It had been a tough couple of weeks as Stiles slowly progressed with his powers. Thankfully, whatever threats they were dealing with before hadn't caused any more attacks, allowing for Stiles and the pack to train. The pack had been extremely grateful for that.
"Well done, Stiles. You've gained far more control than you realise. You've come a long way since you started." Deaton smiled as Stiles conjured fire out of thin air and kept the flames controlled to a particular part of the tree he had been practicing on. He had encased that part in flames without them actually touching the wood so no scorch marks would be seen.
"I've gotten much better at it." Stiles grinned as he doused the flames.
"Mm, you have." Deaton nodded in agreement. "I think you're good to start training on your own now. Has the book been helping?"
"It's been so much help." Stiles smiled. "It's shown me where I can improve on certain things. The tips you've given along with the book has been very helpful.
"Good. Keep it close and safe. I cannot stress that enough."
"I've gotten good at protective bindings so I've been putting bindings only I can unlock on it at night."
"Well done. That's impressive." Deaton smiled. "I've gotta get back to the clinic so I'll see you all later." He got in his car and left the property.
"You've done well, Stiles." Malia grinned at him. "You're really growing into your powers."
"Thanks. I've never felt so strong before." Stiles grinned back at her. His smile widened when Derek wrapped his arms around his waist. He turned his head to meet Derek and kissed him.
"I'm proud of you." Derek said softly. Stiles beamed with happiness and kissed Derek again.
The sound of a car engine filtered through the trees, sounding faint before it got louder coming closer to the house. Once it broke the treeline, Noah's police car appeared and parked near the other cars. The pack waved in greeting when he got out. "How'd the training session go?"
"It was good! Deaton reckons I'm strong enough to train on my own now. He says I've gotten really strong now."
"He's right." Isaac added in. "You have."
Stiles blushed a little from all the compliments and smiled shyly but gratefully at Isaac.
"I'm really proud of you, Stiles." Noah said softly. The proud smile his father sported made Stiles feel that much more supported. "Now. I did say I would barbeque tonight. Why don't I get started?"
A chorus of cheers sounded from the pack. Noah always did the best barbeque.
"Let's go." Stiles smiled and took hold of his boyfriend's hand and headed into the backyard, the rest of them following. There was a multitude of seating arrangements laid out for people to choose where they wanted to sit as well as an area set up for the barbeque to be done. Derek had really gone all the way when he had the house rebuilt.
"The barbeque's ready to be used whenever you want to get started." Derek said to Noah.
Noah nodded. "It's dinner time anyway so I'll get started now."
Derek nodded and turned to Stiles. "You go and sit down. You've had a tiring day." He said softly, kissing the side of his head.
"I'm not gonna say no to that." Stiles grinned and kissed Derek on the lips before happily taking a seat next to Malia while Scott and Isaac ran and jumped into the pool. The pack laughed when the boys rose to the surface.
"Why am I not surprised they'd do that?" Malia grinned, watching her boyfriend.
"Because they're both idiots." Cora mused, laughing softly.
"Oi!" Isaac shouted in response, giving Cora a lop-sided smile before he was tackled into the water by Scott which had everyone laughing.
"They really are a couple of idiots." Lydia smiled. "And there goes Jackson."
Jackson promptly did a run and jump as well, diving into the pool easily. He narrowly avoided crashing into Scott and Isaac which resulted in them getting splashed heavily with the surrounding water. The rest of the pack laughed hard, watching the waterboarding occur.
"This is the perfect summer night." Stiles hummed happily as he relaxed into his seat. He looked over to where his father and boyfriend were, seeing them laughing while cooking. He smiled even more, knowing they were getting along so well.
"Would be better with alcohol." Cora smirked.
"Maybe when you're 21." Derek interjected.
"You're no fun." Cora huffed and poked her tongue out to her older brother's back.
Noah laughed. "If I had permission from your legal guardians, it would be fine." He mused.
"Aw, come on! Told you guys we should have asked our parents." Scott huffed. Laughter surrounded the backyard.
"Well, we can at least put on some music." Stiles got up and connected his phone to the speaker system through Bluetooth and pressed play on a collaborative playlist the pack had made. He checked the volume and made sure it wasn't too loud before sitting back down again.
"Well, this is quite the enjoyable atmosphere!" Melissa chuckled as she walked onto the patio with Chris.
"Hi, Mom!" Scott called out briefly. He was then promptly tackled by Jackson, making Melissa laugh.
"Hi, honey!" She called back. "Boys will be boys."
"Tell me about it." Malia grinned. Chris and the pack each said hi to each other before he headed over to the barbeque to help Derek and Noah.
'Men will be men.' Stiles chuckled to himself.
The food was soon ready, the outdoor table laden with many meats and a few vegetables here and there, curtesy of Stiles. Everyone sat down and once they had all filled their plates, the feast commenced. They chatted away with each other as they enjoyed the food, creating an even better atmosphere. Any time the pack had a barbeque, they always asked Noah to do it just because of how well he did it. Before they knew it, it was time for people to start heading home. The parents talked with each other while Derek and Stiles said goodbye to each other.
Stiles smiled as Derek pressed kisses all over his face, making him laugh. "I'm gonna miss you." Derek pouted.
Stiles laughed more and pressed a soft kiss to Derek's lips. "I'll be back tomorrow, Sourwolf." He chuckled, finding his boyfriend's pout amusing.
"Still. I'm gonna miss you." Derek maintained his pout.
Stiles laughed more and kissed Derek again. "And what's stopping you from climbing through my window tonight?"
And that was the opportune moment Noah decided to tune into the couple's conversation. "What?"
"Oops." Siles chuckled sheepishly, smiling shyly at his father before looking back at Derek. "I'll see you tomorrow." He hugged his boyfriend tightly before following his father to the car. He waved back at Derek and the pack after he got in, smiling softly. Derek had shown more emotion lately and Stiles was happy to see it. He was slowly breaking the wolf out of his shell.
"So, Derek's been climbing into your window when you don't spend the night at his house?" His father asked as he drove.
Stiles chuckled nervously and slowly nodded. "Yeah." He said sheepishly. "But nothing's happened, he's just found it too hard to sleep without me sometimes."
"Well, that explains why I sometimes find him in your bed."
"You do?!" Stiles asked in surprise, staring at his father.
"Mhm. I usually go in there to wake you and he's there, sleeping beside you. I walk out after that. Didn't want to disturb the two of you."
"Oh." Stiles settled back in his seat. "I had no idea."
"Good to know it hasn't woken you up yet." Noah chuckled. "What is that............?" He asked quietly, almost to himself, and leaned forward in his seat as he stared out at the road. Stiles switched his gaze from his father to the road to see what he was talking about. There was something in the middle of it, blocking their path.
Stiles frowned as he watched the thing obstructing them as his father started to decrease in speed. Then all of a sudden, it sped across the road and disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye.
"Huh. That was weird. Hopefully it was just a deer." Noah commented as he kept driving, getting the speed back up to the limit.
"Didn't look like one. Must have been another type of animal. I'm guessing mountain lion, ironically." Stiles said as he looked in the direction the thing had disappeared in.
He was about to speak again when something launched itself into Stiles' side of the car. Both Noah and Stiles yelped in surprise as it pushed them with a strong force into the base of a large tree. A deadly scrunching noise of metal echoed around them due to how hard the impact was. The airbags triggered, causing Stiles' head to fling back into the head rest, making him fall unconscious. He could have sworn he heard laughing as he blacked out.
'Finally. I'll get rid of you once and for all.'