Leave Me In Ruins

Ticking Time Bomb

"No, I just know you've been stressed and wanted to check in on you. And also..." Stiles held up the coffee in his hand.

"That's kind of you both." Noah narrowed his eyes but relented. "Parrish should be back soon. He was interviewing a family."

"One of the missing people I'm guessing?" Stiles asked.

"I told you, Stiles, I'm not discussing this with you. It has nothing to do with...anything." Noah's eyes darted to where officer Williams was close by.

"I know, I know." Stiles rolled his eyes as he waved a hand. "We could actually use some advice."

Noah glanced up at Derek again. "Oh boy." He nodded. "Okay, come on." He gestured to his office.

Stiles and Derek followed him into the small office. The desk was covered in missing people reports and case files. All of which Noah quickly gathered and put into a drawer of his desk.

"If this is about you two dating, I already know and I'm guessing so do the rest of your friends." Noah gestured between Derek and Stiles.

Derek's brows shot up while Stiles sputtered.

"You're always staying the night and neither of you has dated anyone else in years. You two practically finish each other's sentences, you're so in sync."

"That's not true," Stiles and Derek said in stereo.

Noah's brows raised, a smile pulled at his lips.

Derek cleared his throat while Stiles scoffed.

"Derek and I are not together. Why would you even—We are just friends— and frankly how dare you. I've dated." Stiles rattled defensively.

"The last person you dated was that guy, Jeremy at the academy. That was three years ago."

Stiles opened his mouth to argue but paused.

"Okay, well, you know what, when was the last time you went on a date?" Stiles crossed his arms.

"Stiles," Derek put a hand on Stiles' shoulder.

"Right." Stiles waved a hand. "We actually came here for real advice, not dating advice. But this conversation is not over. I'm terribly offended."

Noah held up his hands as if in mock surrender. "Sorry. I'm listening."

Derek released Stiles' shoulder and took a step back to lean against the door.

Stiles took a seat across from his dad. "What do you do when you hit a dead end on a case?"

Noah frowned. "Well I reevaluate my evidence, look for something I might have missed. If I don't find anything, I bring in a fresh set of eyes. Is this about Lydia's dream?"

Stiles' tongue licked along his bottom lip as he leaned back in the chair. "Yeah. We've exhausted all possibilities. We're just spinning in circles."

"I don't know much about prophetic dreams or Banshees but I know Lydia, her dreams are usually indicative of something that is gonna happen right?"

"Yeah."

"So maybe it's literal. You're trying to find a meaning behind it, right?"

Stiles nodded, frowning as he listened to his dad.

"Maybe there's nothing to interpret."

"So the nemeton is gonna sprout and kill Lydia? Why? How?"

"I don't know. I'm just offering my thoughts." Noah shrugged.

Stiles glanced back at Derek who looked like he was listening intently but Stiles knew he wasn't listening to them.

"We've tried finding the nemeton, but the whole 'doesn't want to be found' thing is a problem."

"That's more Deaton's specialty I'm afraid." Noah lifted his coffee to his lips.

"He's not had much to offer either, unfortunately," Derek said.

"Well, thanks anyway, dad." Stiles stood, setting the last coffee on his desk. "Give this to Parrish when he gets back."

"Thanks, kid." Noah smiled at his son.

Before he could follow Derek out of the office, his dad spoke again. "You two really aren't dating?"

Stiles gaped at his dad. "You really think that Derek and I...?"

Noah only raised a brow.

"No," Stiles answered definitively.

"Alright." Noah put his hands up once again.

Stiles scoffed, before following after Derek.

Once outside the station, Stiles turned to Derek. "Anything?"

Derek gave Stiles an apologetic look. "Nothing. Just talk about keeping the night shift staffed more."

Stiles scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Thanks for listening. And sorry about my dad."

Derek's lips pulled into a smirk. "He's not totally off base."

"Okay this is super new and there's no way he figured it out, sheriff or not," Stiles objected. "And we're not dating," He scoffed.

Derek pushed down his disappointment once again. Stiles was making it very clear how he felt about the idea of them dating. He hated how much it stung.

*AN*
Hope you guys like it. 😊