Monster. (Sterek)

Part 31: Until I Say Otherwise.

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They stood in silence for minutes after Stiles and Derek left, Scott didn't quite get why they left or why no one had called them out but he wasn't going to be the one to ask.

Eventually, the need to speak, to break this dense tension, became too much and he said, "I really am sorry. I know you all can tell that that's the truth, but I don't expect you to accept it."

"Good," Jackson said, standing up, Ethan in tow. "Because I never did like you and, while none of what you did affects me directly, you did try to recruit me to your 'side' and you hurt my Pack. I have no reason to forgive you, and you don't have to work to be forgiven, because there is, and never was, anything to save."

"I have to agree with Jackson. We were never friends, McCall, and I have no plans to change that."

Scott nods, thinking back to what his mom had told him, "Understood."

"Good. We'll be leaving now. It's up to the rest of you, if you want to bring him back, for whatever dumbass reason, then do. I don't care." Jackson and Ethan left, chatting about what they were going to watch later, where they would get takeout from, acting as if nothing had happened. The rest of The Pack waited until they had left, listening for the sound of Jackson's car.

Slowly, they moved around to each person. They all got a chance to berate Scott's actions, say whether or not they would let Scott have a chance to fix what he'd done. Leaving once they'd spoken as if in silent agreement to let Isaac and Danny have some time to talk to Scott without any of them there.

Scott was glad that Isaac had even turned up, he hadn't expected to see him for a while. Not really.

Despite how much he hated that they all got to decide what happened to him next, he stayed. These people, this Pack, were his family. He loved them all, he had been so incredibly lonely without them, even with Kira there, it had taken him too long to realise that – that seemed to be a recurring thing with him. He needed them but they didn't need him. He needed Isaac, needed him to understand that he was more than sorry, needed him to know that Scott had never stopped loving him. So he would stay, stay until he was told to leave, stay until he couldn't anymore. Stay because these people had been it for him, they had been the people that he was bound to through trauma, fighting and something more than blood, bound through Pack and loyalty and risk. They were his family – his Pack – he just had to become theirs.

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Finally, everyone else was gone. Scott sat down opposite Danny and Isaac, folding his hands into his lap and avoiding eye contact. Waiting.

"Are you still in love with me?" Isaac asked. Earlier, Scott had said that he loved Isaac but that was different. Scott had to think carefully about the answer; a couple of days ago he would've said yes. But that was a lie. A lie to himself as well as Isaac. He hadn't been in love with Isaac for a long while, too long.

So he shook his head, "No."

"Do you care about me?" That was a ridiculous question, of course Scott cared about him. He always had and always will... Except, he hadn't shown it. He'd never proven it or said it aloud, Isaac had no evidence. All Scott had ever given him was a shattered heart, and he hadn't even been the one to pick up the pieces. Hadn't even had the decency to break the news gently, he'd practically spat it out in anger and defiance. He wished that he could go back in time and fix this all; stop himself from ever doing this, stop Isaac and Stiles from ever feeling the pain that he had caused them.

Scott met Isaac's gaze, "I do, I always have." Hopefully, Isaac understood how desperate he was for a chance to prove himself. Maybe he would even let him do so.