"Stop." Derek mutters in his sleep as he rolls around on the couch, the movement causing Stiles to jolt awake. He sits up quickly confused for a few seconds before he realises him and Derek fell asleep playing video games. He looks at the other end of the couch spotting Derek lying on his back, his shirt lifted up slightly showing his very distinct abs.
"Stop... Kate, I don't want to do this." Derek mutters softly snapping Stiles out his day dream as he realises Derek was talking in his sleep. Kate. That must be the person he nearly said earlier that starts with a K. Who's Kate?
He looks away from Derek's abs noticing the sweat glistening on his forehead above his dark bloodied bruise. He shouldn't be sweating it's not hot in here, Stiles thinks to himself when Derek begins to toss and turn on the couch. Stiles stands up quickly avoiding Derek from kicking him. He thinks about waking Derek up, he was clearly having some sort of nightmare but Derek stops and his face relaxes again.
Stiles stays there for a few minutes making sure he was okay before walking into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
He glances up at the clock noting that's it's only 10:30 at night, they must have been tired if they fell asleep that early. He goes to fill his glass up with water again when Derek suddenly shouts from the lounge room.
"LAURA!"
Stiles drops the glass and rushes into the lounge room to find Derek still lying on the couch his face twisted in pain.
"No. No. Laura." Derek whimpers and Stiles drops to his knees next to Derek on the couch and shakes his shoulders.
"Derek, wake up." Stiles says softly wanting to get him out of whatever nightmare he was facing. "Derek." Stiles says louder shaking his shoulders more and suddenly Derek's eyes fly open and he sits up quickly scrambling to the other side of the couch in panic.
"Stiles?" Derek asks looking over at him in confusion as he tries to catch his breath.
"Yeah it's me, I'm here. You just had a nightmare." Stiles says softly and Derek sighs leaning back into the couch grabbing the left side of his ribs over his shirt.
"Sorry." Derek replies closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath.
"Don't apologise, I get nightmares sometimes too, started after my mother died and haven't really gone away. I know how much they suck so don't say sorry. Do you get them often?" Stiles asks sitting on the edge of the couch next to Derek.
"Every night." He replies staring at the ground and Stiles looks at him in shock which he seems to be doing a fair bit these days. Every night? Far out.
"It's only 10:30, want a coffee or hot chocolate? Maybe a hot chocolate, if you have a coffee you won't be able to fall asleep later." Stiles says not knowing how to respond to Derek's answer.
"Coffee will be fine. I know I won't be able to fall asleep later anyway." Derek responds his voice turning back to normal as he sits up properly on the couch.
Five minutes later the two men were sitting back on the couch drinking their hot drinks.
"You were talking in your sleep." Stiles comments taking a sip of his drink. "Who's Kate?" He asks and Derek freezes not knowing what to say.
"I'd rather not talk about it." He admits staring down at his drink, before Stiles could reply the sound of the front door opening and closing fills the air.
"Stiles?" The Sheriff voice calls through the house and Stiles looks towards the door.
"In the lounge room. Why are you home so early?" Stiles shouts placing his mug on the floor.
"Finished all the work I needed to for the night." The Sheriff responds as he appears at the doorway leaning against the door. "Oh afternoon Derek, I didn't know you were here."
Stiles glances to Derek who was staring at his mug with his head low and Stiles suddenly realises Derek doesn't want the sheriff to see his injuries.
"Sorry Sheriff, I was just leaving." Derek responds putting his mug on the floor as he stands up gingerly and Stiles knew his ribs were hurting him.
"Are you alright son?" The Sheriff asks turning the light on in the room and Stiles knew there was no hiding the bruises on Derek's face now. He looks over at his Dad as his face goes wide with shock, concern and anger.
"Derek, what happened?" His Dad questions sternly walking into the room until he was standing in front of Derek. Stiles not knowing what to do just sits there watching his father trying to workout what he was possibly thinking. "Who the hell did this to you son?" His Dad asks in a tone Stiles has rarely heard.
"It's nothing sir, I'm fine." Derek responds looking down at the ground.
"Derek answer me, who the hell did this? Was it them? Did they find you?" His Dad questions in a slightly fearful voice as he grabs Derek's chin gently tilting his head so he could get a better look at the bruises. What is his dad talking about? Who is trying to find Derek?
"No. No, it was just a misunderstanding at the bar, it's fine." Derek replies shaking his head. His Dad doesn't say anything for a while just stares at Derek until he finally nods and gestures towards the couch as they both sit down next to Stiles.
"Hang on, Dad, who did you think hurt Derek? Why did you say 'was it them'? Who the hell is 'them'?" Stiles questions glancing between his father and Derek.
"It's nothing Stiles, I was just jumping to conclusions." His father says like that is a reasonable answer but it totally isn't.
"That doesn't answer my question." He responds frowning at his Dad but it was Derek who replies first.
"It's not important Stiles, please drop it." Derek says and usually Stiles wouldn't drop it, he likes to know exactly what's happening and not being left in the dark. But the tone in Derek's voice made him nod in agreement.
-
He can't get the look on the Sheriff's face out of his head when he first saw the bloodied bruises on his face. The man looked scared, worried and angry all with the same expression and with the tone in his voice, he sounded ready to shoot the person responsible. It reminded Derek of his own father that time when both him and Laura came home from school with matching black eyes. His father had the same expression as the Sheriff did last night and Derek smiles remembering the moment. His father questioned what happened and who done it and Laura responded with, "You should see the other guy! He tried to start a fight with Derek. Which was a bad move, Derek landed a solid punch to his face and I happened to walk past at the same time and lets just say he probably won't be able to have kids in the future." Laura had said and they cracked up laughing. Laura always had his back against bullies at school, she always had his back with anything.
Derek shakes his head at the memory as he puts his hat on and walks out the hut towards the cottage.
"Derek!" Scott shouts in a friendly tone as he spots the older man walking towards them.
"Hope you like pancakes man, because these idiots didn't want to walk to the chicken coop to get fresh eggs." Parrish says behind his barbecue as he pours pancake batter onto the hot plate.
"Hey! You didn't get the eggs either Parrish." Boyd says in defence and Derek rolls his eyes at the familiar banter between the farm hands.
"Pancakes sound good to me." Derek says taking a seat as Boyd passes him a glass of cold water.
"How's your bruises dude? They look painful." Scott asks looking over at him with concerned puppy eyes.
"Believe it or not I've had worse, so I think I'll live." Derek answers truthfully taking a drink of his water.
"Well you better live because you're the only one who can fix that stupid old slasher." Stiles voice calls and Derek turns to find the boy walking towards them with his signature smile. Derek watches him as he greets the farm hands, noticing the way his work jeans hug his ass as he walks towards Scott.
"Wait, don't tell me it's broken again?" Derek suddenly asks realising what he was staring and scared what he will do if he lets his mind wonder any further on the topic.
"Yep." Stiles responds popping the 'p' "It's official, I am banning Parrish from using the slasher for the rest of his life."
"Hey! It's not my fault it's ancient and on its death bed." Parrish speaks up and Stiles rolls his eyes.
"It doesn't break when Scott and I use it! So it's definitely you Parrish." Boyd responds and Scott nods in agreement.
"If you guys want pancakes I suggest you shut up." Parrish comments causing Derek and Stiles to laugh as Scott and Boyd both shut up immediately.
After 20 minutes they had all eaten their fair share of pancakes and helped wash the dishes back inside the cottage.
"Isaac is coming here with the truck at noon to pick up the other half of heifers. So we need to move the cows from the East pasture paddock into the cattle yards, ready to be loaded into the truck." Stiles explains and they all nod. Derek hasn't moved or mustered cattle at the Stilinski farm yet, he's done it hundreds of times on other farms so he knows how to do it. "We might as well do it now before it gets even hotter, that way when Isaac gets here we can load the girls straight away."
"Lets hope it'll easier than last time, the damn cows wouldn't go through that bloody gate." Parrish mutters and they all nod minus Derek.
"Lets go, saddle up your horses and meet by the gate to the paddock." Stiles says and with that Scott, Boyd and Parrish walk off towards the farm ute.
"Is it alright if I ride the motorbike?" Derek asks turning to Stiles who was standing next to him and he nods.
"Yeah of course, I remember you saying you don't ride horses anymore so that's cool." Stiles replies and Derek sighs with relief knowing if he had to ride a horse he wouldn't be able to do it, not after what happened to Paige. He can barely watch people riding them let alone saddle one up himself.
"You know I will eventually get it out of you." Stiles says and Derek turns to him confused by the statement. "The reason you don't ride anymore, I will eventually get it out of you. I'm good at stuff like that."
"You mean most people get sick of you constantly asking and just tell you so you shut up?" Derek asks raising his eyebrows and by the grin appearing on Stiles' face he will take it as a yes.
"Do you like horses? Are you good at handling them?" Stiles ask as they both begin walking towards the horse stables.
"I don't hate horses and yeah I'm good at handling them. My mother use to train horses and taught me how to as well." Derek responds staring at his boots as they continue walking.
"Is that why you don't ride them anymore? They remind you of your mother? Shit, sorry that's an awful question." Stiles says shaking his head at himself.
"That's not the reason." Derek replies and Stiles nods.
"You really aren't gonna tell me are you?" Stiles asks and Derek shakes his head causing Stiles to throw his hands up in defeat. "I will get it out of you eventually Derek, just like I will eventually work out why my Dad went full protective mode on you last night when he saw the bruises. The two of you aren't telling me something that part is clear and alright it's non of my business I get that but it's bugging me that I don't know. There's a lot of things I don't know about you but I will eventually work it out. I'm the son of a cop after all, never doubt me." Stiles says and Derek agrees, he knows Stiles will either eventually work it out himself, he's a smart kid and picks up things that most people wouldn't or he will google it, but until he finds out his last name the googling part will be a bit tricky.
"I don't doubt that." Derek simply replies.