passed by it became apparent and it only happened because Derek realized that said person wasn’t really all that bad. His sisters always spoke highly of him, no matter the circumstance and even after everything that Derek and his friends put him through he was willing to tutor Boyd and help him out with French and Derek found that pretty remarkable.

But regardless of all that, Stilinski was still wary of Derek and his friends and understandably so and all Derek could do was respect him and keep his distance; and so he did and he tried going about his life like he did before, living each day for himself and pretending nothing else really mattered especially Stilinski. Unfortunately for Derek he could only pretend for so long, girls and guys alike all had an eye out for Derek and he was being propositioned a lot more now that his reputation was no longer in shambles and he apparently had a bit of a bad boy image going for him. Each time someone came to him and let him know of their interest in him he always turned them away, similar to before when he had eyes for Paige and Paige alone; but this time every time he had turned someone down they always let him know that Stilinski didn’t mind and said they’d asked him as much and every time someone mentioned that Derek was reminded of the one person who apparently didn’t matter.

As if that wasn’t a big enough issue for Derek he also had to deal with the running rumor that he and Paige were apparently an item. People that he turned down assumed that he and Paige were a thing and one thing led to another and majority of the school was spreading the news around like an uncontrollable wild fire. He did what he could to dispel the rumor but Paige seemed to be having a little too much fun with it and if Derek didn’t know any better he’d think she was actually going along with it; which Derek didn’t particularly mind at first but as the days passed and Paige started pushing boundaries, he was starting to feel uncomfortable about it all but he would deal with it accordingly when it was necessary, which would come soon as his life would not remain on cruise control for much longer.

Mitch and his friends had made an attempt on Stilinski and while Derek was happy to see that Stilinski can indeed put up a fight and defend himself in a one on one situation, it was unsettling to see him be outnumbered and almost beaten up, as it was a not so gentle reminder of what Derek and his friends used to do to Stilinski not too long ago. Thankfully Derek and Boyd were there to break things up and as soon as school let out, Derek and his friends met up with Mitch and his friends and they settled the score; Derek had beaten Mitch to a pulp and made sure that Mitch knew he was done playing games with him and he had a good feeling that after this occurrence Mitch would no longer be a problem.

The ordeal made Derek feel great, the adrenaline from the fight was coursing through Derek and the fact that he won so easily along with his friends only made him feel better. Boyd couldn’t stick around to talk about it because once the fight was over he ran off to the library to get a little tutoring in before practice. Problem was, when it came time to actually head to practice, to get ready, Boyd was nowhere to be found and Derek wasn’t willing to let his best friend suffer for being late to practice; so he took it upon himself to go to the library and grab Boyd himself and it would be that decision that would ultimately wind up throwing Derek’s life off of cruise control and into a state of disarray.

When he walked into the library he immediately homed in on a conversation happening between Boyd and Stilinski, for the most Boyd was asking Stilinski why he never tried to get back at them and his answer was no surprise to Derek, “in other words you want me to get even with you guys, I could do that … but the only way to get back at you and get even would be to do what you did to me and I honestly don’t think I’d be able to sleep at night knowing that I was going out of my way to make someone feel as miserable as you and your friends made me feel. Being scared, alone, ostracized … and hurt, not having anything to really look forward to when you wake up and just feeling like you’re nothing …” while it still hurt to hear how he Stilinski really felt dealing with Derek and his friends nothing could have prepared him for what Stilinski said next, “Doing that could really drive a person to start seriously considering suicide and I … I just couldn’t do that to someone.”

“Could really drive a person to start seriously considering suicide …”

“start seriously considering suicide …”

“considering suicide …”

“Suicide …”

Fingers snapped in Derek’s face drawing him out of his mind and back to the present, “Earth to Derek,” Laura said waving her hands in his face, “what do you want to order?”

A single tear escaped his eye and he quickly wiped his face and said, “Oh um … just get me my usual, a cinnamon dolce latte.”

Cora looked up at him and frowned, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied, “I just got something in my eye, I’m gonna run to the bathroom really quick,” he said as he quickly retreated before his sisters could ask him any more questions.

Derek and his sisters had decided to stop by the coffee shop before school, they needed to, they had spent the whole night up at the hospital with their family as their Aunt Lynn had finally gone into labor and given birth to their new baby niece Malia. Derek’s entire family marveled at the new addition to their family, she was beautiful and healthy and definitely something to celebrate but unfortunately for Derek he couldn’t maintain his happiness for long, even as he held Malia for the first time his mind took him back to that day in the library when he overheard Boyd and Stilinski talking.

“Doing that could really drive a person to start seriously considering suicide …”

“Suicide …”

Stilinski’s words repeated over and over again like a broken record and when baby Malia squirmed in his arms taking him out of his own head, he looked down at her and smiled and whispered, “Please don’t make the same mistakes as me.”

Now as he stood in the bathroom of the coffee shop washing his face off with some cold-water, Derek couldn’t help but feel that he may need to talk to someone about what’s going on. These thoughts had been plaguing him for the last few days and it wasn’t getting any better and he knew his family knew that something was going on with him simply by the way they expressed their commiseration towards him. It was similar with his friends, of course, Boyd knew the problem but everyone else didn’t and Derek wasn’t willing to talk about it with them, not yet mostly because he wasn’t sure how they’d handle it.

He dried his face off and got a handle on himself before he attempted to walk out of the bathroom and rejoin his sister’s in line; only that didn’t happen because when he reached for the door to unlock it and leave, something slammed against it and Derek heard two voices on the other side of the door.

“You will not jeopardize this operation,” came a menacing voice, “we have spent too fucking long following this and I’ll be damned if you think I’ll allow you to just leave before everything is finished.”

“You know this is bull shit D,” came another voice, “we don’t have anything on these kids, we’ve been running surveillance on the girl for over a year and a half and still have nothing! Her friend didn’t even give us anything, why the fuck do you think we’re going to get anything from her? She’s a dead end!”

“The bosses gave the word, they’re the ones that seem certain that she is valuable, and we are to assume that they have some intel we don’t,” the menacing voice (D) said.

“But-but … this is, what we’re gonna do is like terrorism; if this turns out to be a fluke and we get nothing from this, we’re going to look like some psycho terrorist cell and I didn’t sign up for that,” the other man said. “I have a family to get back to …”

Another bang came from the door, “And so do I,” D growled, “which is why we have to see this through; things will only go bad if everything doesn’t go according to plan. We’re almost done and after this, it’s a nice long, well-deserved vacation, so don’t fuck this up.”

“Okay-okay,” the other man said conceding, “alright fine.”

“Go get yourself something, we move in, in 2 hours,” D said.

Derek had waited a moment before he decided to unlock the door and exit the bathroom, one of the men was still in front of the door and Derek had ducked his head and said, “excuse me,” as he brushed past him and headed down the hall. He glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of the guy and recognized him instantly, it was one of the men that he saw by the store that gave him bad vibes. Derek didn’t dwell on it though, instead, he rejoined his sisters, got his coffee and left the coffee shop. As they drove to school Derek couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about the day, he wasn’t exactly sure what was causing the feeling but he did have a really, really bad feeling something bad was going to happen.

“Derek, hey Derek,” Cora called to him from the backseat.

Derek blinked a few times before answering, “what?”

“Are you going to drink your coffee or you just gonna hold it?” She asked.

Derek looked down at the coffee in his hand and said, “Oh,” before taking a sip of it.

Laura had pulled into the school parking lot and found a park and threw the car into park and locked the doors so no one could get out of the car, “what is going on with you?” She asked staring at Derek intently.

“What?” Derek asked flabbergasted.

“What is going on with you?” She asked again, “you’ve been acting different lately … you’re not-you’re not happy you’re just … you remind me of Stiles. It’s like regardless of what’s going on there’s something that’s always bothering you.”

“I’m fine,” Derek lied.

“No, you’re not, Derek there’s something bothering you and it’s been bothering you for almost a week now,” Laura said.

“I’m fine,” Derek lied again.

“Please don’t make the same mistakes as me,” Cora said from the backseat echoing Derek’s first words to Malia, “that’s the first thing you said to Malia last night when you were holding her, please don’t make the same mistakes as me. What mistakes are you talking about, Derek? What happened?”

“I just … I can’t talk about this right now,” he said and unlocked his door and bolted out of the car, while his sisters protested behind him. As much as he wanted to talk to someone about what was going on with him, he really didn’t think his sisters were the ideal candidates for that matter. He rushed into school, finishing off his coffee before he entered; he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Boyd saying, “where are you?”

His phone buzzed a few seconds later with a message from Boyd saying:

Boyd: I’m by the weight room, are you coming?

Derek texted him back telling him to meet him by the cafeteria and a few minutes he was standing in front of Boyd near the cafeteria, “we’re ditching,” Derek said.

“Dude I can’t ditch today I have a test in French,” Boyd complained.

“Then we’re ditching first hour … I can’t be in there right now,” Derek said.

Boyd frowned and nodded, “it’s still bothering you?”

Derek huffed, “it’s driving me insane, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Boyd patted him on the back, “I Know what you mean man,” he said and the two headed out of the school and made their way towards the football field.

They sat in the bleachers and talked for the better part of an hour, the bell to release first hour would be ringing within the next 15 minutes. “Do you think that you should try and talk to him?” Boyd asked.

Derek sighed, “I don’t know if that’s going to help anything, I mean I don’t think he wants anything to do with me …”

“Well he talks to me,” Boyd said.

“He tutors you,” Derek corrected.

“Yeah but lately we’ve been having small conversations that don’t have to do with French,” Boyd said and sighed; “and just based on the little time that we’ve talked, I can tell that he’s actually a pretty cool person and if he can talk to me then he can talk to you, right?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know about that,” Derek rolled up his sleeve and showed Boyd his mark, “I think this would probably make things a little weird.”

Boyd frowned, “oh yeah … I almost forgot about that,” Boyd cocked his head to the side as he examined Derek’s mark, “you know I kind of noticed this before but now that I’m really looking at it, your mark looks different.”

Derek huffed and pulled his sleeve back down, “yeah, it grew a little.”

“That explains it,” Boyd said and fell silent for a moment, “I really don’t think you should let that stop you from trying to talk to him. You need to talk him, we all need to talk to him, we need to apologize to him and make sure that he knows we’re actually sorry.”

“Yeah …” Derek said sadly.

Boyd clapped him on the arm and said, “don’t you think it’s weird how much things have changed?”

Derek couldn’t help but stifle a laugh, “Yeah, I would have never thought that we’d be having this conversation a few months ago, it’s crazy how much things have changed in such a short amount of time.”

“Hey … I know we’ve never talked about … you know? Stilinski and that issue or whatever,” Boyd said.

Derek didn’t exactly catch onto what he was saying, “what?”

“You know … Stilinski being the big O,” Boyd said.

“Big O?” Derek wondered out loud and before he knew it he realized what Boyd was getting at, “Oh, yeah that … what about it?”

“Do your sisters ever talk about how he’s handling it?” Boyd asked.

Derek shrugged, “not really, matter fact it’s not really something that comes up at all, most of the time they just talk about him and how he’s doing and how great he is; they never really actually talk about that.”

Boyd nodded, “cool.”

“Yeah, it's-“ Derek stopped suddenly when something had caught his eye, in the parking lot of the school three black vans had pulled up and the second they stopped a slew of people started getting out of them, “what the hell?”

“What?” Boyd asked and looked in the same direction as Derek, “what the hell is that? What are they wearing?”

The people looked like they were dressed up in SWAT uniforms which were only mildly concerning to Derek until said people started pulling out guns from the vans, “is something going on in school?” Derek asked Boyd.

Boyd pulled out his phone, “No I don’t think so, nobodies texted me about anything.”

Derek pulled out his phone and checked his messages he had 3 new ones, one from Paige and one from both Laura and Cora:

Paige: Hey are you at school yet?

Cora: Why did you run off?

Laura: Derek, please talk to us.

Nothing important, he placed his phone back in his back pocket and looked back to where the people were gathered around their vans and that’s when Derek spotted someone that sent an instant chill down his spine; it was a man dressed in a black trench coat and black hat and Derek immediately thought of the same man that Kira had spoken of at the party. If it was him, which there was a good possibility that it was, then these people are dangerous and they’re a part of that group that’s been snatching up Omegas.

The school security guard had approached the group and unfortunately for Derek he was too far away to clearly hear what was being said but that wouldn’t be a problem because the man in the black trench coat had subdued the security guard and by the look of it he had snapped his neck and let his body fall limply onto the concrete. After witnessing that Derek’s mind had gone into overdrive and immediately he acted, grabbing his things and racing off of the bleachers towards the school.

Boyd took it upon himself to follow Derek into the school and together they raced down the main corridor; Derek’s body was on auto-pilot, he wasn’t sure where he was going until he finally got there. He’d burst into the classroom and looked around and spotted Stilinski sitting in the back next to Cora, “Mr. Hale, you better have a good reason for interrupting my class or I’m going to write you up,” Mr. Harris said.

Derek ignored the man and moved to the back towards Cora and Stilinski, “pack up your things, right now,” he said.

“Derek, what’s going on?” Cora asked concerned.

“We don’t have a lot of time please just pack everything up, I’ll explain everything and-“ gunfire interrupted Derek, screams could be heard from the hallway and it didn’t take long before everyone in the classroom started to panic. Mr. Harris had immediately closed the door to the classroom and locked it and asked everyone to remain calm.

Boyd had joined Derek in the back along with Lydia, “What’s going on?!” Lydia asked.

“There were these people outside with a bunch of guns and they killed the security guard,” Boyd said.

A look of shock overcame Lydia, “What?!”

Derek looked over at his sister and leaned in close and said, “I think it’s them, I think it’s those people, that guy in the black trench coat … he’s here”

Another round of gunfire could be heard from outside, closer than it was before, “Attention students, the school is now in lockdown there are several active shooters on the premises, teachers please lock your classrooms,” came a voice over the intercom.

Derek glanced over at Stilinski, he had his phone out and was dialing a number, when he put the phone up to his ear Derek heard it ring once before someone picked up and Stiles answered saying, “dad, dad you have to come to the school, hurry they-dad? Hello?”

Cora turned to Stiles, “Stiles, what are you doing?”

“I was trying to get ahold of my dad but … the call went dead, I don’t have any service,” he said.

Cora pulled out her phone as did Derek, Boyd, and Lydia, “I don’t have any service either,” Cora said.

“Same here,” Derek said.

“Mine’s out too,” Boyd said.

“I don’t have service either, what the hell is going on?” Lydia asked.

More gunfire could be heard and it was definitely in their hallway this time, everyone in the classroom panicked a little until Mr. Harris addressed them and asked them to remain calm and keep their voices down, it managed to work for a brief second and then a voice came over the intercom and changed everything, “Hello Beacon Hills High, I know you all must be pretty terrified at the moment  but if you follow the rules everything will be fine and we will be on our way,” came a woman’s voice.

“Yeah right,” Lydia said.

“We are currently going through every classroom and when we find what we are in search of we will leave, easy as that and you all can help us out; think of this like a game, your participation will help you leave here with your lives, otherwise we will be forced to take certain steps to ensure we get what we want. So, students and teachers, I bet you’re asking what it is we want, well here is your first clue we are looking for a girl of Asian descent with long black hair; we would love to provide you with a name but unfortunately, we’re not sure if the name we have on her is correct. So, provide us with any of the girls who fit this description and the rest of you will be okay. “ The woman on the intercom said. “Also, if she makes this hard on us we might be forced to go after her little friend and I’m sure the Sheriff would not be pleased to find that his son was harmed because of you.”

Stilinski gasped, “Oh my god.”

“Stiles look at me, you’re going to be okay,” Cora said.

Mr. Harris had made his way to the back of the room where they were, “Stiles, can you contact your father?” He asked.

Stilinski huffed, he shakily held his phone up and said, “I tried to call him … I think it got through for a little bit but the line went dead, I don’t have any service.”

Mr. Harris nodded and went back to the front of the room and tried his phone and by the looks of things he got nothing, he then tried the school phone and still didn’t seem to get anything and that’s when he returned, “alright we have to get you out of here immediately, it’s too dangerous for you to stay here.”

A bang came from the door and everyone in the room had made their way to the back, another loud bang could be heard and then the door handle was shot out and in walked a single man holding a rifle in his hand, “don’t move,” the man said pointing his gun at everyone. “All of you put your hands up and don’t make any sudden moves or I swear I will gun you down where you stand,” he threatened. He moved around the room pointing his gun in people’s faces, he glanced in Derek’s direction and then looked next to him and said, “you there stand up, now!”

His gun was pointed directly at Stilinski, “me-me?” he asked.

The man had walked directly towards Stilinski, with his gun pointed directly at him and said, “yes you, get up now, you’re coming with me.”

Stilinski stood on shaky legs, keeping his hands up, “Pl-please … don’t shoot,” he said nervously.

“I’m not gonna shoot you kid but if your friend doesn’t show up, we might have to,” the man said and walked around the table and apprehended Stilinski, he then touched a radio on his shoulder and said, “I got the friend,” before he started forcing Stilinski to move towards the front of the class, “keep your hands up and don’t make any sudden moves, if you want to live; just walk.”

“No!” Cora said jumping up.

The man turned his gun on her, “HEY SIT DOWN NOW! I will shoot you where you stand.”

“Please, leave him alone,” Cora said.

Derek's heart was racing, too much was going on at once and he wasn’t sure what to do; he grabbed his sisters hand and pulled her back down to the floor and looked over at Stilinski who was standing behind the man but he didn’t have his hands up anymore; one look at his face and Derek just knew he was about to do something and he prepared himself to back him up if need be. “Anybody else makes any sudden moves, I will shoot you,” the man said and that’s when Stilinski had grabbed a textbook sitting on a nearby table and whacked the man hard in the back of the head. Derek was up in a millisecond as the man turned around on Stilinski and grabbed hold of him before he could attempt to use his gun, luckily Cora had assisted him. Together the three managed to subdue the man and apprehend his gun, “get off me,” the man struggled, “get off of me,” he said again but Derek was able to easily hold him down.

“Why are you doing this?” Stilinski asked.

“I don’t have to tell you shit,” the man spat.

Mr. Harris had come over and grabbed hold of the man’s gun and hit him in the head, knocking him out, “we don’t have time to try and figure out what they want or why they’re doing this, we need to get out of here, my room is compromised.”

“But-“ Stilinski tried but Mr. Harris would hear none of it.

“No buts Stiles, right now you and everyone in this room are my responsibility and I need to make sure that you get out of this okay, so,” Mr. Harris then raised his voice a little so everyone paid attention, “I want you all to remain calm, do not try and run off on your own, we’re going to exit the class and get to the nearest exit and get you guys out of here but first …” he looked down at the man, “we need to find something to tie him up so he can’t get ahold of anyone and alert them of what we’re doing. I want you all to quickly find something we can use and-“ Derek stopped listening when he noticed movement at the door another one of the men had walked into the class and without warning had lifted his gun and aimed it at Stilinski; Derek didn’t need time to think about what to do next he jumped up leaving the unconscious man on the floor and moved quickly, shoving Stilinski and himself to the floor, a gun had gone off twice and soon after another. Derek found himself lying over Stilinski, whose eyes were shut tight, he took a moment before asking him, “are you okay?”

Stilinski eventually opened his eyes and checked himself over as best he could with Derek lying over him and said, “I-I think so,” something then caught his eye and he asked Derek, “are you?”

He was prepared to say yes but when he tried to lift himself up off the floor he felt a surge of pain coming from the back of his shoulder, he grimaced a little and that’s when he heard his sister scream his name and soon she was pulling him off of Stilinski and checking his back, “you got shot,” Cora said.

Derek couldn’t tell where he had been shot, it felt like it had been in multiple areas on his back, Lydia and Boyd had rushed over to him and checked him over as well, “it looks like he got hit twice but … but I don’t think it’s anything bad, it just looks like he might have got you in the shoulder but I can’t be sure, we have to get you to a hospital,” Lydia said.

“What about the guy?” Derek asked wondering what happened to the other gunman.

“I-I think he’s dead,” Boyd said, “Harris got a good shot on him.”

“Th-thank you,” Stilinski said.

Derek looked over at him and offered him a small smirk, “Ye-yeah no problem.”

“We have to go now,” Cora said.

“Help me up,” Derek said and Boyd and Cora helped him to his feet.

“The nearest exit should be just down the hall to the left,” Mr. Harris said trying desperately to keep his composure, “I want all of you to make your way to the exit quietly, if you spot anyone dressed like these two,” he pointed to the two gunmen, “you run in the opposite direction, do you understand?”

Everyone said yes and soon after they were all making their way out of the classroom and down the hall, quietly and cautiously; Derek had never been shot before but it definitely sucked and the pain was excruciating but nothing he couldn’t handle. Just as they were about to hit the exit, Stilinski stopped and said, “you guys go on without me, I-I have to go find Kira.”

Derek suddenly lost control of himself and growled out, “No.”

“Stiles we have to get out of here right now,” Cora said as she held onto Derek. “Wherever Kira is I’m sure she’s okay.”

“But you don’t know that,” Stilinski argued.

“And you don’t know what she’s up against!” Cora shot back, “there could be loads of those guys around her and you can’t take them on by yourself.”

“What are you guys doing, we’re supposed to be leaving,” Lydia said ahead of them.

“Just go without me,” Stilinski said, “I’ll be right behind you, Kira’s class is only a little bit further ahead. I just need to run there and grab her and we’ll be right behind you guys.”

“No,” Derek growled again, his wolf stirring as it struggled to get to the surface and take full control.

“Stiles we have to get out of here, now;” Cora pleaded.

“Boyd,” Derek growled out, “don’t let him leave.”

But it was too late, Stilinski had made a break for it and was already running off further down the hallway; “what are you doing, get outside, now!” Mr. Harris shouted. Something on Derek’s face must have told him that something was wrong because he turned around immediately following the direction Stilinski had run off, “STILES!” Mr. Harris yelled after him.

Derek could hear his sister start to break down next to him as he fought for control over his wolf, “we-we need to leave, Derek doesn’t look so good,” he heard Lydia say.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him,” Derek heard Boyd say.

Next thing he knew they were on the move again, getting closer and closer to the exit, Mr. Harris had told everyone to be careful as they made their way outside. Derek had forced his sister to stop just before they made it to the door and he leaned against the wall, “Derek come on we’re almost out,” Cora told him.

He couldn’t leave, every instinct in his body was screaming at him to turn back and go and find Stilinski, “I just … I need a minute,” Derek struggled to say.

“Derek come on, we have to get you out of here,” Lydia said.

“Mr. Hale the doors right there, you need to get outside and we need to get you to the hospital immediately,” Mr. Harris instructed.

“Dude come on, you really don’t look so good,” Boyd said.

Derek’s wolf was raging under the surface, going out of control over the uncertainty of Stilinski’s well-being; “I can’t leave …” he said.

“Get him out of here now,” Mr. Harris instructed.

The moment Derek felt hands try and pull him towards the door he fought them off shouting, “don’t touch me!” His breathing had become labored and he could feel his claws had come out, his control was very nearly completely diminished, “I have to find Stilinski,” he growled and started backing away from everyone.

“Mr. Hale, you need to calm down,” Mr. Harris tried, “this is not the time for you to lose control over yourself.”

It was too late though, even Derek knew that the only way he would be able to sedate the wolf within would be to find Stilinski and see him to safety, “Derek … I’m coming with you,” Cora said.

“No, go outside try and call mom and dad … tell them … tell them what’s happening,” he struggled to say. He then looked to Boyd, “Boyd, don’t let her follow me,” he commanded and ran off, while his friends, sister and Mr. Harris protested behind him.

His wolf was almost fully in control at this point, Stilinski’s scent was strong and permeated in the hallway so it was easy to follow, it didn’t take Derek long to track him down only because he completely disregarded the fact that there were a bunch of gunmen in the school and focused solely on finding Stilinski.

He rushed down the hall and followed Stilinski’s scent to a nearby bathroom, without thinking he rushed into the boy’s bathroom but found that no one was in there. He stepped out of the bathroom and scented the air and found that Stilinski’s scent was coming from the girls’ bathroom. He walked over to the door and tried to open it and found that it was locked, he growled and attempted to knock, only it seemed more like banging, “Sti-Stilinski,” he growled.

He could hear voices coming from inside the bathroom and he tried knocking (banging) again, “Stilinski, o-open the door,” he struggled.

It took a few moments but eventually, the door unlocked and Derek pulled the door open and found Stilinski backing away from the now open door, “Di-did you follow me?” He asked perplexed.

Derek stumbled into the bathroom and nearly collapsed, his vision was beginning to wane and the pain in his shoulder intensified tremendously; he grimaced in pain before saying, “you-you ran off.”

“I had to find Kira, are you … are you okay?” Stilinski asked.

“Stiles, who is it?” Another voice came from somewhere inside the bathroom but Derek couldn’t be sure who it was.

“It’s Derek … you can come out,” Stilinski said and suddenly someone Derek didn’t recognize had come out of one of the stalls and ran towards the door behind Derek to lock it.

“Who-who are you?” Derek asked and leaned against the wall for support succumbing to the pain from his wounds, he very nearly collapsed a second time but instead he used the wall to help himself kneel down.

“Oh-oh my God, he’s been shot,” the person said and suddenly Derek felt a hand on his back, he growled in response. “I-I need to see where you’ve been shot … I need to know how serious this is,” the person said.

Derek growled again, “who are you?”

Stilinski had come up next to them and said, “Kira change back.”

“Kira?” Derek wondered out loud, he knew he was in bad shape and his vision wasn’t at its best but he knew that whoever the person that was in the bathroom with them was definitely not Kira. Derek then felt the person take their hand off of him and an odd sound filled the bathroom and when Derek looked up to where the person was he saw Kira.

“Wha-what the fuck?” He said astonished.

“It’s a long story,” she said kneeling down next to him, “I need to see where you were shot, can I lift your shirt?”

Derek nodded, “this-this really hurts.”

“Do-do you need help?” Stilinski asked kneeling down in front of him.

“That would be awesome,” Derek said.

Kira and Stilinski worked together and gently raised Derek’s shirt, of course, it was painful because he had to lift his arms but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with, “Oh my God,” Kira said when they got the shirt raised over the gunshot wounds.

“What?” Stilinski and Derek asked simultaneously.

“They used wolfsbane bullets … if we don’t get you to a hospital soon you … you could die,” Kira said.

“Way to lay it on me,” Derek joked.

“Are-are you sure?” Stilinski asked and if Derek wasn’t so screwed up he could swear he heard some concern in his voice.

“I’m positive, Ben showed me what happens when someone gets shot with wolfsbane bullets … come look, you may need to know what it looks like for future reference,” Kira said.

Stilinski looked at Derek as if he were looking for approval, “hurry up my arm is killing me,” Derek told him.

He then moved around and Derek heard him gasp, “Okay … we uh … we have to go,” he said.

“Yeah, we need to get out of here and we need to get to a phone and he needs to get to a hospital, we need a car,” Kira said.

“I have my keys to my jeep in my pocket,” Stilinski said.

“Kira does … does your cell phone work?” Derek asked.

“No, they’re using something to kill the service, I can’t make any calls,” Kira said.

“Shit,” Derek grunted.

“Come on we have to go now while he’s still conscious and able to move, otherwise it’s going to be hell trying to get him out of here,” Kira said.

“Alright, you need to change now so they don’t recognize you,” Stilinski said.

“What about you? You need something to hide your face because they’re after you too, whether they know what you are or not,” Kira shot back.

“I’ll throw my hood on, come on we have to hurry,” Stilinski said, he then moved around so that he was standing in front of Derek again and kneeled in front of him, “Hey-hey … we gotta get you up, okay? We gotta get you out of here.”

Derek as weak as he was could feel his wolf’s absolute displeasure with the idea, he then looked Stilinski dead in his eyes and grabbed onto his shoulder, “No,” he growled, “we stay here and wait this out, it’s too dangerous out there.”

“We can’t afford to wait,” Kira said behind him, “their wolfsbane works fast and by the looks of it, you have about an hour or two tops and then you’re as good as dead.”

Stilinski grabbed onto the hand Derek was using to grab his shoulder and stood up holding on to Derek’s hand, “come on,” he said and started to pull him up, “if you wanna live to see tomorrow, we have to get out of here.”

Derek grimaced as Stilinski helped him up, he wanted to protest and keep Stilinski in the bathroom but he also didn’t really want to die at; so he had no choice but to go along with it. Oddly enough Derek’s wolf and Derek, in general, had calmed down a lot and Derek had a sneaky suspicion that it was largely in part to the contact between himself and Stilinski. That odd noise that Derek heard before had come back and he turned to see that Kira was no longer Kira but someone completely different, a girl with long red hair and fair skin, with hazel eyes; “okay … I can probably hold this form for a good 5 to 10 minutes and then after that, I probably won’t be able to change again for about a half hour so we need to get out right now,” Kira (the new person) said.

“This has to be some kinda bad dream,” Derek said offhandedly.

Stilinski through Derek’s good arm around his shoulder and said, “Believe me, I wish it was.”

“Alright, I’m gonna peek out the door and see if I see anybody if not, I’ll walk out and check the hall and- oh shit … we need one of their guns,” Kira (the person) said suddenly.

“What why?” Stilinski asked.

“We need the Wolfsbane they use to cure Derek,” Kira said.

“Shit,” Stilinski said, “here,” he said taking Derek’s arm from around his shoulder and gesturing for Kira to come and hold him up; “I think there’s still a gun on the guy my teacher shot in my class, I can go run and grab it.”

“No,” Derek growled, “no, Harris has a gun on him. We can ... we can use that one …”

“We don’t know if Harris is still around the school and we don’t have time to try and look for him and as much as I may not like you, you did save my life and I’m not gonna let you die for me,” Stilinski said.

“It’s not like I don’t deserve to,” Derek said.

“Yeah? Well I don’t feel that way,” Stilinski shot back, he then turned to Kira, “Kira you hold onto him while we get to the exit and you guys get outside, I’ll run to my class and grab the gun and meet you guys outside and then we’ll go to my jeep, okay?”

“Okay,” Kira said walking over and taking Derek’s arm and putting around his shoulder, “we have to go now, I don’t have much time;” she said.

“Okay,” Stilinski said and made his way to the door.

“Stilinski,” Derek growled and he spun around quickly, “don’t you dare get caught or die.”

Stilinski nodded back his affirmation and opened the door and peeked his out, he then waved Kira and Derek over and they all stepped out of the bathroom quietly.

Stiles POV

Stiles' heart was hammering in his chest as he led the way out of the bathroom, the events of the day would overwhelm him if he wasn’t running off of pure adrenaline. He moved to peek around the corner to check and see if the hallway was clear and by the looks of things everything was A-Okay. So, they moved into the hall and made their way down, the exit wasn’t far at all but Stiles class was a little way away. He turned around to check and see how Kira and Derek were doing and for the most part, they seemed to be making it along just fine; Derek looked like hell though. Luckily enough they made it the exit with no problems, “okay get outside, I’ll meet you in a little bit,” Stiles said.

“Be careful,” Kira said, “and Stiles, thank you for looking out for me.”

Stiles nodded, “I’d hope you’d do the same for me.”

“Definitely,” Kira said, she made an attempt to move towards the exit with Derek but Derek didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

“Stilinski,” he growled out, “you-you have five minutes to get out or … or I’m coming back for you.”

Stiles wasn’t sure what to say to that, he wasn’t even sure how to feel knowing that Derek had gone to such extreme lengths to come back and find him; “you just … you just make sure you don’t die,” Stiles said.

Derek nodded and finally allowed Kira to help him out of the school, now Stiles was on his own, he just needed to make his way down the hall and into his class, grab the dead guys gun and get out of the school without anything bad happening; and the chances of that were slim to none but he had to chance it, in order to save Derek’s life. He quietly made his way down the hall, moving as fast as he possibly could without making any noise, he heard gunfire and it wasn’t far off, so he knew that there was a gunman somewhere in his general vicinity. He moved a little quicker and silently rejoiced when he was near his classroom but his joy did not last long because just as he was about to reenter his class two gunmen had appeared down at the end of the hall. He rushed into the classroom hoping they didn’t notice him, he couldn’t lock the door since it was shot out so he needed to be smart and move quickly.

The gunman that Mr. Harris shot laid dead on the floor his gun was luckily still lying next to him, Stiles quickly stripped him of it and moved towards the back of the class; there were some cabinets that held lab supplies, they looked big enough for Stiles to fit in. He opened one of them up and thankfully it was pretty empty so he wouldn’t have to pull anything out and make it obvious he was in there but he needed to hurry and get himself situated because from what he could hear the two gunmen that had come in the hall just as he was entering the room were fairly close and he had a good idea that they were coming directly into his classroom. He easily got into the cabinet and somehow someway he managed to fit the gun in there with him, as big as it was. A few moments later footsteps could be heard entering the room and Stiles could hear voices, “shit we’ve got a man down,” one of the men said.

“Hey, look over there, it looks like we may have two men down,” came another voice.

Stiles silently cursed at himself for completely disregarding the second gunman who wasn’t dead, he hoped the man was still unconscious when he came into the room, “he’s not dead, he’s just out cold.” One of the voices said.

“Well get him up and untied and get him back to the front, I’ll check the rest of this hall myself,” the other voice said. Stiles heard some ruffling and grunting and then he heard a man shout as if he were startled and he presumed one of the gunmen woke up the other gunmen they had knocked out, he heard voices and then footsteps going out of the classroom.

He waited a few more moments before he decided to peek out of the cabinet to check if the coast was clear, from what he saw the classroom was empty save for the dead gunman still lying on the floor. He quietly pulled himself out from the cabinet and took the gun with him, he knew he couldn’t just rush into the hall, he had to be cautious and wary of the gunman who’s apparently checking it. He was taking quite a bit of time and five minutes definitely had already passed and he himself hoping that Derek wouldn’t stick to his word and try and come back into the school to find him.

He made his way over to the door and peeked his head into the hallway, he only managed to catch a glimpse because the second he looked out he saw the gunman, who designated himself to check the hall. Stiles assumed he was most likely going from class to class attempting to break in and if that was the case he would have to wait a while before the coast was clear and Derek didn’t have much time. Then he heard the gunman in the hallway, it sounded like he was using his radio, “I’m in the far Southeast hall checking rooms, send some back-up, we lost one of ours,” the gunman said.

Stiles heard someone respond on the radio, “roger that.”

More people meant trouble for Stiles, he would most likely have to wait longer before he could get out, he almost started to panic before an idea came to mind and he turned back to the dead gunman. He could use his getup and easily move around the halls unnoticed, of course, he would have to strip a dead man of his clothes but at times like this desperate measures needed to be taken. He had to be quick before the other gunmen came into the hall so he placed the gun he held against a desk, grabbed the dead gunman and started stripping him of everything and quickly threw on his outfit; he nearly threw up as he put on the blood-spattered clothes, the helmet was the worst, since Mr. Harris had shot the man in the face, luckily the helmet was still intact and all Stiles had to do was clean off the bits of the man’s face from it as disgusting as that was. He was dressed in under five minutes, he drug the man and hid the body in the back of the room, went to the front of the class and grabbed the gun he placed near a desk, put the helmet on, took a deep breath and entered the hall.

At some point when Stiles was getting ready the gunman checking the hall had opened fire and broke into a classroom near the one Stiles occupied. Stiles moved slowly down the hall, he heard the gunman in the classroom dropping orders and as he came upon the now open door to the class, he saw the gunman handling a girl with a similar description to Kira. The girl thrashed against him trying to get the man to let her go but his grip was firm on her hair, “what is your name?!” The man demanded.

All the poor girl could do was cry and ask for someone to please help her, the gunman then demanded the other students tell him about the girl but everyone was so frozen in fear they couldn’t speak. If Stiles were smart he would have ignored the situation and passed by the room unnoticed and made his way out of the school. But as he stood near the doorway of the opened classroom all he could think about were all the times he was bullied by Derek and his friends and how much he wished someone would take a chance and try and help him; the situations may have been drastically different but the thoughts still drove Stiles to do something extremely reckless. He stepped into the room keeping his head low so the helmet covered his face, everyone had gasped upon seeing him alerting the gunman of his presence.

“You, go check the other classes, I have this one under control;” the gunman said and Stiles thanked every deity that the gunman did not recognize he wasn’t on his side. Stiles nodded nervously in response and the gunman kept staring at him, “well are you gonna go?”

The girl the gunman was holding onto screamed and said, “please, don’t hurt me, I don’t know anything,” and the gunman struck her in response telling her to shut up and that was what pushed Stiles to nod and exit the room. He then hid by the wall for a moment before re-entering the room and quickly making his way over to the gunman.

“Didn’t I tell you to check the other-“ Stiles cut him off by whacking him with the rifle he had, the gunman had let go of the girl and staggered as he tried to regain his composure; as he stood the man easily had a good 4 to 5 inches on Stiles but that didn’t matter as Stiles hit him again knocking the man to the floor, “what are you-“ the gunman tried but Stiles hit him again and again until he was certain the man was unconscious.

He gasped looking down at the man, his hands were shaky from adrenaline and fear, he knew he needed to get out of there before the other gunmen showed up. He looked up and struggled to fix his helmet, everyone in the room was backed against the wall uncertain if he was good or bad, he took the helmet off and said, “come on we-we have to get out of here now before more come.”

“Holy shit, Stilinski?!” one of the students said causing the others to start whispering, Stiles recognized the voice and realized that the person who identified him was Danny.

The teacher in the classroom had stood up, “is it-is it safe?” she asked.

Stiles nodded, “for now But-but we have to hurry more are coming.”

She nodded and then turned to the other students, “alright make your way out to the hall quickly but in an orderly fashion and get the nearest exit, now!”

The other students obliged and moved towards the door, as they passed by Stiles the students were whispering praise to him, the girl who the gunman had apprehended approached him and said, “thank you-thank you so much,” and then rushed out of the room following the other students.

The teacher approached Stiles, “come on, you need to get out of here too,” she instructed.

Stiles looked down at the gunman he had beaten unconscious before he looked back up at the teacher and nodded, “oh-okay ...” in that moment a thought crossed his mind, he figured he should grab the now unconscious gunman’s gun as well for just in case purposes. He threw his helmet back on and kneeled down and relieved the unconscious gunman of his rifle.

“Do you really need two of those? They have to be heavy,” the teacher said.

They were heavy but Stiles could manage, especially after he spent so long carrying around a heavy book bag full of his textbooks since he could never use his locker before, “Someone was shot trying to save me and they use wolfsbane bullets and I’m just taking this just as a precaution.”

“Smart and brave, good qualities to have,” the teacher said.

“I-I think I’m just being reckless at this point,” Stiles clarified, “come on let’s go,” he said and the teacher led the way out into the hall, luckily the other gunmen hadn’t shown up yet, from what Stiles could see all of the students from the classroom had made it out to the exit; of course things could never go too smoothly for Stiles because as he and the teacher were making their way towards the exit he heard voices coming from the end of the hall and knew the other gunmen were just around the corner. Stiles and the teacher rushed towards the exit in response and made their way out hoping they weren’t seen.

The students that had escaped from the class had gathered not too far from the exit, Stiles and the teacher had quickly made their way over to them and just as they came upon them, Stiles was ambushed. He was grabbed violently by the shoulders and when he looked to see who had grabbed hold of him a very pale and feral looking Derek, is what he was met with. “De-Derek, Derek it’s me,” he wheezed out.

Derek’s violent growls ceased immediately and he shifted from being half transformed back to completely human, his tight grasp on Stiles turned gentle and he rasped, “you-you took so long.”

The level of emotion in his voice was insane, Stiles had no idea that Derek cared for him at all; “I-I’m sorry I-I had to help them,” he said.

Kira had come out from a thick patch of bushes behind Derek, she was no longer disguised, “I’m sorry I couldn’t hold him off,” she said.

Stiles didn’t really pay attention to what she said because he was distracted, Derek looked absolutely horrible, “we have to get out of here, now,” the teacher Stiles helped said, “D-Derek?!”

“Derek?!” Stiles heard Danny yell as he rushed over, “dude what happened?”

“He got shot saving me,” Stiles said, “I have to get him to my jeep, I have to get him to the hospital.”

“Alright, okay,”” Danny moved frantically, “from what we saw the student parking lot looks pretty clear,” he said.

“We need to move now, we can’t stay this close to the school it’s too dangerous,” the teacher said and with that Stiles through Derek’s good arm around his shoulders and helped him towards the student parking lot, as it came into view the teacher asked, “why are there no police officers here yet?”

“They’re using something to jam phone signals, nobody can get any calls out,” Stiles said.  He looked out towards the parking lot, “I can see my jeep from here, we have to hurry.”

“Oh, come now little girl,” Stiles heard a woman’s voice coming from the school’s intercom, “games are fun but they eventually get boring, you know we’re willing to take extreme measures if necessary.”

“Who are these people? Who are they looking for? Why are they doing this?” The teacher asked.

“We-we don’t really know much,” Stiles answered by not directly answering her question.

As they made it to the student parking lot the other students dispersed and ran off, Stiles, Kira, Danny and the teacher had gotten Derek over to Stiles jeep and placed him into the backseat, Danny had jumped back there with him and Stiles placed the guns he apprehended back there as well. Kira jumped in the passenger seat and Stiles prepared to jump into the driver’s seat but turned and thanked the teacher before he got in.

“No, thank you,” she said in return, “if it wasn’t for you my class wouldn’t be out here right now. Hurry you need to get to a hospital and please if you can send help.”

Stiles nodded and jumped into his jeep, started it up and peeled out of the student parking lot and sped towards the hospital. On the way to the hospital, Kira started breathing heavily and Stiles looked over at her, “what’s wrong?” he asked.

“This is … this is all my fault,” she wailed.

“No, no this isn’t, this is their fault, they’re the crazy ones, not you,” Stiles argued.

“But-“ she cut herself off and pulled out her phone, “Oh my God it’s Ben.”

Stiles felt his phone buzzing in his pocket as well, he pulled it out and saw that it was his dad calling, “He-hello,” he answered.

“Stiles what hell are you two doing?! You both missed check-ins and we couldn’t get ahold of you, we’re getting ready to head there now,” his father answered.

“Dad-dad listen, they’re here, there’s a whole bunch of guys with guns at the school,” Stiles explained quickly.

He heard his father curse loudly on the other end of the line, “PARRISH ROUND EVERYONE UP WE HAVE A 10-33 AT THE HIGH SCHOOL!” His father shouted, “Stiles, Stiles, where are you?!”

“I got out … I’m driving to the hospital, Derek … Derek, he got shot trying to save me,” Stiles said.

His father growled, “damn it, alright, stay at the hospital, I’ll come to you when I can.”

“Al-alright, Dad … please be safe,” Stiles said.

“You too,” his father said and hung up the phone.

Kira was off the phone as well, “Ben said … Ben said that he’s on the way to the high school with your dad and Parrish, my parents will meet us at the hospital.”

Stiles nodded and looked in the rearview mirror at both Danny and Derek, “D-Danny do you need to call your parents?”

“I can call them at the hospital,” he answered.

Derek had moaned and let out a loud wail, “Derek,” Stiles shouted frantically, “Derek we’re almost the hospital, please hold on. Danny, do you know his parent's phone number?”

“N-no, dude Stiles you should really hurry, he’s starting to look worse!” Danny yelled.

Derek began to wail even more and Stiles could feel himself start to panic, “D-Derek, Derek, hey-hey we’re almost there;” he tried, “Danny, DANNY, I need you to try and get him to dial one of his parent's numbers into my phone.”

Danny looked hesitant, “But I-“

“PLEASE,” Stiles exclaimed, “use my phone and get him to dial one of their numbers!” Stiles said.

“Alright,” Danny agreed and reached forward to grab Stiles phone, “Derek … hey man, I need you to try and dial one of your-“

Stiles looked in the rearview mirror, he heard low groaning but from what he could see Derek had taken his phone from Danny and was struggling to dial a number, “gi-give the phone to Stilinski, it-it’s my mom’s work number” Stiles heard Derek say.

Danny passed the phone to Stiles and he saw that there was a number dialed, he immediately hit call and the phone rang twice before someone answered, “thank you for calling the county DA’s office this is Sharee speaking may I ask what the nature of your call is.”

“Hell-hello, my name is Stiles Stilinski, I need to speak with Talia Hale immediately, it’s an emergency,” Stiles said frantically.

“I’m sorry Mr. Stilinski but Ms. Hale is currently in a meeting, can I take a message?” Sharee asked.

“NO,” Stiles shouted, “no, you don’t understand, her son Derek, he’s been shot and I’m taking him to the hospital right now, our high school it … it’s being held up by these people and-“

Sharee cut Stiles off immediately, “Okay-okay, hold on one moment, stay on the line, I’ll go get Ms. Hale now.”

Stiles only had to wait a few moments before he heard rustling on the other end of the line and a woman answering the phone, “Hello, Stiles, Stiles are you there?!” Stiles recognized Talia’s voice.

“Ye-yes, Ta-… Ms. Hale, I need you to-to meet me at the hospital, Derek’s been shot and our school is … there’s a bunch of people with guns, Cora got out but I don’t where she went and I don’t know about Laura but Derek isn’t doing so good, they shot him with wolfsbane bullets,” Stiles said quickly.

Stiles heard Talia gasp, “Sharee I need you to get me every single law enforcement officer in a 30-mile radius of Beacon Hills and send them to Beacon Hills High School, NOW!” Stiles heard her say, “Stiles … Stiles, can you put my son on the phone?”

Stiles looked in the rearview mirror and saw Derek grimacing in pain, “Derek, hey Derek, your mom wants to talk to you.”

“Hand me th-the phone Danny,” Derek struggled to say.

Stiles handed the phone to Danny who then handed the phone to Derek, “mom,” Derek wailed into the phone, “it-it hurts,” he cried out.

Stiles pushed his foot to the gas harder, “Kira call Deaton, tell-tell him we’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

Kira nodded and dialed him up, he wasn’t surprised to hear that Deaton had already heard of the situation. Derek really started wailing just as they were pulling into the hospital; Stiles parked in the front and they all jumped out of the Jeep, Deaton came running out of the front door along with a nurse strolling a wheelchair, “What happened?!” Deaton asked.

“Stiles said he got shot trying to save him,” Stiles heard Kira say.

Deaton, Danny, and Kira helped get Derek out of the backseat and into the wheelchair, “get him sedated immediately, he’s going directly into surgery,” Deaton told the nurse.

Stiles grabbed both of the guns out of his backseat, “they shot him with these … Kira said they’re wolfsbane bullets,” Stiles said as he handed one of the guns to Deaton.

Deaton checked the rifle and pulled the clip off and checked the bullets, “hand me your gun,” he said and Stiles obliged, he pulled the clip off of that one too and checked the bullets, “they used different strains of wolfsbane,” Deaton said. “I’ll be able to tell which one they used when I see his wound(s) … Stiles, good job.”

Stiles nodded, “Ye-yeah,” he said.

“Come on, your father instructed that I keep a close watch on you and I need to get inside and get Derek treated immediately,” Deaton said.

Stiles nodded and followed him into the hospital, when they got in the nurse was trying to transfer Derek to a bed but he was struggling against him, Deaton had run over to offer assistance as did another nurse but Stiles found they were having a hard time; something told Stiles to move closer to Derek, maybe it was instinct he couldn’t be sure but he listened; he moved so that he was only a few feet away from where Derek was and he was surprised to see that doing so helped Derek calm to himself a little, “alright, sedate him now,” Deaton commanded and one of the nurses pulled out a needle full of some kind of solution and stuck it into Derek’s arm, Derek immediately became lax and he wasn’t wailing or growling anymore. “Alright get him upstairs and into surgery immediately,” Deaton ordered and just as soon as the nurses were going to wheel him off Derek shot up and grabbed hold of Stiles' arm.

His eyes were shifted and his claws were drawn but for some reason Stiles wasn’t afraid, “you have to go with them,” he said and Derek’s eyes started to droop and he slowly started falling back and Stiles was surprised that he found himself lightly holding onto Derek’s arm, “please don’t die,” he said to Derek before he let go of him and the nurses wheeled him away.

Derek's POV

Derek was losing touch with reality fast and the more he slipped away, the more he found himself worrying for Stilinski and his well-being; Derek found that his wolf was going wild and in a sense so was he but with their lack of strength and grip on reality, loss of control would not be an issue. At some point, they had arrived at the hospital, Derek had heard his mother yell frantically through the phone that she was on her way to him and then he was suddenly being taken out of Stilinski’s jeep and placed into a chair and wheeled into the hospital. The scent of the hospital had thrown him off and he wasn’t sure how but he knew Stilinski was no longer near him and that put him on edge. Then he was being handled and someone was trying to stick him with something and he lashed out violently trying to keep them away even if it did put him in an immeasurable amount of pain.

More people had come to try and tame him and it wasn’t until he realized Stilinski was standing just a few feet away from him that he finally managed to calm down. He felt the prick from a needle entering his arm and then the world really went out of whack. But just before things completely began to fade, he found himself holding onto Stilinski and surprisingly Stilinski was holding onto him as well, “you have to go with them,” Stilinski said; “please don’t die,” he requested sincerely and then they slowly let go of each other and the world went black, for a moment. Flashes of lights could be seen overhead and then people in mask grouped around him placing a mask on his face that sent him under and into darkness.

But from the darkness came a light, a flash of green eyes appeared before Derek, once, twice, three times and then he saw the head of a white wolf with those same green eyes looking directly at him.

Then Derek was seeing something else, something other than darkness; It was him in a hallway at school and he was talking to someone, he looked down and noticed he was holding the person's hand and then the image changed and he was outside of his family’s house sitting on the swing seat on the porch, his arm wrapped around someone he couldn’t particularly see but he presumed it was the same person. Then he was running and laughing as someone chased after him and tackled him to the ground and then he was in bed, lying next to that same mysterious person stroking their head and from there, he then he saw was himself lying in some grass, he seemed perfectly content and at peace with the world around him and he was holding onto someone as if they were his entire world and then that person came into view, sitting up over him, Derek couldn’t make out who it was; the sun’s light behind them causing them to appear as a silhouette but he heard himself say;

“Stiles …”

The last image he saw was of himself fully shifted, running through the woods on a full moon, a white wolf with those same emerald green eyes became visible and Derek strode over to it and rested his head on top of the other wolf’s head in a loving manner and the sight reminded Derek of his soul mark and then he heard himself repeating the same name over and over again;

“Stiles, Stiles, Stiles, Stiles, Stiles …”

And then he startled awake saying that same name, “Stiles,” and he found that he had come back to reality. He was fully conscious although extremely disoriented and he was lying in a hospital room surrounded by his family. They all approached him with worried expressions, saying his name and asking him if he was okay and all Derek could do was lay back and ask himself, ‘what the hell happened?’

Chapter Text

Derek's POV

“Derek?” His mom said moving to the side of his bed, “Derek honey you need to eat your food before it gets cold.”

“I’m not hungry,” he answered.

“Your mouth says one thing but your stomach is saying another,” she said back after his stomach had growled.

Derek groaned and sat up on his bed, “I don’t get why I have to stay here, I feel fine now; my wounds are already healed.”

“You’re still in the hospital because the doctor recommended you stay so they can keep a close watch on you just in case anything goes wrong,” she said as she picked up his plate off the tray and handed it to him, “eat.”

Derek sighed and grabbed the plate and started eating, “I don’t get what they need to watch, Deat-the doctor said that the Wolfsbane is gone and I should be fine.”

“Yes, he did say that but he also said that considering the nature of the Wolfsbane, it’s best you stay here so they can monitor you just in case there was anything they missed,” she said.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining about being stuck in the hospital, you’re basically getting pampered by everyone,” Cora said from a chair near the tv.

“Besides that, you’d be miserable being stuck at home too,” Laura said next to Cora.

“No, I wouldn’t, I could at least go out,” Derek shot back.

“If I let you,” his mother said and Derek scowled in response, “don’t give me that look, after what happened I’d think that you’d understand why I would be a little apprehensive letting any of my kids out of the house.”

Derek frowned, “sorry mom.”

It had been 3 days since the school had been under siege by the now infamous group Aucune Anomalie; they took plenty of hostages and there were casualties involved, from what Derek knew, it was only adults that had been killed, the security guard, the vice principal and one or two teachers, maybe more; Derek couldn’t be sure, people were telling him different things. What’s crazy is people were talking more about how the shooters were dealt with rather than the incident itself, it was all hearsaybut Derek had heard from Erica that there were two men that had gone into the school and took out the shooters themselves; others said that the school got raided by police and they managed to stop them which sounded more believable than what Erica was saying.

The police didn’t manage to catch the ring leaders of the group, the woman whose voice was heard over the intercom later released a video after the school had been liberated, her face was covered as were the two men that accompanied her; she announced the group’s name and their intentions to the world and word of what they had done got around like wild fire, they were being reported on all major news networks; Especially when it was discovered that they had taken the two known male Omegas. The government had deemed the group a terrorist organization and promised to deal with them swiftly and hoped to find the Omegas already taken, alive and well; people all around the world were in shock to find that there was such a twisted group of individuals out there that felt Omegas were abnormal, the whole thing was a giant mess.

“I don’t really wanna go back to school any time soon,” Cora said as she flipped the channel to a news station.

Laura huffed, “there’s reporters everywhere, they’ll interview anyone they can to find something out.”

“Well it could be worse …” Cora said.

“What do you mean?” Derek asked.

Cora sighed, “Stiles dad is the Sheriff and the press have been staking out at their house for the last few nights and anytime anyone goes outside they get hounded. It’s kind of awful, Stiles was even on tv, they had a breaking news segment when he opened the door and tried to leave somewhere.”

“It’s no better for mom either, every time we come here and leave, they’re always out there waiting,” Laura said.

“That will soon come to a stop,” their mother said. “The way they’re going about doing their work could be considered borderline stalking and I have no qualms in seeking the Beacon Hills Police Departments help to ascertain the situation and they will know as much tomorrow when we have our press briefing.”

“Press briefing? I thought you already had one of those,” Derek wondered.

“We did but it was short if you were awake during the time I gave it, you would understand why there is a need for another,” his mother said.

A knock came from the door and Deaton entered the room, “hello everyone, Talia, Cora, Laura;” Deaton said nodding at them before turning to Derek, “Derek, how are you feeling today?”