🄶🄸🅅🄴 - sterek -

3▪︎3

The pack meeting had gone rough to say the least. Hours had past since it ended but it had opened old wounds. If someone had decided to take a walk by Derek's house at the right time, they wouldn't have needed super hearing to tell that people were yelling at each other rabidly.

"Y'know, sometimes I resent Scott and the pack. They are able to forget people and the things people do for them so, so fuckin easily. They get help and forget to return the offer, leaving the other person to drown in the mess they created." Stiles seethed, heavy tears running down his flushed cheeks.

He was sitting on the roof of his house, shaking, smoking a cigarette, after midnight, again. Derek was seated beside him, closer than previous nights. Their thighs and shoulders were touching, red sweatshirt touching black leather jacket. Somethings hadn't changed despite the passage of time.

"Back in high school all I did was help Scott, before he became an Alpha and after. I spent so many sleepless nights researching shit on backwater websites and half-assed, ill-informed, bullshit Wikipedia pages. Hours and hours in the library, costing my Dad his job and fraying our relationship to a point of no return.

I wonder if he know how much it kills me to come home to the man who is supposed to be my father and be met with pure distrust. My dad cant even look me in the eyes anymore. I have lied to him so much to cover Scotts fuckups that my father cant trust me enough to look me in the eyes, even after six years - and I wasn't even involved in any trouble in Beacon Hills for the past four years!!! I was off at college and he was here raising hell!

I have given him and his pack so much, so much, and all I get is being the butt of the joke; defenseless Stiles, useless Stiles - yet all I do is save their fucking lives every time we have a problem. Given so, so much, and I'm just pushed to the sidelines again and again. And I cant take this much more."

Derek snatched the cigarette from Stiles shaking hands, placing it to his lips and taking a drag. He slipped an arm around Stiles waist and pulled the man onto his lap. As he exhaled a cloud of smoke he pressed a kiss to the back of Stiles neck. Stiles shivered at Derek's touch.

"Isaac and I are rough around the edges, we have a bad sense of direction and are seriously morally gray. But we cant live in Scotts world anymore. When you were away for college we talked, just the two of us, about how the pack - especially Scott - have been mistreating you. We decided to leave his pack, but we wanted to wait for you."

A loud, gut wrenching, sob came from Stiles. His body shook harshly against Derek's. Derek tried to pull him closer but Stiles turned to face him before he could, straddling Derek.
The brunet man grabbed Derek's face, on hand on each cheek, and locked eyes.

"So I'm not crazy and self centered for thinking that they were taking advantage of me for the past six years? I'm not crazy, right?"

Derek smiled his special smile saved just for Stiles, "No, Stiles, you're not crazy or self centered for thinking that your friends were taking advantage of you."

"Also," Derek lifted his hands up and wrapped his fingers around Stiles wrists gently, "I'd like to apologize for not realizing just how much the pack was using and neglecting you until you were gone. I'm sure Isaac would like to apologize too. I don't know how I was so blind to Scotts abuse towards you. He's always been selfish, but I didn't realize just how bad of a friend he was until you went off to college.

When you were gone id ask him about you but he couldn't stop talking about Allison and how they were going to get married. He never once thought about telling you or inviting you to the wedding. Isaac was pissed. I almost killed Scott."

The river of tears never slowed down. Stiles deflated a bit on Derek's lap but he maintained eye contact.

"Those two are married?"

"As of two years."

Stiles didn't say a word. His honey whiskey eyes clouded over with anger and betrayal. Derek immediately felt bad for telling Stiles about Allison and Scott, eye brows furrowing in self directed anger. Stiles could somehow read his expression and began protesting his hate.

"No, no, don't you dare do that. Do not pull that face and do not feel bad for telling me about Scott." The younger of the two started, "You should not feel bad for telling me the truth about Scott and Allison. They are the ones who hurt me, not you, Sourwolf."

Derek relaxed his face and nodded gently. Stiles sighed and removed his hands from Derek's face, pulling the sleeves of his sweatshirt down to scrub at the still falling tears.

"Scott asked Isaac to be his best man. Isaac refused and said that his best man should be you. Scott threw Isaac into a wall and told him to forget about you. I don't think Scott ever expected you to come back. But fuck him. I'm glad you're back, we're - I'm - I'm hopeless without you." Derek said after a brief pause of silence, pulling Stiles close by the waist.

The werewolf shoved his face into Stiles neck and squeezed his waist. Stiles heartbeat was erratic, beating into his ears as if someone had strapped a drum to his head and was beating on it with superhuman speed.

"Oh, Der, I missed you so much when I was gone. I was a mess without you as well, more than id like to admit." Stiles murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of Derek's head.

"And I don't blame you for not seeing Scotts abuse. You've always been a bit standoffish to everyone and I can't blame you due to the hell you've been through, and I could always tell that you did not agree with Scotts way of dealing with his problems. Isaac came from a house were abuse was a daily event, but he's grown to think for himself and to value others. Scott may have came from a single parent household continuously on the brink of poverty, but that did not give him compassion nor a moral compass like the one you have."

Derek just hummed and nodded against Stiles neck. The two sat silent for the remainder of the night, cigarette long dead on the shingles. Derek kept his hands around Stiles waist, slowly working his warm hands under the fabric of his shirt. Stiles hummed and melted into his touch, Derek's warm hands spreading warmth to his cold body.

"Lets talk to Isaac in the morning about leaving Scott's pack, for now lets go to bed." Stiles whispered, running his fingers through Derek's hair.