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„Don't you think your father smells … different lately?“
Isaac's voice drifted through the darkness, and Allison opened one sleepy eye, frowning. “Hello?” she murmured, “hunter here, not a werewolf. Even *if* he would smell differently … I wouldn't notice.”
She closed her eye again. Isaac huffed gently into her neck, and fell silent again.
But then …
“Different how?” she asked, opening her eyes again, both this time.
“I … well, it's hard to explain. Calm? Satisfied? Definitely content.”
Allison sat up, and switched the light on. “How does one smell content?”
Isaac blinked in the sudden brightness. “Like I said, it's hard to explain. It's just that the frustration seems to be gone from him.”
“Ah,” she replied eloquently. Frustration? Her dad had been frustrated and she hadn't noticed?
Sighing deeply, she switched the light off again, and laid down once more.
“You alright?” Isaac asked carefully.
“Yeah,” she lied, “sure.”
~*~
Allison started to watch her father closer after this night. Of course she couldn't *smell* something like Isaac could, but she had eyes to see.
And now that she knew what she had to look for, she could see the changes clear as day. Her father smiled more, laughed again, and every now and then she caught him humming, or talking quietly on the phone. Whispered conversations that were too low for her to hear. It was on one of those days that she quickly grabbed her dad's mobile when he put it down to go to the bathroom. Hastily, she scrolled through the last calls, and was surprised. John ~ Melissa ~ John ~ John ~ Melissa.
Hm.
She only knew one Melissa and that was Scott's mom. And John? Well, John wasn't a particularly rare name, so that could be anyone.
Could it be that her dad was romantically involved with Scott's mom?
She heard the opening of the bathroom door, and quickly put the phone down again, feeling absolutely none the wiser.
~*~
With a relieved sigh Allison closed the door behind her, glad to be home early for a change. She dropped her keys on the little table by the door, and just as she was about to call out to her dad, she heard his voice coming from the office.
“Yeah, I'll come over later.”
Slowly, she inched closer to the door, and peeked around the corner. Her dad was sitting in his chair, with his back to the door. His voice was gentle as he was murmuring into the phone. Allison smiled. This seemed to be her lucky day, for the person on the other line was *clearly* her dad's newest love interest.
“I'm sorry that I had to stand you up today for lunch. I would have loved to see you.”
He laughed softly. “Oh come on, I'm sure you haven't even realized that I wasn't there.”
Allison's smile widened. Whoever that was on the other end on the line, it seemed to be serious. “Now?” he murmured now huskily. “You really want me to come over now?”
He swiveled his chair around, and Allison quickly moved back into hiding. “No, she's not here, yet. I think I could sneak out for an hour.”
Allison stifled a laughter. Her dad wanted to sneak out on her? Oh boy, she *had* to meet that woman who could turn her dad into a teenager again.
“Okay, okay,” she could hear the noise of the chair moving back, “I'm convinced.”
Quickly, Allison moved back out of the apartment, closing the door quietly, and ran a few steps upstairs. Not a second too soon, it seemed, for her dad was coming out of the door, the cellphone still pressed to his ear. Allison watched him intently.
A tender smile played around his lips, and it hit Allison like a ton of bricks. It had been a long time since she had seen her dad this happy.
“Yeah, I'm on my way. Now let me get down to my car. You know how dangerous it is to phone and drive.” He locked the door behind him, and turned to the steps. “Yes, it is. I know that from first hand. I have excellent connections to the local Sheriff.”
Now he laughed out loud.
“Shush,” he laughed, “let me hang up, and I'm on my way.”
The door of the house closed behind him, and she grinned.
Then her grin faded quickly, when she realized that in her haste to get unseen out of the apartment she had forgotten to take her keys with her.
~*~
“... and now I'm stuck outside my own apartment.”
Allison sighed, and sat down on a park bench.
“Yeah, yeah, very funny,” she grumbled when Scott on the other end of the line laughed heartily, very loud and very long. But then she had to grin a little herself.
“So, can I stay with you until my dad is home again?” she asked, playing absentmindedly with a strand of her hair.
“Sure,” Scott replied, “I'm at the Sheriff's office right now. You can meet me there. I'm done here in a few minutes, so we can go home then, and you can wait there.”
“Great,” she smiled, “I'm on my way!”
She closed her phone, and was very glad that the weather was warm so a little walk was a nice change. Driving was out of question since her car keys were cozily sitting next to her keys to the apartment.
Close to the Sheriff's station, she heard a strange noise coming from a little alley just around the office. It sounded suspiciously like a moan. She smirked. Did some officer spend his coffee break with his girlfriend? Carefully, she moved a little closer, and was surprised.
Of course, all the uniforms looked the same from behind but she would know the Sheriff's back everywhere. The Sheriff who seemed to be totally engrossed in the person he pressed against a wall, keeping the other one mostly from sight. Mostly but not entirely. Not enough to *not* see that it was a man. The Sheriff murmured soft words to the clearly *male* person in his arms, and every now and then punctuated the words with soft kisses. For a moment she simply stood and watched the couple. Strong hands stroked over the Sheriff's back, fisted momentarily in his shirt. Huh. Who'd have guessed that Stiles' dad played for both teams?
Quietly and with a gentle expression on her face, Allison walked on.
She met Scott in front of the Sheriff's office, and he drove her to his home. She heard his voice, heard him ask questions but she was unable to answer them. On the inside, she still could hear the Sheriff's quiet voice mumbling sweet nonsense to his lover.
For a moment she considered telling Scott about it but then she kept it to herself.
Why? She couldn't say for sure.
~*~
“Going out on a date, dad?”
She was standing in her dad's bedroom door, watching him get dressed. He looked great, with black jeans, and a black button down, bringing out the paleness of his eyes, and yes, she could appreciate the fact that her dad was a handsome man. She thought back to the evening a few weeks ago when he'd been dressed to kill, and he still wouldn't tell her whom he'd met that night.
She slinked into his room, and sat down on the bed.
“Yeah”, he answered, while he buttoned his cuffs.
She smiled. “Wanna finally tell me with whom?”
For a moment, her dad's hands froze in their movement, before they continued to push the small button through the hole. He bowed down to her, and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Not yet. Don't want to jinx it.”
He raised himself up again, and smiled down at her. “Later, okay?”
With a little wave he was out of the door, leaving his daughter deep in thought.
~*~
The next day she was on her way to Lydia, when she walked past their favorite Café, and stopped dead in her tracks.
For a moment she was tempted to rub her eyes like a little child. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and when she opened them again, she could still see the Sheriff and Melissa McCall sitting next to each other in a booth near the window.
Rationally, she knew that it possibly was just a talk between concerned parents. But as she looked longer, she could see the way they were smiling at each other, touching each other, and when they moved a little closer together, the Sheriff put his hand at the small of her back, gently stroking up and down her back. It seemed such a casual gesture as if he'd done that already a hundred times.
She had to pull herself together not to stare and leave, and when she arrived at Lydia's place, she was severely tempted to talk to her about it. But then she decided that it was none of her business, and as long as her dad wasn't involved, she would keep her mouth simply shut.
~*~
It was a few days later that her world seemed to come once more to a screeching halt when she spotted her father in the same Café where she had seen the Sheriff and Melissa McCall the last time.
But it wasn't the fact that he'd told her he was meeting another hunter from across the state. It wasn't also the fact that he had very clearly lied to her. It was mostly the fact that he was sitting there with Melissa McCall. Holding hands.
Well, okay. Not really holding hands but almost. But it were the looks they cast at each other that made her swallow. There was so much emotion in her dad's face that she could read the love plain as day.
She stopped dead in her tracks, causing Stiles and Scott who had been walking behind her to bump into her.
“What the ...” Stiles sputtered. Then he followed her gaze, and smiled. “Oh hey, your dad looks really happy.”
“Happy?” she yelled, whirling around. “He's not supposed to be happy with *your* mom!” She pointed at Scott. “Your mom,” another poke in Scott's direction, “is supposed to be happy with your dad!” This time she pointed her index-finger at Stiles.
“And she is,” a voice behind her said. She turned around again, staring up at Sheriff Stilinski.
“What?” she gasped, then she narrowed her eyes. “But she's cheating on you!” Then she grew pale, and turned back to the Café where her dad had noticed that something was going on outside. He was looking at her, and she stared back. “With my dad! She's cheating on you with my dad,” she whispered. “
“Allison,” Scott started, but she interrupted him. “NO!” she replied strongly. “And,” another finger point at the Sheriff, “what about you and that guy I saw you with?”
Stiles frowned. “What?”
She swallowed. She was not shy but the fact that the Sheriff seemed to stare directly into her soul made her a little tongue-tied. “I saw you with another man,” she finally murmured, looking down at the floor.
Stiles made a weird noise, and Scott cleared his throat.
“Did you?” the Sheriff asked quietly.
“What's going on here?” another voice asked, and Allison's head shot up.
“Dad,” she hissed, realizing he had finally come out of the Café, probably to see what all the fuss was about. Then she noticed the person behind her dad, and added, “Mrs McCall.”
As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Melissa walked over to the Sheriff, and gave him a gentle kiss. “There you are. We were waiting for you.” She looked around. “What's going on here?”
The Sheriff sneaked her arm around her waist, and pulled her close.
Allison was speechless.
“Good question: what *is* going on here?” she finally repeated Mrs McCall's words, the eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I don't think we should discuss this here!” The Sheriff was the voice of reason, like always.
~*~
They regrouped in the McCall living room. With Scott's mom in the middle of the couch, Scott's and her own dad on each side of her, and Stiles and Scott in the chairs next to the couch.
Allison was sitting in the chair, facing them, kneading her hands.
“So,” she began, looking at them.
“What do you wanna know?” the Sheriff asked.
“What the hell is going on?” she blurted out, helplessly on repeat.
The three adults in front of her were sighing as one, looking at each other, until Melissa and the Sheriff nodded at her dad.
“Honey,” her dad began, “look. This might be a little difficult to understand.”
Allison interrupt him, and glanced at Melissa. “Do you cheat on Stiles' dad?” Then she looked back at her dad, “And do *you* cheat with her on … I don't know .. the Sheriff?”
“What?” They all looked flabbergasted for a moment, then said vehemently as one. “No!”
“And … what about that guy I saw you with?” she continued, pointing at the Sheriff.
“Where?” the Sheriff asked now. “Where did you see me?”
“A few days ago I saw you with another man in the alley behind the Sheriff's station. You … you were kissing him.”
“Did you see the man clearly?”
She shook her head.
“Does it bother you that I was kissing another man?”
Again, she shook her head. “No, that's not the point. But I saw you with Scott's mom later, and you looked so ...you looked like you were together.”
“We are.”
Allison looked up, staring at the Sheriff.
“And that other man?”
Her dad cleared her throat, and her gaze flew to him. “That was me, sweetheart.”
She swallowed. “You?” she whispered.
Her dad nodded. “Do you remember the date I had a few weeks back?”
Allison nodded slowly. “Melissa had invited John and me over for dinner,” he continued.
“And?” Her voice was hoarse.
“We,” her dad laughed a little awkwardly, “we had a nice evening. And we talked. A lot. And sometime in the night we thought that we should maybe give this … thing between us a try. All three of us.”
Allison sat back, and tried to comprehend everything she had just heard. After a few long moments, she asked. “And you're together now? Like … *all* of you?”
The three of them nodded in unison. Allison's thoughts whirled. Did that mean that all three of them had sex together? And did she really want to know so many details about her dad's sexlife?
She looked at Stiles and Scott. “You knew about that?”
They nodded, also.
“Why didn't you tell me?” she finally asked, turning to her dad again. “I was worrying. And wondering. And I thought I was starting to see things.”
“You were always so busy, sweetheart,” her dad said, “if it wasn't with the pack then it was another crisis in town, or you were with Isaac.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, nibbling on her lower lip. Suddenly, she started to laugh. “And to think that Isaac knew,” she giggled.
The adults looked at each other. “He knew?” her dad prodded carefully. “How did he know?”
“Well, he didn't *know* per se about all of you. It's just … the other night he said that you smelled differently.”
Melissa moved a little closer to him, and took an exaggerated sniff. Her dad just laughed, and gave her a gentle shove. “Oh shove it,” he grumbled good-naturedly, and Allison saw how he took her hand. “I think you smell fantastic,” Scott's mom purred, and next to her Scott moaned, “Mo-om … we talked about that! Not when I'm around, please?”
Allison watched them. All of them. Closely. Watched them interact with each other.
It was perfect, she decided after a moment. She wouldn't have to worry about her dad being alone any more. He'd be loved, and protected, and when one day she would move away to College, she could be sure that he'd be taken care of.
So to speak.
Then a thought occurred to her. “Who else knows?” she asked.
“Well,” Melissa started, “we're not exactly subtle, especially your dad,” this earned her another loving grumble, “and were not exactly keeping it a secret. Stranger things have happened in Beacon Hills than three consenting adults living in a relationship with each other.”
The Sheriff took over. “To be honest, anyone who has eyes or bothers to look closely, might know.” A look over to her dad, and the Sheriff continued, “mostly because your dad likes to drag me into alleys to make out like teenager.”
“You weren't exactly complaining,” her dad shot back, but Allison saw the smile on his face.
“Does Isaac know?” she replied, “I mean …. for sure? About you? Does he know for sure or was it just guess?”
Her dad shook her had. “He's never been around when one or the other of these two were around. So I think it was just a guess.”
They were looking at her, the question obvious in their eyes.
Allison's eyes sparkled with mischief. “Can I tell Isaac?”
The end