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“Did you argue with your brothers?”
Stiles frowns. He doesn't know what to think anymore.
“God, no." Kyle shakes his head. "I haven’t seen them, why would I argue with them?”
“I don’t know why but I’m sure that one of you could easily find a reason,” Stiles offers.
“Nobody found a reason. We’re fine—Totally fine.”
“Great. Everything is fine but you still don’t wanna come.”
“No, I want to go but then… then I have to lie to him and I—I don’t wanna do that, okay?—Happy now?”
“You mean Levi? So this whole thing is because of him?” Stiles frowns.
“Yeah, him. My boyfriend. He’s the one I’m living with.”
“But that’s… that’s stupid,” Stiles shakes his head, that didn’t come out right.
“Really?” Kyle frowns.
“I mean, telling him you’re visiting your family is not lying—It’s the truth.”
“Right. Visiting my family... because that’s all I’m gonna do. Because that’s all we are.”
“The pack is your family too.”
“Yeah, because we are the same spices.”
“And because you matter to them, the same way they matter to you. They're all your family too and you don't need me to tell you but if you need me to remind you—”
“You see, this is why I didn’t want to have this conversation," Kyle interrupts him. "I knew exactly what you were going to say.”
“Yeah, your dad is very predictable,” Stiles rolls his eyes. "I'm so sorry."
“You’ve never been in this position, okay? You never had to lie to your boyfriend and dad has never had to lie to you, so don’t tell me that it is stupid...”
“I admit…" Stiles licks his lips. "I admit that stupid wasn’t the right word. I know it’s complicated. I'm the first one who has lied to a lot of people about—you know, a lot of things… But there was always a good reason.”
“But you never had to lie to your boyfriend, okay? Or that you understand what I'm going through—”
“Well, I lied to your grandpa…”
“Yeah, like that’s the same,” Kyle shakes his head.
“Kyle—”
“Dad, he’s never lied to me…” Kyle snorts, “I think he’s physically unable to even try it, you know? If he regrets something, he has to tell me right away or he can’t stop thinking about it, let alone sleep at night. So, yeah, the most decent and caring person I’ve ever met outside of my family totally trusts me, and he doesn’t even know that I’m not human. And yes, I know why I can’t tell him but that doesn’t make it any easier. It doesn't help me.”
“Kyle, I wish there was something I could do… something I could tell you—”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing to say.”
“If he knew the truth, he’d understand that being with your pack is important to you.”
“Yeah, if I told him I’m getting a flight so that I can turn and run in the woods with my brother, my dad, and a bunch of wolves he knows nothing about he’d be delighted… or he would freak out and run out the door as fast as possible… who the hell knows what he would do.”
“I don’t think that he’d run out the door… and whatever else you’re thinking, it’s not your fault. It’s who you are and who you are makes you special.”
“Sure, it's not my fault—I didn’t choose this, but, as long as I’m not honest with him, I don’t think I deserve to go.”
“Kyle, that’s not true. It’s really not.”
“It is the truth, I don’t fucking deserve it… If I was a better… person… or werewolf, I wouldn’t be living with him. I’d break up with him and I’d let him be with a human who wouldn’t be lying to his face every freaking day… but here I am… being selfish and trying not to think about it.”
“God, seriously, firstly, you’re not a bad person… and believe me, in my line of work I’ve met too many of them and, secondly,” Stiles shakes his head, even if he has an arsenal of reasons why he disagrees with his son, he’s not sure that saying them would make any difference because a part of him also gets how Kyle feels. “Secondly, you say you don’t deserve it because that wolf head of yours is all fucked up, but what about us? What about your family, who hasn’t seen you since last Christmas? Don’t we deserve to see you in person rather than on HBO?”
Kyle snorts, shaking his head. No matter what he says, his dad won't get it. “As I said, you just never think about it because your story was so totally different… but hell, I know this is hard, but just imagine that dad never told you about the bite. Imagine living with him, not knowing he turned… and then, one day out of nowhere, he tells you everything—Wouldn’t you feel betrayed?”
“Betrayed?” Stiles rolls his eyes, “Not really. Of course, I’d have been upset because I wouldn’t have understood why he didn’t tell me, not because I'd have been surprised… but your case is different, whoever you tell the truth is going to be surprised… and shocked—okay, very shocked, probably… so yeah, I get your point and I wish I could make you understand that there’s nothing wrong with you because you are in a position that is not up to you. So, maybe you should talk to your brother about this. I think he’s the only one who might actually help you—”
Kyle snorts, smiling but stays silent.
“What’s so amusing?” Stiles frowns.
“It’s not amusing. It’s just… pointless, maybe? Because yeah, sure, I can talk to him… but what for? I already know what he’s going to say.” Kyle shrugs. “After all his break-ups he doesn’t trust anyone. Last time he told me it was a terrible idea to tell him and I doubt that he’s changed his mind at all, you know?” Kyle shakes his head. “And the worst part is that I can’t blame him. I’d probably say the same if I was him.”
“I didn’t know he had told you that.” Stiles sighs. Stiles knows that Daniel’s relationships haven’t lasted long and he thought that maybe studying so much had a lot to do with it but maybe the situation is exactly the opposite. ”Believe it or not, we have conversations that you don’t know about.”
But if you want to know what I think… I think Levi loves you, and I think he’s really open-minded, and yeah, maybe he won’t be over the moon to know that you couldn’t be totally honest about it but I’m sure he’ll understand it.”
Kyle snorts, “you can’t possibly be that sure.”
“I am... I am sure... and look, you have a strong relationship and Derek knows what kind of person Levi is and I think if you come, you could ask him permission to tell him everything.”
“Seriously?” Kyle frowns with disbelief.
“Yeah, seriously. I think he doesn’t need you to get married in order to tell him… and even if you broke up, which I know is unlikely… very unlikely to happen… he would never betray your trust.”
“Did he actually tell you this?” Kyle raises his eyebrows.
“Well, not with those words, no… but Levi is Levi, okay? He's different—We all know that. After meeting him, Derek has seen that telling him is a possibility if he’s gonna be a part of your future.”
“Sure.” Kyle says with suspicion. “If you’re saying that so that I go—”
Stiles snorts. “No, this shouldn’t be your reason to come. I already told you the reason. I’m just saying that you could use the opportunity to talk to him. This is not something you can text him about—You know that.”
“I don’t know…” Kyle says unconvinced.
“Don’t you think that Levi must also wonder why you never come to visit us? Because I bet he does… Especially now that you’re—”
Not that word again. “Okay, fine," Kyle interrupts him. "I’ll be there. But please, don’t make a big thing out of this.”
“Make a big thing?" Sometimes it feels like Kyle doesn't get what he means to the pack. "I'm pack but I’m not a wolf... Whatever your alpha says, I’m not as important as you are, so yeah, it is what it is, and I’ve always been fine with that. Now I have stuff to do… and you'd better start packing. Let me know when you’ve booked the flight, okay?”
Kyle sighs, shaking his head. “Fine. Yeah, will do.”
“Wait. One thing,”
“What now?” Kyle frowns.
“When you hang up, don’t second-guess it. Because I know you, and that's your thing. You second-guess everything.” Since the day he met him, he’s always been like that. “So, not this time.”
“Dad—”
“Just don’t, okay? You’ve made the right decision. End of story.”
Kyle sighs, closing his eyes for a moment.
“Fine. Yeah, whatever. I’ll text you later.”
Stiles smiles. For other people, that might seem like a short answer, but coming from his son, and the way he sounded, that’s more than enough.
That’s a victory.