A/N: Love your comments guys, keep them coming and I'll give you more updates!
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The next few days were their last days of freedom, by Monday they were back at Beacon Hills High.
After the rave Erica had mercilessly questioned Boyd about where he was for the last hours of the year, to which he told her that he was walking because the noise had made him feel slightly ill. He said nothing of his companion.
For some reason he felt compelled to keep his dalliance with Daisy a secret, even though he knew that Derek would kill him if he found out.
The two of them had met up again once after, taking a walk through the forest and talking about their plans for the year ahead and books they had read. More than anything else Boyd just enjoyed her company.
He knew what the others would say – that he couldn’t trust her, that him and Danny being targeted by them had to mean something, but his instinct told him that she was no danger to them.
Isaac walked out of class that Monday afternoon with his phone in his hand and a smile on his lips. He hadn’t seen Scott since the night before.
Scott saw him from across the courtyard and walked over to him, striding alongside him and trying to sneak a peek at his phone screen.
“So why are you so smiley? Who’s messaging you?” He asked as he nudged him with his hip.
“I’m smiling because classes are over for the day and I was just sending a message back to Cassie.” He said as he pressed send and put the phone back in his pocket.
“Cassie? You mean that old girlfriend of yours?” He asked, his hands using the straps of his backpack for holds.
Isaac laughed. “She’s not an old girlfriend; she’s a girl who happens to be an old friend.” He said.
“That’s what I meant; I didn’t think she was still here.”
“Yeah well she had some trouble finding a place to rent but she managed to find an apartment just before New Year’s. I bumped into her this morning so we switched numbers. We’re going to catch up sometime this week.” He said, slipping an arm around Scott’s waist.
“Oh really?” He asked, an oddly unsettling feeling setting up camp in his stomach. “When? Where?” He said before he could stop himself.
Good thing the rest of his thoughts didn’t slip out too. Have you told her about us?
Isaac laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.” He said, enjoying it way too much.
“I’m not jealous I just – okay, maybe a little, but I don’t know anything about her and to be honest you get a little secretive about her whenever I ask.” He looked slightly downtrodden and Isaac stopped both of them in their tracks.
“I have? Sorry, I didn’t even know I was doing it.” He said, looking into Scott’s eyes and tilting his head to the side.
“You’re pretty secretive about a lot of things from your past, your whole life really.”
“I guess I take after Derek in that way.” He said with a grin.
“Don’t let him hear you say that.” Scott chuckled.
“Hey, I may be blonde but I’m not stupid.”
“Well just let me know… you know…”
“I promise you will have map coordinates and an exact time for our meeting so that you can spy on me all you want.” He said, pulling Scott into his arms. “Hey, once we get to catch up the three of us can go out and you can get to know Cassie yourself.” He said, smiling as he held tightly to Scott’s waist.
“That sounds good.” Scott nodded. “Sorry for being so-”
“Adorable?” Isaac grinned.
“Well I was going to say pathetic.”
Isaac shrugged, “Either way it looks good on you.”
“Shut up.”
That afternoon Stiles went racing into his house and was all set to race back out again when his father called to him from the kitchen.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there son. Get in here.” He said.
Stiles poked his head back around the corner and began walking to the kitchen. “Okay, whatever Mr Harris says you probably shouldn’t believe because the guy totally hates me.” He said pre-emptively.
“Stiles I’m not going to – wait, what did you do in Mr Harris’ class?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.
“What? No, nothing.”
The sheriff shook his head and pushed out one of the dining chairs with his foot. Stiles stared at it cautiously before walking slowly over and taking a seat across from him.
“Dad… what’s going on?” He asked.
“It’s your senior year, a quarter of it is already gone… you won't be at high school forever.” He said.
Stiles groaned. “Yeah dad, I know, but why do we have to talk about this now? Graduation is months away.” The sheriff stood up and walked over to the bench, pouring himself some more coffee and letting it sit for a moment.
“Do you know what you want to study at college yet?” He asked.
“Dad,” Stiles grumbled. “No one even has applications open yet so why - ” He jumped as his father dropped a stack of college books in front of him.
“All of these have open days next month, and course listings. You can at least start looking.” He said.
“Through all of this?”
“I’ve got more. I just thought you might want a variety, seeing as you don’t know what you really want yet.”
“Yeah, alright, I see what you’re doing. I promise I’ll look through them okay?” He said with a sigh.
“Good, and next month I’ll be dragging you to open days all over the place, kicking and screaming and all.” He smiled, walking out of the kitchen with his steaming mug of coffee.
“Hey dad?” Stiles called, remembering something he had long forgotten to ask.
“Yeah?”
“Why… uh, well, why did you want to be the sheriff?” He asked.
The question took his a little by surprise. He leant on the frame of the archway and thought about it for a moment. “Well, I guess when I was growing up here there were a lot of things happening; you know this town is infamous for all sorts of attacks and deaths, mostly animal. That much hasn’t changed… that sort of stuff always interested me and then one day I saw this old couple getting mugged. I was probably only a few years younger than you at the time. I don’t know what came over me but I chased this guy off and just… the feeling when they thanked me, of doing something good and making a difference… I don’t know, maybe I have a saviour complex or something. This has always been my town; I wanted to help protect it.” He shrugged, his face clearly showing the memories flooding back. “Of course, that’s only a small part of the job. The rest of it can be pretty… well, they don’t advertise those parts anyway.” He said, “Why do you ask?”
Stiles shrugged a little. “Derek said that he wanted to be sheriff when he was young.”
“Derek said that?” He asked with his brows high. “Never would have pegged him for that kind of guy. Then again he was a lot different before the whole… well, you know.”
“Wait, what? You knew Derek when he was a kid?” Stiles asked, surprised that neither of them had mentioned it.
“I’ve been sheriff for a long time Stiles, I know a lot of people in this town.” He said with a small smile.
“Well what was he like then? Was he a normal kid? Wait, was he like a rebel because you wouldn’t have spent much time with the good kids down at-”
“Hold it! God son, calm down.” The sheriff said, smiling as he shook his head.
“Sorry… it’s just Derek doesn’t much talk about that stuff.” He shrugged a little but looked up hopefully.
The sheriff sighed. “Well yeah, he was different; of course he was different. Hell, it’s like he’s a whole different person.”
“Is that why you suspected him of those murders last year?” Stiles asked.
“Look, this is already a tough situation you’ve put me in here – with the whole ‘he doesn’t talk about it’ thing, I’ll tell you, just stop asking questions.”
“Sorry.” Stiles said.
He knew his dad wanted to tell him because he wanted to know, but he didn’t want to be the one to cause an argument later because he knew Stiles would end up even worse off.
“Yeah, I guess that’s why I suspected him. I mean we figured out early on that the people who had been killed were linked in some way to that fire, and then when Scott put Derek’s name into the mix…”
Stiles stopped listening for a moment as he remembered that. It was kind of a stupid plan but at least it worked out in the end.
“… you know, the traumatic even in childhood and the fact that he was gone for something like five years made him look all the more guilty.”
“So… what was he like?” Stiles asked softly, his father giving him a look before letting out another sigh.
“Well, he was actually happy, you know, smiled and all, and I tell you what he was cocky as all hell, cheeky too.”
“Derek? Cheeky? You sure you’ve got the right Derek Hale there dad?” Stiles smiled, Derek could be sarcastic but cheeky was not something that Derek ever did often, at least not knowingly anyway.
The sheriff huffed out a laugh. “Yeah well things change people Stiles, god, I know I’ll never forget the look on his face when I told him.” He shook his head.
“Wait, what?” Stiles asked, not sure that he’d heard correctly.
“I was the one who had to tell Derek and his sister-”
“Laura.”
“Yeah Stiles, I know. I had to tell the two of them that almost all of their family was gone.” He said, a look of pain evident in his furrowed brow. “They were looking at me with all this hope in their eyes even though I think they already knew. I had to say it, and then it was like…”
Stiles said nothing, he just looked up at his dad trying to get the words out, knowing that this was what he was talking about earlier. Not his entire job left him feeling like the hero.
“You could just see them change, both of them. She was crying so hard and he just cut himself off, it was like he shut down and… well, then there was a funeral and I think they left just after that.” He said. “I’ve been to a few of those too.” He nodded with wide eyes, as if he wanted to forget just how many he could count and Stiles felt a little guilty.
“Sorry dad, I didn’t mean to-”
“Don’t need to be apologising Stiles. Just, please don’t ask me to tell you anything else about Derek, not that I know anything more, just that I don’t want to get in the middle of your relationship if he doesn’t want you to know this stuff. I wouldn’t want you to know it either.” He said. “Trust me, some things you don’t need to know.”
“Okay, thanks Dad.” He said with a weak smile and the sheriff walked over to him, pulling his head into his side in an attempt at a hug.
“You look through those books okay? Shove them in your bag and take them to Derek’s – yes, I know that’s where you were going.” He said.
“I don’t have to go, you know, if you’ve got some time…”
The sheriff sighed. “Sorry son, this is my third coffee in the last hour, I'm on the night shift.”
“No, it’s cool. If I – well if anything catches my eye I’ll let you know.” He said lifting one of the books with a smile.
“Don’t be afraid to pick the thing you really want Stiles, I don’t care what it is.”
“Dad you know we can't afford anything-”
“Don’t talk like that Stiles. You’re smart enough for a scholarship and even if I have to take out an extra loan on this place we’ll get you where you want to go.” He said firmly. “Plus, there’s a little stashed away that your mother left you. She told me not to let you have it for anything other than college but I was going to pay for that anyway and give some to you when you finally wanted to buy a house, god knows the market is tough these days…”
“Dad – you seriously think about this stuff too much.” Stiles said.
The sheriff smiled warmly. “Stiles sometimes believe I don’t think about you enough. I want you to have everything you – well, I want you to have everything. If you need anything, ever, you know you can call me. Don’t you?” That last part came out a little quieter than the rest and Stiles stood up, engulfing his dad in a hug and almost spilling his coffee while he nodded.
He sincerely hoped his dad knew how much he meant to him. Maybe he didn’t show it all the time, maybe he’s been too distracted with a boyfriend and supernatural werewolf crap to show him but he swore he would change that.
“Road-tripping to the open days sounds fun.” He smiled.
“Good.” He said as Stiles finally let him go. “No go on, get out of here.” He smiled and Stiles began to head out when the sheriff called him back to collect the books that he had purposely tried to leave behind.
No way was he getting away with that.
When he made it to Derek’s the rest of the pack was already there, squabbling over one thing or another. Isaac informed him that it was pack movie night and once he had mentioned it the smell of popcorn wafted in from the kitchen.
Stiles walked in, throwing his keys on the bench and dropping his backpack with a thud.
“Dude, what do you have in there, bricks?” Scott asked, walking out with a packet of potato chips.
Stiles rolled his eyes, “College books.”
“Good luck man.” He said with a smile.
Stiles looked over to where Derek was standing up against one of the pillars, shaking his head and staring out at the pack getting comfortable in his living room. He walked over to him and smiled at him, resting his chin on Derek’s shoulder.
“Look at them, they’ve been arguing about which movie to watch since they got here. They’re no closer to an answer either. Where were you?” He said.
“Take it easy, I was just talking to my dad.”
“About what?”
You, your family, the past. “College and stuff.” He said.
Derek just nodded, trying his hardest to scowl out at his pack when really the warmth was showing all over his scowl-y face. It looked like he actually wanted to smile.
Stiles bit his lip a little. “Careful Sourwolf, your Derek is showing.”
Derek frowned and looked over at him strangely. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” He said with a kiss to his cheek. “Did anyone ask you what you wanted to watch?”
“Yes!” Jackson called and Stiles sent a glare his way. “He just growled a bit.”
“What – Derek? Growling? That is slander, right there.” Stiles said sarcastically.
“Yeah you’re right, sue me.” Jackson smiled. “Would you guys hurry up and pick something?” He grunted at the three girls as they flicked through the hard drive before looking up to glare at him.
“We have, you’re the one who says no to everything.” Allison said.
“Uh, correction… we all say no to everything.”
“Why don’t we just watch some crappy horror movie that we’re all going to hate?” Erica said.
“Or…” Isaac said slowly. “We put on like three movies that you guys want to watch and next week you have to sit through our choices.” Isaac smiled cockily.
“Now that idea, I like.” Jackson said, the same arrogant grin on his face.
Lydia just gave the two of them one of her death stares and tilted her head to the side.
“You realise you’re giving her permission to torture you, right?” Boyd chuckled.
“I’m used to it.” Jackson said.
“Well then pucker up.” Lydia said.
They chose a couple of movies, two of them seemed to have the support of the room, one, not so much, but they endured it anyway.
Derek and Stiles were curled up together in Derek’s favourite armchair because he refused to let anyone else sit in it and Stiles refused to sit anywhere else; Derek didn’t mind. Isaac and Scott were cuddled up on the couch under a blanket. Lydia and Jackson lay together on the floor, a roll out foam mattress and pillows underneath them. Derek almost looked surprised when he had seen them take it out but didn’t bother to question it, instead he just rolled his eyes. Allison, Boyd and Erica were squished up together on the two-seater with the popcorn and a blanket over their legs. When asked if they wanted the larger couch – Isaac and Scott completely okay sharing the smaller one – they said they would manage, the two girls happy sitting next to Boyd in the middle because he was warm and liked the company.
Boyd’s mind wandered to Daisy for a moment as he stared at the three couples in the room. He never really wanted intimacy with anyone until he started to think about it. Sure, he had been intimate with people before, but he had never experienced real closeness to someone. Probably part of a coping mechanism so that he wouldn’t get hurt, but he knew that one day he might meet someone who would make him want to break that seal, too bad he couldn’t say anything to anyone; at least not yet, and not until he knew exactly what Daisy wanted too. He wanted to trust her but he couldn’t quite, not just yet.
During the second movie Scott rolled over to face Isaac in the small couch space, his body pushing Isaac’s back straight against the back of the couch. He looked at him with a silent smile playing at his lips before reaching up to kiss him, both of their eyes closed as they engulfed one another. Had they been anywhere else Isaac would have pushed further, but for now they would have to settle for secret couch kisses; which he didn’t mind at all.
“I swear to god if you two don’t cut that out in the next five seconds I am going to come over there and rip your dicks off.” Jackson said, spinning around to glare at them and Scott just let out a loud laugh.
“Seriously dude, it was just a kiss.” Isaac said, chuckling.
“Well stop it; it’s like right in my ear.” Jackson said.
“Oh it is not. You know you can kiss your girlfriend if you want to and I won't complain.” Scott said.
“Maybe he’s just jealous because he wanted to be kissing Danny and the two of you just remind him of that.” Erica threw in and most of them laughed – except Derek of course, though he did seem to be slightly amused.
“That sounds plausible.” Scott said with a grin and Jackson just huffed with his nostrils flaring.
“You want to take this outside McCall?”
“Don’t you mean ‘upstairs’?” Boyd threw in almost too quickly and even Derek managed a chuckle at that one.
Jackson stormed off to get another batch of popcorn going and Lydia was left smiling. “You know he hates it when you joke about that.” She said.
“Is that because it’s true or because he wishes it were true?” Stiles asked.
“I will come in there and kick your ass Stilinski.” Jackson called.
“No, it’s because none of you seem to think that Danny’s relationship with Ethan is anything to worry about and he thinks something is up.” Lydia said.
“I believe him.” Scott said. “I don’t think we should trust them.”
Derek sighed. “We’re looking into it.” He said.
“Looking – wait, who’s looking into it?” Stiles asked.
“Me. I am.” Derek said.
“You said we.” Lydia said suspiciously.
“Oh god, please don’t tell me you mean that nut-bag uncle of yours?” Jackson said, forcing a handful of popcorn into his mouth as he walked back into the room and sat down with Lydia.
“Come on Derek, no.” Stiles said.
“It was his idea so he has to do something. Better I know his plans than I figure them out later.”
“Yeah but you can't trust him, hell, I trust that other pack more than him.” Scott said.
“I think I’ll just pause the movie for a minute.” Allison said, sensing that things were going to turn into a pack meeting more than anything else.
“What exactly is his plan?” Erica asked.
“As far as I know… he’s spending some time with the alpha.” Derek said a little uncomfortably.
“Oh yeah, great plan.” Jackson said.
“There were other aspects of his plan but I haven’t decided on whether they would be good ideas yet.” Derek said.
“Well maybe you should share them.” Isaac said.
Derek sighed. “He thinks that we should get close to all of them.”
They all looked to one another cautiously. “You mean, spy on them?” Erica asked.
“Essentially… yes.”
“Well isn’t that a little suspicious?” Allison asked.
“Like I said, I’m still thinking about it.” Derek said.
“I think we should do it.” Boyd said and all eyes turned to him. “I’m just saying that I’m willing to put my hand up for it.”
Erica gave him a quizzical look but turned back to Derek. “If Boyd thinks it has some value then I’ll put my hand up too.”
“We can always double date with Danny.” Lydia said with a shrug.
“And me and Allison can cosy up to the other twin.” Erica smiled.
Allison snorted a little. “Oh can we now?”
“I just think you and I could make him talk better than someone like Boyd could.” She shrugged, a wicked grin still plastered on her face.
“So that leaves Daisy.” Boyd said. “That was her name right?” He added quickly.
Derek sighed. “I’m not sure about this. I won't put any of you in danger for a hunch that we haven’t confirmed. If they are up to something I don’t want any of you alone with them.” He said. “And anything you learn I want to know about it.”
“And we’ll make sure to tell you whenever we meet them, look Derek we all want to help. We’ll do whatever it takes.” Erica said sincerely.
“Yeah Derek, we’re all in this thing, together.” Isaac added.
“All of us,” Allison added. Sometimes she felt like she wasn’t quite a member of the pack and she never thought she would, but she wanted to be a part of it.
Derek hesitated for a moment before letting out a defeated grunt. “Fine. But I mean it, I want to know everything that happens, anything you hear. The more information I have the better we can assess the whole situation.”
“That’s where me and Lydia come in. You all know we’re the brains of this whole operation.” Stiles grinned and Lydia just nodded.
“So what are me and Scott going to do? Sit around and watch?” Isaac asked.
“Exactly.” Stiles said. “You’ve got to watch the whole thing, subtly of course. Or you could keep an eye on Peter.”
“Yeah, bags not doing that job.” Scott said with a scoff.
“No, that will be my job.” Derek rolled his eyes.
“Text Danny then, tell him Friday night is date night. He’ll be so thrilled.” Lydia said, nudging Jackson whose mouth was full of popcorn.
“Can we put the movie back on now? Plans are done and they’re pretty simple so…” Erica said, taking the remote from Allison and giving them all a smile.
“You better, I want you all out of here before it gets too late.” Derek said. “It’s a school night and I don’t want anyone’s parents on my back. Least of all Allison’s.”
“My dad is retired, remember?” She smiled.
“I’m sure he would love to make an exception though.” Derek said.
“True.” Allison admitted as she pressed play again.
“If I hear the two of you making out back there-” Jackson started.
“We know, we know – there’ll be a lot of touching and screaming.” Isaac said and Scott laughed.
“Yeah and not in the good way either.” Jackson added.
“Would all of you please shut up and watch? I’m sick of the sound of your voices.” Erica said.
Even though her words were cold her voice was warm. She couldn’t hide her affection for her adopted family, none of them could – and none of them would admit it either. But somehow, it worked.
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A/N: Okay guys, make it 50 again and I'll see how fast I can pump out the next one!