A Place to Hide Away- Sterek

Journals, Flashbacks, and Goodbyes (Pt.2)

  Derek dragged him out of the room by his arm, leading him out  of the house before he turned to him with questioning eyes.

  "What?" Derek said succinctly, crossing his arms as he turned to his uncle who reached into his jacket and pulled out a worn out journal, which seemed to be crumbling of old age. As soon as the scent hit Derek's nose however, he drew back, taking back a step as a sudden grief rose. It was the scent of all the old Hale stuff. A scent he hadn't smelled since putting all of their old stuff in the storage unit with Laura.

  "Why...why did you go?" Derek said before Peter could even let out a word. "Peter, why the fuck would you go there after all the good that's been happening? Can't you just enjoy having some happiness for a moment?"

  "I didn't understand it at first, Derek, but I get it now." Peter laughed almost emptily. "Stiles is my son--"

  "Stiles is not my cousin, Peter." Derek's lip curled in disgust.

  Peter let out a frustrated breath.

  "That's not what I meant. Listen!" Peter snarled, his hand tightening around the journal. "This whole time that Stiles has been turned small, I couldn't get the thought of my son out of my head. But the more I thought about him, the more I couldn't remember him. His face. The color of his eyes. How he laughed. Nothing. It was like those memories that blurs when you think too hard about it. But how could I forget everything specific to my son? I had to find out what was happening. I had to remember, and the only place where I could go for that was the storage unit."

  Peter looked down at this and he licked his lips before raising his eyes to the Alpha was frowning.

  "I never had a son, Derek. It's hilarious that I didn't even question having a son before. Derek, I'm asexual. How the hell was I supposed to have a child if I hated sex? And I could never have adopted because I moved around too much." Peter snorted. "Someone messed with my head. They made me think that all the memories I had of Stiles when he was younger were memories of some son I had, that I guess when the fire happened I just assumed died in the fire."

  "Wait, I don't get it. You never had a son?" Derek frowned. "But I remember..." Derek's eyes widened as his eyes shifted, trying to remember. The memories seemed to be there, but the more Derek sought them, the more they eluded him.

  "Exactly." Peter's lips settled into a straight line. "There is nothing to remember, because whatever spell was put on us makes us forget the details of my supposed son."

  "But, wait, how do you know it's Stiles? It could just be a spell to put fake memories in your head."

  Peter silently handed him the journal.

  "You know there's no one I trust more than myself. So imagine my not surprise when my past self explained to me exactly what I was missing."

  Derek opened the journal cautiously and managed to catch the photo that slipped out of the pages and he froze when he saw what it was. It was a picture of a younger tween version of him laughing as a young Stiles tackling him to the ground...But that was impossible because he hadn't met Stiles until he had met Scott which was only a few years ago.

  "I thought you might like that certain photo I found from among the albums." Peter sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Sit down. It's going to take you a while to read all of it."

  Derek wordlessly opened the journal as he slid down the trunk of the tree next to them.

  The first time Peter had met Claudia Stilinski was through Talia. Claudia and her pack had moved from Los Angeles to the small town of Beacon Hills, and they had come to ask permission from the Alpha of the main pack of the territory, Talia Hale. As it turns out, the werefox and werewolf had a lot in common and became instant friends.