Coming Home

Chapter two. As they say in St. Olaf: "Helgenbargenflergenflurfennerfen."

Stiles wakes up looking up at a crisp white roof and for a second, just a second, he thinks that the past six months have been a dream and that the sound of the coffee maker he could hear was his dad downstairs making coffee before leaving for work and that he would get up and go to school and see Scott.

It doesn't last long, and once the second is up, he finds himself blinking back tears.

For the first time in a while, he openly admits to himself, not only did he miss Scott, he missed his dad.

He finally shakes himself off and makes his way to the kitchen, following the scent of coffee to find the two Hales, both dressed in business attire, the younger of the two sitting at the table reading an honest to god newspaper.

Laura on the other hand, like any respectable twenty-first-century human being, was fiddling on her phone while drinking her coffee.

"Morning," Stiles says shyly. He wasn't normally one to be shy, that's how he and Scott had become friends, basically, Scott was too shy to befriend anyone else, but he was here, in two strangers house after trying to steal one of their watches. They were probably going to tell him to get out now that he'd had a meal.

Everyones nice-ness has to run out at some point.

"Morning Stiles," Laura says, "Would you mind if, well," She rubs the back of her neck and looks at him with a twitchy smile, "Could I see your arms?"

Stiles instinctively crosses them, hiding some of the bare white skin. "Why?" He asks eyes narrowed. For all he knew, they were going to inspect them to see if they were worthy enough to be sold on the black market.

"She wants to check your arms to see if you do drugs," Stiles's eyes bulge at Derek's comment.

"What! I don't do drugs, why would you even think that! look!" He thrusts the pale, mole splattered appendages into Laura's face, he would have hit her if she hadn't moved back.

"He's clean," Laura says looking at his markless arms.

"I still don't think we should leave him here alone," Derek says. eyes still not leaving his newspaper.

"Derek, if he was going to steal something, he could have done it last night and made off with it before we even woke up. Plus it's not like you can take him to work with you,"

"Why not, I'm the boss now, I can do what I want."

"Guys it's fine," Stiles interrupts, "I'm just gonna go, I might have a chance at getting a temp job again now that I look less like a hobo,"

"What no," The two say at the same time.

"Stiles, no," Laura goes on, "You're staying here until you get a little more meat on your bones and don't look like a harsh wind will blow you over,"

"What, you can't hold me, hostage," Stiles says defensively now.

"Doors over there," Derek says causing Stiles to huff and move to the living room where he'd left his bag.

"Wait, Stiles, come on, we're offering you a bed and free food," Laura calls following after him, not without a frustrated "look what you've done now," to Derek.

"You don't even trust me alone in your house, I don't need your pity," Stiles says, picking up his bag.

"I do so! Derek doesn't trust anyone," Laura replies.

"He's the one who brought me here!" Stiles says, confusion tinting his louder voice.

"Yes well, I don't understand what goes through his head either!" Laura shouts back. "Look, Stiles, please? just stay a couple more days?"