Stiles looked at his notebook, where he had doodled Derek's name a lot when he was bored in class.

"Stiles?" Noah called out as he passed by Stiles' bedroom.

Stiles flipped his notebook over and grabbed his Kindle before he followed his father down the stairs. He really didn't want to be going on an ass-kissing meal tour right now, but then again, he didn't mind the food. He would rather have been able to go out with Derek or stayed home and had Derek come over.

With having to hide since Derek wasn't out to his family, they didn't have a lot of time that they could be together. He hoped that sometimes soon they would go further than hands down pants and rutting against each other. Stiles really wanted a good session of sex, like clothes off, and even if there was no penetration, just being naked would be great.

Thankfully, most of the people they always went around to eat at the houses of never minded Stiles being isolated and reading. It was best to be like that. No one really liked him, except for Derek, and he was too much to handle. Stiles grabbed his headphones from where he had dropped them when he got home. He put them in and plugged them into his phone to listen to music on the way to whatever the hell they were going.

It wasn't until they were ten minutes into driving that Stiles realized that they were headed in a way that he knew. To the outskirts of town and toward the Hale house.

"We are going to the mayor's place?" Stiles asked.

"I knew that you weren't listening to me," Noah said.

"Well, we go to so many places. I just...we've never gone here before on the whole campaign trail."

"Well, I guess that Talia feels that I need to actually earn her support this time around. I want you to be on your best behavior, Stiles. I mean it. Don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you."

"Sure, Daddio."

"And don't do that."

Stiles nodded his head. He loved his father, but during the last six months before re-election, he turned into an asshole that Stiles would just rather be anywhere but near him. Stiles turned up his music so that he couldn't hear his father at all. He looked at where they were headed down the drive to the Hale house.

Talia and four of her children were standing on the porch with her husband, just getting out of a car.

"Noah," Gregory Hale said.

"Greg, getting off late?"

"Yes, I got a sternly worded message of what wouldn't happen if I wasn't home for dinner."

"Hey, loser," Cora said as she came down the stairs.

Stiles waved his hand. Cora liked him well enough as a high school friend, but it wasn't like she knew the truth. Stiles was still a little worried about that. Derek and Cora were twins. Stiles had been shocked when Derek never told her that he was gay or dating Stiles. Which, Cora had been pulling away from Stiles for a while as a friend, so it wasn't hard for Stiles to lie to her about what he was doing on the few nights that Cora wanted to hang out.

The lying didn't bother Stiles too much. He would do anything for Derek. They had been friends, all three of them since they met one day when Stiles' father had been called out to the Hale house, and Stiles had been on a ride-along with him. Stiles had tried to stay in the car, but it had been boring, so he ended up walking around the edge of the property, which had him stumbling across where Cora and Derek had been playing. Cora had tugged Stiles down to play with them, and it had been over. They had laid claim to him, and instead of Stiles being the one who was on the outside with his ADHD and then his mother dying, he was friends with two of the most popular kids in the school. They weren't the kind of people that was mean to people, though. They were nice to everyone, but it was hard to notice people who weren't right in their little circle.

Stiles wasn't going to embarrass his father in this. Stiles had been around the Hales a lot but not nearly as much since high school started. Derek and Cora never wanted to hang out at home anymore, and now that Stiles and Derek were dating and he wasn't out to his family, they were never there. Stiles felt like he was meeting strangers.

Derek's favorite uncle Peter came around the rest of the family and down to hug Stiles, breaking the ice as it were.

"Stiles," Peter said once he plucked Stiles' headphones out of his ear. "It's been too long. Come on, I've got new books I want to show you."

Stiles nodded his head. He wasn't supposed to do anything to piss the Hales off. He just hoped that his father wasn't going to be too upset. He darted a glance at his father, who was walking toward where Talia was. Then Stiles looked at Derek, who wasn't even looking at him. It hurt, but Stiles understood it. They had grown apart in public as people pared off. Derek didn't want anyone thinking that they were together. They only hung out when Cora was around anymore. Unless they were sneaking around together. Which usually had them at Stiles' place or out in the Preserve.

The library looked the same.

"You looked a little freaked out. You've never been freaked out coming here before," Peter said.

"Well, Dad drilled in that I needed to not embarrass him here tonight, so I wasn't sure what to do. So I had to just...be not myself."

"You should never be anyone but yourself."

"Well, Dad needs this re-election. I don't want to be the one who fucks it up for him."

"We've talked about this before," Peter said.

"Yes, well, things have changed since then. I don't think that I'd be as welcome here."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"I'm not as close with Derek and Cora as I was before."

Peter hummed in an answer but said nothing else. He puttered around and grabbed a few books before setting them down in front of Stiles. "These are the newest books that I had picked up about Werewolves."

"Cool. I think I'm just gonna stay in here. Let me know when it's dinner time."

"Sure, Laura's gonna be a little late, so Talia is waiting for her. She got delayed on her way into town. I'll leave you to do your reading and come and get you when it's time."

Stiles nodded his head. He opened the first book and looked at the date of it. It was so strange that Peter was able to find old as hell books that seemed like bestiaries. He lost himself in the words that were on the page until he heard a scream from outside. Stiles got up and looked out the window. He saw Cora as well as the youngest Hale child, Norah. Stiles still laughed that the girls had names like they did, and the boys had not matched names.

Another woman got out of the car alongside Laura. Stiles cracked open the window so he could hear.

"And the lovely Lena," Talia said.

Stiles wondered who Lena was. He had never heard about her from Derek or Cora.

Talia and Gregory both hugged and kissed the new girl.

"To think she' still wants to marry Laura," Peter said.

Stiles gasped and listened as the rest of the Hales all greeted Lena and talked about the upcoming wedding.

When he could move, Stiles grabbed his Kindle and headphones before heading out the back of the library and to the back doors. He knew how to get home; they had walked it many times when they were a kid. His footprints were probably permanent in the ground.

The house was quiet when he got home. He would apologize to his father and take whatever punishment his father doled out without a fight. He would take his licks, and he would apologize to the Hales when Derek wasn't there. Derek had practice, so it would be easy if Stiles was allowed to drive outside of heading to and from school.

Stiles looked in the cabinet where his father kept his alcohol. He touched one of the bottles, but as he did, he chose not to. If he did, he would be just like his father, and he didn't want that. Not this way. Stiles shut the cabinet and went to his bedroom. He dropped onto his bed but shot up a second later, locking the window and closing the curtains. It was Derek's normal method of getting into his house.

After that, Stiles got into his bed, wrapped himself in his blankets, and threw one over his head to make a blanket burrito fort. He turned on his Kindle and read. He lost himself in words and tried to forget about everything.

At some point, he fell asleep.

Stiles tried his hardest to ignore everything that was going around him. He had been able to escape his father's ire by getting up before him. It was just delaying the inevitable, but he would rather do that than get into it with his father before school. He had got the text that he needed to go to the station when he was out of school.

There were whispers about how Derek was trying to talk to him, and he kept on blowing him off. Stiles just had to get through the rest of the day. He planned on ducking into the library and just ignoring everything until it was time to go to his next class. He pushed into the doors that led to the hallway that the library was on.

"STILES!" Derek yelled.

Stiles groaned. He wasn't escaping.

"Don't even think of running. What the hell is going on, Stiles?" Cora demanded.

"Please just let me leave," Stiles said. He was a fan of ignoring things until they went away. He would rather just do that than have it out. It wasn't like anyone would notice that Derek and Stiles broke up. No one knew they were dating, so Stiles would be alone, again. He would find other friends, maybe. He didn't need Derek. He didn't need Cora, and he sure as hell didn't need someone who was ashamed of him.

"Stiles, what the hell? Why did you leave the meal?"

"I didn't feel like it." Stiles tried to figure out how long it would be before he couldn't escape Derek anymore.

"You are ghosting on Derek; why?"

"What?" Stiles turned to look at Cora, taking his eyes off Derek. It was a mistake.

The next thing that Stiles knew, he was being slammed into the lockers on the wall. It wasn't nearly as hard as the one time that Jackson had done it. Derek spun him around and was glaring at him. His eyes were a strange color, almost yellow. And glowing. They were glowing. Stiles had no idea what was going on.

"Oh, shit. Derek. Bathroom."

Derek growled, and then they were moving. Stiles was so freaked out by the eyes that he didn't even try and stop Derek from dragging him into the bathroom. There was no one in there, so at least when Stiles tripped and then started to scoot back until he hit a wall, he wasn't seen by anyone. Derek's eyes were still yellow, and it was freaking Stiles out a lot. He couldn't breathe. He knew that he could, but he couldn't get his chest to expand. He was just unable to get in the air that he needed. Derek's face changed, his eyes stopped glowing, and the hair that had started to sprout on the sides was disappearing.

"You are worthless," Cora said as she darted around Derek and headed for Stile.

Stiles flinched back from her. She stopped in her tracks.

"You are the one that ambushed him first," Derek said. He crouched down and sat with his legs crossed, grabbing Cora's shirt and tugging her down with him. "Stiles, tell me a few things you can see."

Stiles shook his head. He couldn't be having a panic attack, not like this. Not in school. He wouldn't have one in school. He wouldn't have one where anyone could see him. When it wasn't going away. Stiles did as Derek asked. It wasn't too hard; it was early enough in the panic attack. Derek walked him through it. All of the Hales were good at walking him through them, Peter was the best, but Derek was a close second. There was a time when Stiles had thought that it was because Derek had wanted to take care of him. Stiles rubbed at his eyes, feeling the tears there.

"You did this. You had to have, Derek. What did you do?" Cora demanded.

"I don't know what I did. He didn't even talk to me yesterday. I can't have done anything if he didn't talk to me," Derek said.

"Well, someone did something," Cora said.

"Stiles, please just talk to me."

"Fuck off and die. I'm done with you," Stiles said.

"Stiles, please," Derek said.

"Let me go," Stiles said.

"You can walk out at any time," Cora said.

"Cora," Derek said.

"He's fucking terrified, Derek. Don't tell me you can't see that. We need to let him go."

"He was going to the library. He wasn't even going to eat lunch. I can't..." Derek trailed off.

"Stiles, go to the cafeteria. We won't be there. We brought out lunch today."

Stiles shook his head. He didn't want to have more whispers about him eating alone for the first time in a long time. It was always them three.

Derek left the bathroom, and Stiles stood up. He really needed to get up off the floor. It wasn't helping him not freak out again. He snagged his backpack off the floor where it fell.

"I'll have Lori grab you a tray and take it outside to our spot," Cora said.

Stiles nodded his head in agreement to that. The Hales were all worriers. He had seen it so much. They would keep on freaking out until he agreed to something. Waited for them to leave, and it was only as they were leaving that he realized they were in the girls' bathroom. He didn't even look around while he was in there, but then he was following Cora and Derek to where they would split for them to go get food and Stiles to head outside. The area was never invaded by many people. They usually had it to themselves. Which always made Stiles happy.

Derek stayed at the door like he was afraid that Stiles would leave before Lori got there with food.

As soon as Lori appeared, Derek went back inside.

It made Stiles feel like he was a possession. He didn't know what to do. He really didn't. He needed to talk to his father, but he also didn't like giving up Derek. Stiles knew that it was the worst thing in the world to out someone when they weren't ready. Yet, Stiles felt like he needed to for his own safety. He wasn't sure what the hell to do. He had never thought that Derek would hurt him, not romantically but not physically either. Yet, here he was, scared as hell. He took a deep breath and exhaled as Lori handed him food. He was close enough with her. She was one of Cora's friends more than his or Derek's, but they hung out.

"Text me if you need anything else." Lori handed Stiles a can of Dr. Pepper next.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Stiles ate the food. He went to class, and he got the hell out of the school as fast as he could. Heading right for his father. He found his father in his office at the station; he was working on something. Stiles froze in the door. He forgot that this would out him as well. While his father never talked about sexuality, he never said anything horrible about the few out and proud people in town. That could be just keeping things close as he knew that he would probably not be voted in again if he was homophobic.

"Stiles, I didn't expect you right after school." Noah looked up, and he frowned. He waved at someone out in the bullpen.

"You told me to come straight here," Stiles said. His father had told him that, but Stiles knew that he expected him to dawdle in some way.

Stiles gave in when the person behind him shoved him into the room. He looked at who it was and frowned. It was Deputy Sean Wilcox. A man who Stiles liked, but he was attached to the Hales. Stiles had seen him out there a lot. The door was shut, and Wilcox sat down.

"Stiles, I know you left before I woke up. I'm not upset with you. You were not in a good mood yesterday, and I should have just let you stay home. Peter said he had left you in the library with a few books." Noah looked at Wilcox and nodded his head.

"He's already here," Wilcox said.

"Now, son, why are you pale as a ghost?"

"I...I think I'm in trouble. I think that my-" Stiles stopped. He couldn't say it. He shook his head. The door opened, so he didn't try and say anything else.

"Noah," Peter said.

Stiles gasped and looked at him. Peter stepped into the office and shut the door behind him.

"I have a feeling that my nephew had fucked something up."

"Should I leave?" Wilcox asked.

"No, you are more distant on this," Peter said. He walked around, and Stiles tracked him until Peter crouched in front of him. "Stiles, why did you leave yesterday?"

Stiles shook his head. He couldn't out Derek to his uncle. He pulled his legs to his chest and tried not to have another panic attack.

"Peter," Noah said.

"It's fine. He's just distressed, which I know is worrying. Stiles, I know that Derek is gay. I know that you and he have been in a relationship. Your father knows this. Even Sean here knows this."

Stiles looked at Peter, trying to figure out if he said that to get Stiles to confirm it or if he actually did know it. He wouldn't put it past Peter on either of those fronts. Peter was good at what he did, but he also manipulated things to the way he wanted them to be. He wasn't shocked by anything that Peter did, but he knew one thing. Peter loved his family. He would burn and salt the earth for them.

"It's nothing, Dad," Stiles said.

"Lie," Wilcox and Peter said at the same time.

"I think that we are dealing with keeping too many secrets," Noah said. He got up out of his seat and walked around the desk. He shoved Peter out of the way from where he was still in front of Stiles. "Son, as Peter said. We know that you and Derek are dating. There are reasons why we know this. Now, what made you so scared?"

"I...Why do you know?" Stiles asked.

"I found the condoms, Stiles. I have also seen Derek slipping in and out of your bedroom window. The neighbors do watch you, you know that, right?"

"You've never brought it up."

"I knew you were safe, and you seemed to be a lot happier. Recently though, you've been different. I knew you would tell me when you were ready, and I wasn't going to push you into coming out. Has Derek done something?"

"I don't understand anything anymore. If you all know, why hasn't he ever told me that his whole family knows? Why hasn't he ever had me over as his boyfriend? Why am I such a dirty little secret?" Stiles asked.

"Oh, shit," Wilcox said. He stood up. "I'm gonna go and tell Alpha."

"Please do. I think this would be better without anyone listening. Take Matthew with you," Peter said.

"I think we all need a drink," Noah said. He walked back around his desk and pulled out three glasses.

Stiles watched him fill up two with a good amount, and the third was given just a little bit. Peter snagged two of them, handing Stiles the one with the least amount.

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" Stiles asked, but he belted back the amount before it could be taken away.

"I'm the Sheriff, son, and I could give you alcohol in the house; this is close enough to the house."

Peter snorted and took a sip of his before he fixed his eyes on Stiles. "I blame Talia for this. I wanted to tell you years ago, and while everyone knows about you two, there is a way that our family treats childhood crushes and first relationships. I told Talia that keeping you on the outside was going to screw things up. I wonder what she would think if I let him know that she's the reason you broke up with Derek."

"I thought no one knew, and he was not out to anyone. That he was afraid of coming out."

"And then Laura brought home her girlfriend, and we were all exclaiming over her. I knew you were at the window. I assumed you were looking at what was making all that noise and then would be down. Then Derek went to get you when we sat down to dinner, and you weren't anywhere in the house. He looked for you but didn't find you anywhere."

"I couldn't just go down there and act like Derek, and I were nothing. I couldn't. I love him, and I thought that I wasn't worth anything but sex to him."

"Shit," Noah said.

"I'll take him home. He looks like he slept like shit. Tomorrow is Friday. Call him out of school. Make sure that he doesn't have to face anyone. I'll make sure that Talia comes by to apologize, but today, I think that sleeping is what's best for him. I'll stay until you get home and make sure none of the family comes around."

"Spencer can," Stiles said.

"Of course, Spencer's always allowed. I know that." Peter was smiling.

Stiles felt like the world was a little less horrible.

"Why don't you give me the keys, and I'll drive you home?"

"What about your car?"

"I didn't drive here. Sean drove me in after snagging me from the house. No one will miss me. Now, what do you want to eat?"

"Chinese," Stiles said.

Peter knew Stiles' order so he could call it in when Peter got hungry. Stiles wasn't hungry, but he would eat when he was given food. His answers weren't there yet, but he assumed that he would get them when Talia talked to him.

Stiles felt so tired. He felt so damned tired.

"Son, I love you," Noah said as he wrapped Stiles into a hug as soon as he stood up.

Stiles reveled in being in his father's arms. He felt like he was safe. Now, he just had to figure everything else out after a nap.

Stiles wasn't sure what woke him up. Then he heard the loud voices.

"Peter, do not stop me. Do not get in my way."

"You are the reason he cried himself to sleep. I could still smell his fucking tears, Talia, from last night. He thought that Derek was keeping him secret because he wasn't out to the rest of us. Then Laura brought Lena home, and he realized that it wasn't that. So the first thing that he goes to is that Derek doesn't love him that way and is just using him for sex because you keep up with some outdated piece of shit family code that the human can't be told until marriage and told Derek that until he was sure that he wanted to be with Stiles, he needed to be kept separate from everyone else."

"Stiles is lovely, Peter, but he doesn't keep secrets."

"He kept the secret from everyone about him and Derek. He went into his father's office, scared out of his mind that his father hated him for being gay. I warned you that you might lose Derek and Cora over this. Noah said that Stiles looked scared. Whatever Derek did to satisfy his inner self freaked Stiles out enough to come out to his father and get help to keep Derek away from him because he doesn't know the truth. If Stiles never forgives Derek, that's on your head."

"Laura never had an issue," Talia said.

"Lena knew, and Laura kept that from you. Laura got injured at college and shifted. We both decided to keep it a secret from you."

Stiles wasn't sure why they were fighting over him. He rolled to grab a pillow but stopped when he realized that someone was in bed with him. He looked down to see a mess of curly hair. It was Spencer. Stiles wiggled a little, and Spencer moved to allow Stiles to get more comfortable. It felt good. He laughed as Spencer wiggled in closer once he was settled down. Spencer was all for afternoon naps. Even as a near teenager, he would cuddle with anyone. Stiles had always found how the whole family acted to be weird. He thought that maybe they were just a little like a cult a long time ago, but they were not dangerous.

"Sleep," Spencer muttered before he squeezed tightly to Stiles.

"Yeah, sleep."

Spencer made a noise that was pretty damned close to what he had heard dogs make before; it was just a human version of it. Stiles' brain kind of whited out. Everything that Peter had been having him read for years came to him. Peter had called someone Alpha at the station. And the fact that Peter had talked about smelling his tears.

"Werewolves," Stiles whispered.

There was the sound of something hitting the floor.

"What the hell was that?" Noah yelled up the stairs.

"Talia dropped her mug when Stiles said the word Werewolves," Peter said loud enough for Stiles to hear him.

"Ugh, they are too loud." Spencer sounded like a child with that.

"I don't think that we are going to be allowed to sleep more." Stiles wanted more sleep, but now his mind was spinning with everything.

"Not with Mom pissed off at Peter for him yelling at her. None of us liked not telling you," Spencer said. He pushed himself up and looked down at Stiles.

Stiles shrugged his shoulder. He was used to being the one on the outs; he had just never had that with Derek and Cora before. He thought he mattered to them, and he understood some of what they were doing as far as their Alpha was concerned, but as shown by what Peter said, the Betas of the pack could go against what their Alpha said. Laura was an adult, so maybe that had something to do with it. Stiles was pretty sure that everything that Peter had been letting him read was things that he shouldn't have been reading. Yet, Peter had done it. He had made sure that Stiles knew as much as he could give him before the big reveal.

"I think I don't want to talk anymore."

"Okay," Spencer said. He laid down again, curling into Stiles.

Spencer was human; Stiles knew that from what he knew. Spencer's want of cuddling made a lot of sense if it was how he got comfort from his family. He and Stiles were closer, not nearly as close as Cora and Derek, but Stiles looked at him like a little brother.

"Spencer, I need to speak to Stiles alone," Talia said from the doorway.

"You can fuck off," Stiles said, and he didn't let go of Spencer.

"Spencer," Talia said.

Spencer whined, and he made to move, but then there was a throat clearing. Stiles looked to the side to see his father standing behind Talia in the doorway.

"He told you to fuck off, Alpha Hale. This might be your area, but this is my house. I wasn't aware of the stupid assed reason why you never let Stiles into the know on this. It hurt him, and now he knows. Give him time to get his head around it all. Tell your other children that as well. Unless Stiles gives enthusiastic verbal consent, I don't want any of them around him. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sheriff." Talia looked at Stiles, and there was anger in her eyes, but Stiles was pretty sure it wasn't directed at him but at herself. He didn't really care, though. He would rather just ignore her altogether.

Stiles had heard a lot about Talia from the kids, Laura looked up to her, but she doted on Laura; the other three kids seemed to suffer from thinking they were not good enough. Which was where a lot of what Stiles thought was a good reason for Derek to not come out.

Closing his eyes, Stiles let sleep take him again. He had no clue what time it was. He had no clue what day it was, but he didn't care. It was hard work, nursing a shattered heart.

Stiles climbed out his window, but instead of dropping down to the ground, he sat on the roof, looking up at the stars and the full moon. He swore he could hear howling, but that could mostly be just a bit of wishful thinking on his part.

The sky was clear and bright for the full moon, which was nice, but Stiles wanted it to be cloudy. He could forget the fact that he still hadn't made a decision about the Hales as a whole.

Peter had been by with new books for him to read and talk him through many things. Spencer came by a few afternoons a week to get homework help that he didn't need. On his last visit, he had left with one of Stiles' hoodies, Derek's favorite for Stiles to wear, and left a T-shirt that was Derek's. Stiles understood why it was done. He also knew that he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would. He missed his hoodie, but he could deal, at least for now.

A sound from the trees below had Stiles leaning over to look. He was shocked when he saw a wolf trotting out. It looked like a normal, everyday wolf, but Stiles knew two things. One, normal, everyday wolves didn't get that big as this one was a chonker. And two, wolves hadn't made it this far into California yet in the reintroduction process. Peter's books had talked about it being a family trait of one single-family to be able to shift into a full wolf, but this was insane. There was also the fact that it took years for it to happen. That was one of the adults from the Hale family.

"Get the hell out of here," Stiles yelled down.

The wolf looked up at him and whined, his eyes flashing yellow. It was a Beta, but there were several adult betas in the pack. However, when the wolf settled down with his belly on the ground and looked dejected, Stiles debated.

Derek hadn't been at school the last few days. After Stiles had missed Friday, he had gone to school on Monday and ignored Derek and Cora. Tuesday had been a repeat of the same, with Derek leaving halfway through the day. It was Friday again, and Derek hadn't been back at school since lunch on Tuesday.

The wolf whined ad was pawing at the ground. Stiles sighed and looked into his bedroom. His father was at the station, one of the few times that as Sheriff, he worked the night shift unless shit was bad with call-offs for sickness. He liked being on hand for full moons, which had more than a few red flags being raised with Stiles now. He wasn't sure if his father worked the nights because of the Werewolf pack in Beacon Hills or the fact that there were always more issues on the full moon.

Stiles climbed back into his room and shut and locked the window. He grabbed a hoodie to wear so that he didn't get cold and found a pair of shoes that he didn't mind getting muddy. He was still in the clothes he had worn to school.

The house was dark and quiet. Stiles slipped out the front door, making sure that his phone was in his hoodie pocket. He found the wolf standing at the foot of the stairs. It whined again.

Stiles sat down on the porch and looked at the wolf. It was acting like it wanted to come up and settle in beside him but wasn't because it knew he didn't want it.

"Who are you?" Stiles asked.

The wolf stretched and pawed at the ground for a few seconds before it made its choice and rushed up the stairs to nuzzle in at the side of Stiles' neck, right where Derek had last placed a massive hickey that had Stiles wearing longer neck shirts.

Stiles sighed and wrapped an arm around Derek. Derek all but fell into him.

A howl broke the silence of the street, and Derek jerked where he had been. He acted like he needed to go but didn't want to. Stiles stood up, and Derek jumped to his feet. He headed toward the door, but Stiles shook his head. Derek's face was hard to read a wolf, but Stiles could a little.

"Let's go see what whoever that is wanting. I can't...I can't promise much, but I can try. If you promise no more secrets. I don't mean like stuff your family doesn't need to have shared with me but things that I need to know. And if your mother can't handle that, then I am gone, and I'll install Mountain Ash floorboards. You'll never cross the threshold again. Do you understand me?"

Derek nodded.

"Then lead the way."

Stiles followed beside Derek as they walked into the Preserve that was now a little too close for Stiles' liking. He wondered how much Derek had been outside his house and hadn't known it. He chose to ignore that right now.

The sound of laughter and howling got louder the closer they got to the deep parts of the Preserve. Stiles felt safe with Derek beside him.

Spencer and Cora were visible first to Stiles, but then he always sought them out. The rest of the pack, including many that Stiles didn't know, were scattered around a fire.

"Stiles," Peter said as he stepped closer. He looked down at Derek. "That's where you ran off to. I should have known. You are lucky his father wasn't there. Hungry, Stiles?"

"No, I ate dinner a while ago. But I am thirsty," Stiles said.

"Here, hot chocolate," Spencer said and held out a thermos that had its lid off. There was enough room for Stiles on the log beside Spencer and enough room on Stiles's sides for Derek to sit beside the log. He walked over to sit and then took in the people who were staring at him.

"How in the hell, Talia? Who is he?" one of them demanded.

Derek got to his feet and growled at the person who spoke, and they growled back even though they were in human form.

Before Stiles could answer, someone else spoke. "I have to agree about what he is doing here." The accent on the man was French but a little of something else that Stiles knew as Polish.

Stiles looked at the man, and he would have tripped if he had been moving.

"I want to know what you are doing here, Franciszek."

"Stiles?" Cora asked.

"Treaty work."

"What is going on?" Talia asked.

"This is my cousin," Robbie said.

"Cousin? On which side?" Talia asked.

"Mother's," Robbie answered.

Stiles felt all of the eyes there turn into him. Derek leaned into him harder.

"His mother and my mother are sisters. There was a falling out just before Claudia died. I haven’t seen Noah or Stiles since then."

"Dear God," Talia said.

"Yes, Talia. Look how it is when your bad acts will get back to the Gajos matriarch that you treated her nephew like shit. Though the only point in your favor is that it seems they didn't see fit to share with Noah or him that they knew of this world, even when they lived in a town with a Werewolf pack."

"He's with your son. I can smell their mingled scents from here," Robbie said.

"Well, I'm seeing if I forgive him for not telling me and making me think that he didn't want me for anything but sex," Stiles said.

Robbie flinched at that. He looked down at his hand, and there was a phone. "Mom and Dad are in San Francisco shopping, Mieczyslaw. Do you want them to come over?"

"Sure, let's get the family bloodletting out. Derek, let's go. Cora, Spencer, you too. Let's have a sleepover."

"Yeah!" Spencer yelled as he jumped to his feet.

"Stiles," Peter said as Stiles got to the edge of the clearing. He looked back at Peter. "Derek shifted into this form on Tuesday, and he's not shifted back yet. He may with you. Be gentle with him."

"I will."

"I mean that," Peter said.

Stiles nodded as he got what Peter meant. He was pissed off, and right now, his being pissed off was at the adult in their lives. He hated his aunt and uncle for never telling him, but also he was angry at his mother. He didn't like being angry at her, but then he was also pretty sure that she hadn't thought that Beacon Hills and the Hale Pack would go to shit after she died. She probably assumed that Stiles would never cross paths with the supernatural. So instead, he was now smack in the middle of it.

"I'm so tired." Stiles was more tired than he had been.

Cora slipped beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, helping to hold him up as they made their way to the house.

Once inside, Stiles didn't care too much to do anything but take his shoes off right away. Then they were traipsing up to the bedroom, and all of them passed out. Stiles was bracketed on either side by Cora and Spencer with Derek over his legs. He drifted off to sleep, happy to have Cora and Derek near him once again.

Morning came with too much noise, Stiles thought as he was pulled from sleep. He listened to Cora and Spencer as they bickered outside the bedroom. Stiles snuggled into Derek's arms and enjoyed it. Until he realized that Derek was holding him and he had to be naked. Or he had got up and put on something before coming up and cuddling Stiles.

"I'm so sorry, Stiles. Please, believe me."

"I believe you that you are sorry, Derek. I just...I have a right to my feelings, and it's going to take time to untangle them."

"Do you want me to leave?" Derek asked.

"No, don't leave. Just...let me take things in my own time. I'll come back to you, and I don't think it will be too long for now. Can we just exist together?"

"Of course, we can do that. Just tell me if something I do is too much. I am used to having more free-range, and I might slip up." Derek pressed a kiss to the back of Stiles' neck.

Stiles stiffened but then decided that he liked it, so he relaxed again.

"I'm more pissed at your mother and my family right now."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'm pissed at my mother as well."

"I kind of want to run away," Stiles said. He snagged Derek's hand and pulled it up. He traced Derek's fingers like he did when they had a chance to just cuddle like this.

"I did not mean to hurt you. I just knew that my mom didn't want anyone around all that often. You got away with it when we were just friends, and yes, I kept bringing you around like that as it was better than nothing. Cora is pissed with mom. Hell, even Laura is pissed with mom, and she's always been the one who sucks up to mom."

"I'm shocked she's stayed away from talking to me about this."

"I think your father threatening to shoot her for coming onto his property was the main thing. Peter giving him the bullets to do so was another."

Stiles laughed at that. He knew that his father had a few special sets of bullets in his safe in his office. He had never touched them as they had weird symbols on them. His curiosity had been piqued many times, but he hadn't wanted to look it up and get his father in trouble. Stiles knew the code to the safe; he knew how to shoot to defend himself.

The job of the Sheriff wasn't without its drawbacks.

"Oh, my God," Stiles said, and he rolled onto his back, making Derek huff in disapproval a little.

"What?" Derek asked.

"He stopped being worried about me when I started to date you. He always used to ask about how people treated me and stuff, and he stopped when I started to date you."

"That's a very different part of things that I feel like you might get pissed at. I knew who was around you all the time. I could smell strangers, and he had me know who to look for. He worried about following you."

"You are the reason that that one person was found to be following me, aren't you?"

"Actually, that was Peter. He found the scent on you one day when you and he were meeting for coffee, and he knew the smell from that time that Donovan attacked your father in the station."

"You guys have protected me for a long time, haven't you?" Stiles asked.

"No, not really. I mean, not any more than we would anyone else in the pack that is human. It's nothing more than that. Mom might have fought against you being with me, but no one else has."

"Being...Derek?" Stiles asked. He rolled to his side and looked down at Derek, who was on his back now.

"Werewolves have a thing called mates. I'm sure you've read about it since Peter has been feeding you books about Werewolves. It's not a big thing, but we all know people who are a match for us. I met you when I was young, and I knew."

"What about Cora?"

"Yeah, no. She doesn't feel the same pull. Some twins do have a match in the same person, and usually, they are shared. But for Cora and I, it's not a thing."

Stiles nodded his head. He looked at Derek, and he could see the stain on him. He looked like he had not been sleeping, just like Peter pointing out that he had been in his wolf form. Stiles had seen an account where a young man had spent years in his wolf form after a traumatic event.

"I'm sorry that I caused you to shift into your wolf form," Stiles said. He looked down at Derek, who just shrugged.

Stiles was still made, but he loved Derek. He loved him a great deal. Derek wasn't using him, and Stiles understood there was more at play than his mother just telling him no. The pack bonds were not something to be taken lightly.

"It's fine. It's early, and Laura is a little jealous. But it is what it is. She'll get over it. It's a Hale family trait, and everyone can do it, with enough time and will to do it."

"What made you do it?" Stiles asked.

"Peter thinks it's because life is simpler as a wolf for me. That I feel like I'm safer. I don't know if he's right or not, but I kind of agree with what he said. Mom doesn't have a good reason. However, Dad has one that does make sense. I felt safer being around you if I was in wolf form. I could be around you. I ran the grounds around your house when your father was at work, and you were home. I could smell your sorrow from outside. I hated it. I hated that I made you feel like that. That you felt like you weren't worth anything. That's what hurts me more than anything else."

Stiles nodded and dropped down to cuddle into Derek, burying his face in Derek's neck. He felt Derek's arms come around him. This was enough for right now, just them going slow back into something more. They were both young enough to take the time they hadn't taken before on going from friends to lovers.

They could be happy again if they worked for it, and if Stiles knew one thing, Derek was worth it.

The End