Chapter Text
Stiles bounced nervously on his heels, something that was very undignified for a twenty-two-year-old, but he didn’t care. His heart was racing as he checked the Arrival's board for the fifth time in ten minutes, making sure the Rio flight was on time. Peter had been away for five years, but he was coming home for good.
It had been a long five years and a lot had changed. Peter had arrived in Brazil and as he had expected, he had been welcomed with open arms by his Alpha, who considered having two former members of one of the most respected packs in North America as a major boost to his status. Of course, it helped that Cora had also been pleased to see him. She had been a child when the Argents had burnt their home to the ground and while she loved her sister, her memories of her were of an aloof woman, who spent nearly all her time with their equally aloof mother and was a senior member of the pack who was to be respected as the next Alpha. It meant that she didn’t have the same feelings of resentment that Derek had as he had lived with his older sister for six years with her as his Alpha. Peter quickly immersed himself into his new pack, revelling in a normal, stable pack so he could develop the bonds he needed to rebuild his control.
For Stiles, Peter’s departure was hard but he tried to make the best of it. He threw himself into his studies, not just his schoolwork, but his research for the pack as he was determined that he was going to read every inch of the Argent’s bestiary so as not to be caught short again. Derek was true to his word and helped him where he could, as well as watching his back when the pack faced off against whatever threat come to town. Derek had always respected Stiles, particularly after he had helped keep him up in the swimming pool, but spending time with him made him more tolerant of his quirks and for the first time he considered the teen his friend. Which was good for both of them given Scott’s knee jerk reaction to Peter leaving.
The True Alpha seemed to take Peter leaving as a personal insult to his place as head of the pack and within a week had declared that the older Hale would not be permitted to return to Beacon Hills. To make it worse he didn’t seem to understand why Stiles, Derek and Malia argued against his decision. He was even more surprised when he didn’t get the support he counted on from the Sheriff, expecting him to be glad to have a mass murderer out of his town. However, Lydia and Deaton agreed with him, which for him was enough to convince him he was right.
The result was effectively a schism in the pack, with Stiles Derek and Malia on one side and Scott and Lydia backed by Deaton on the other. If there was a threat to the pack, they came together to deal with the situation but gone was pack meetings and social time at the loft. It also for all practical purposes broke the last threads of friendship between Stiles and Scott. Scott refused to see Stiles siding with the Hales as anything other than a betrayal and treated his former friend and brother with contempt. A month later, Scott bit a student he was convinced was already a werewolf. Luckily for him, Liam survived the bite and Stiles found himself replaced as both Scott’s deputy and best friend.
Scott’s actions hurt Stiles more than he would ever admit. They had been in each other’s pockets since middle school and to find it all crumble because the Alpha couldn’t see beyond his black and white view of the world cut Stiles deeply. He was sure that he would have broken a little if he didn’t have his dad, Derek and Malia to hold him steady as well as having Peter just a phone call away. Of course, had Peter wanted to come home, there was little save physical violence that Scott could do to stop him a fact he made very clear when Stiles told him. But circumstanced meant he was needed elsewhere.
After being in the pack for six months, the pack was attacked by another pack, looking to expand their territory. They defended themselves, but both the pack’s left hand and her apprentice were killed, leaving a void that needed to be filled. The role of the left hand was not something any wolf could step into.
Peter had trained for years under his father’s left hand, honing the skills required to be both a trained negotiator and an effective killer. He had just started training his own apprentice when the Argents had attacked.
So when his new pack was without a Left hand, Peter was asked to take on the role and train his replacement, he felt obligated to agree. He quickly realised that Cora took after him in more ways than one and decided that she would make an excellent left hand, especially when she made it clear that while she would never forget her home, her loyalty was to the pack that took her in when she had nothing. It was something he respected her for and was certain it would make Talia turn over in her grave that one of her children would take on what was in her opinion one of the most unsavoury roles in the pack. It was a thought that gave Peter more than a little pleasure.
Another development from the attack was that Peter had killed the rival Alpha, meaning that once more he was an Alpha in his own right. It was something that he asked Stiles and Derek to keep from Scott, knowing the boy would do something stupid if he felt threatened. Instead, he preferred to wait until he had finished training Cora, before providing Scott with an ultimatum.
Of course, Scott never stuck to a plan. As the schism in the pack widened, the pack Alpha increasingly believed he didn’t need anyone’s help, certainly not the help of the people who ‘betrayed’ him. As a result, he started making rash decisions, believing himself invincible. The biggest mistake he made was trying to take on a coven of witches alone. Of course, they were smarter than him and were waiting for him, with an immobility spell ready. They then carries him to the Nemeton where they sacrificed the Alpha spark to place the ancient tree once more into its dormant state and no longer a magnet for every supernatural threat that came too close. Luckily for Scott, the sacrifice only involved the alpha spark and not his life. However, with the Alpha spark went his wolf and the ritual left him once more a weak asthmatic human.
Liam felt the bond he shared with Scott snap and as his self-control was already stretched thin, made him shift. Derek heard him and managed to find him just before he attacked a couple walking through the park. It took a lot to get him to regain control and find out what had caused it. After calling Malia, the three wolves spread out over the preserve looking for Scott. They found him by the Nemeton where the witches has left him, shivering from the cold and the sudden change back to a human.
For the first time in a very long time, Derek felt sorry for the former alpha and carried him home to Melissa, before his asthma kicked in full force. Scott finally got what he wanted all those years and as he lay in the hospital bed on oxygen, it dawned on him at last what he had lost, and he cried.
Stiles, of course, couldn’t abandon Scott and he was the first to visit him as soon as it was allowed. Things between them would never go back to the way they were before, especially as Scott refused to have anything to do with the super nature while Stiles was determined to stay part of the pack, but he hoped that in the end, they could find a middle ground.
Peace descended on beacon hills and life returned to something like normal. Supernatural threats still came to town, but they were often weeks even months apart, allowing the pack to finally settle. Without Scott, Liam joined stiles, Derek and Malia, accepting him as pack. Derek took the alpha role, with Stiles as his second until Peter came home. Lydia had already gotten a scholarship to MIT and left as soon as she could.
Stiles had intended to also go away to college, having received a place in Washington to do criminal studies. However, after spending time helping Malia catch up with the rest of her classmates, he found he really enjoyed teaching. He also didn’t feel comfortable leaving Malia alone in beacon hills because at that point Scott had stopped talking to her and to keep his promise to Peter, Derek would follow Stiles to college. So he applied and got into Beacon Hill’s college to study English. He had just finished his degree and was starting on the teaching preparation course when Peter called him to tell him that he was coming home.
As promised Peter and Stiles had talked regularly, at least three times a week, although during holidays it wasn’t unheard of for them to call every day. Stiles had tried dating other people but he always found himself comparing them to Peter and his boyfriends never lasted more than a couple of weeks with long gaps in-between. He heard from Cora that while Peter also had relations, they were short flings mostly for sex and like Stiles, months apart. Now that the Alpha was coming home, Stiles was a bundle of nerves. His attraction towards Peter had only gotten stronger and more than once he had pulled up short when saying goodbye, not to use the L-word. Not that he was very successful at hiding it from the people around him. Derek would roll his eyes at him, while Malia would outright tell him he needed to get on with it. Of course, they didn’t know the agreement that he and Peter had made. An agreement that was about to be tested.
Stiles checked the arrivals board and saw that Peter’s flight had landed. It was still another twenty minutes before the passengers from his flight began coming through from customs. He watched as groups came through the arrivals gate, families returning from holidays, meeting loved ones. It was just a few at first before there was a flood of people. Stiles went up on tiptoes to try and see above the crowd, but as each passed him, his disappointment grew that maybe Peter had changed his mind and didn’t get on the plane after all. Then the crowd parted and Peter was standing there, smiling slightly. Stiles started forward a few steps before stopping sharply and shoved his hands into his pockets, making sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Peter saw this and his smile turned into a grin as he walked past the last line of security.
“Stiles.” He said warmly.
The younger man let out the breath he had been holding. “Hi, Peter.”
There was a long moment where they just stared at each other. The moment was broken when another passenger, who was on his phone, bumped into stiles. A glare from peter got a quick apology from the poor man before he hurried off.
Stiles rolled his eyes before nodding to the terminal exist, “Well, ummm, the car is this way. I suppose you want to see what you bought for me.”
Eighteen months before, Roscoe had finally given up the ghost, the engine having seized, meaning a large repair. With that, the fact that it had been passing inspection by the skin of its teeth the last few years and more than a few body parts were stuck on by duct tape, Stiles decided, after a long talk with his dad, that it was time to get a new car.
Derek offered to put the jeep into long term storage, but Stiles felt that if he couldn’t drive her, keeping it around would just make things harder. So with a little bit of heartbreak, he said goodbye to his old friend.
Of course, he didn’t have the money for anything under ten years old. So he was shocked when Derek showed up on the day he was meant to drive him to the second-hand lot, instead, parking a brand new Jeep SUV in front of his house.
He tossed stiles the keys, saying. “This shouldn’t need duct tape for a few years.”
Stiles tried to refuse but Derek told him he was just the messenger and he would have to talk to Peter. Which he did. Peter refused to take back the car, insisting that it was his responsibility to make Stiles was as safe as possible and this was the best way to do it. He also told that it wasn’t just because of the claim but because he had seen Stiles do so much for everyone else and wanted to do something for him. It had taken a lot of persuasions but in the end, Stiles gave in, and he had to admit it was nice to drive something to didn’t stick in second.
Stiles led Peter out to the parking lot and helped him load his luggage into the trunk of the Jeep. Peter ran his eye over the car, happy with Derek choice. Stiles closed the truck and turned to find Peter close behind him making him jump.
“God, Peter. Still the creeper wolf, I’m buying you a bell.” Stiles said as he went to walk to the driver’s side. However, Peter reached out and grabbed his arm, pushing him gently back into the rear of the car.
“Sweetheart, I am usually a patient man, but I don’t think I can sit in the car with you all the way home without knowing. Do you still want me? Because I still feel the same, more in fact.”
Stiles swallowed, very conscious of how close Peter was. “I do……Yes, I’m still interested. I think I do……..love you.”
Peter’s smile widened and he pressed into Stiles as he kissed him. The kiss was everything Stiles had been hoping for and he wrapped his arms around his wolf to try and pull him even closer.
Peter pulled back after a moment. “I told you this would be memorable darling. I love you.”
Stiles grinned as he leaned in again to kiss Peter some more, happy that he finally had his man.