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Lonely was a word he came by often, exceedingly often perhaps.... Derek Hale was a lonely person, he had absolutely no one, a fire had killed every family member he had ten years ago, he had no romantic life and no freinds, he had climbed to the top of the business world when he was only 24 and now at 26 no longer felt the need to keep climbing, there was nothing waiting for him at the top anyway, it was lonely moments like these when Derek just ... zoned out... wished he had a different life, wished he lived in a different world, wished he was anywhere but here..... wished he wasn't lonely..... and it was during one of these moments of zoning out that Derek Hale, a billionaire at 26, crashed his car into a tree and lost consciousness, not that he had time to think of it, what with the suddenness of the crash, but he highly doubted anyone would notice he was gone if this was the end, after all, it wasn't like he had anyone to come looking for him anyway, who would miss him? Absolutely no one...
~+~
Derek gasped and sat straight up in bed, sweating heavily and running his hands over his face, what a horrible dream.... though he supposed it was no worse than any of the others.... he paused, blinking when he realized that the alarm hadn't woken him up, but it as clearly daylight, he should have been up hours ago... when he turned to see the clock two things became immediately apparent to him... First, that he was extremely late for work, and second, this was not, in fact, his house, so Derek bolted for the bedroom door and hurried towards the stairs, hoping that whoever had kidnapped him wouldn't notice him leaving if he was fast enough, ofcourse, THAT'S when it hit him.... the scent... the beautifull, wonderfull, magnificent scent of waffles fluttering in from the kitchen.... and he decided that maybe ONE pit stop wouldn't hurt him....
One pit stop had turned into half an hour of devouring the best waffles he had ever had in his entire life, and feeling the onset of drowsiness hit him like a ton of bricks halfway through his fourth one, he had nearly forgotten about the weird situation he was in at this point due to how content the food made him, but it made him wonder half-heartedly if this was all some big elaborate scheme to get money from him, lure him in with food, kill him, and take the inheritance... not that Derek had any living relatives but pappers could be faked he supposed, and it was at that moment, just when he was considering that he had fallen into a terrible trap, that he heard it, "Derek?" he lifted his head, blinking away the sleepiness from his eyes and staring across the table at the guy standing in the middle of the hallway, he was probbably about Derek's height, maybe an inch or so shorter or taller, with brown bedheaded hair and whiskey colored eyes and a smattering of moles blotching his skin, and for the first time in many, many years, Derek felt his mouth water for a reason that didn't relate to food or dehydration, "Dude you ate ALL the waffles? Oh man... you're going straight into a sugar coma... you KNOW what that does to you right? And some of those were for me, thank you," he huffed, marching closer like he owned the place and grabbing Derek by the arm, jerking him to his feet with surprising ease, "I guess you do deserve to beach yourself on a sugar high after yesterday though, come on big guy, let's get you upstairs and see if you can sleep it off," yesterday? What had happened yesterday? "You KNOW those are loaded in sugar if it even packs a punch to your werewolf metabolism... unless..... Dereeeeek.... how much syrup did you use?" as horrible and pittifull as it was, Derek could only manage out a faint "Huh?" and stumble along in the steps of the guy dragging him up the stairs, he DOES distinctly remember hearing the words "werewolf metabolism" though and wondered what that was about, he wasn't sure what he was involved in here but it was very, VERY weird, and the guy currently pushing him into bed smelled very, VERY good..... wich was a VERY weird thing to think about someone but Derek just couldn't inhale deeply enough to satisfy his bizzare urge to keep sniffing the guy, "Ok, down Big Bad Wolf, I'm gonna go make sure the waffles weren't somehow spiked, you stay here and like... sleep it off, or if that doesn't work, shake it off, that works for Taylor Swift so it's gotta hold SOME merit," he teased as he dissappeared around the corner, part of Derek wanted to follow him, part of Derek wanted to mull over just what in the hell he was involved in, and part of Derek.... just was too blitzed out on sugar to do more than let his eyes roll in the back of his head and pass out like the nice smelling guy had instructed
This time when Derek woke up it was a very different story, he was still confused and wanted to know what was going on but his priority was tracking the guy down and talking to him, so he didn't waste time and immediately after waking up he rolled out of the comfortable bed and went looking for this.... this guy with the waffles...... when did his life suddenly become weird?
~+~
"Derek! There you are, feeling better I hope?" When Derek entered the kitchen that was not what he expected, "How do you know who I am?" "Very funny Derek, I need to remember that 'fast metabolism' doesn't mean 'never absorbs sugar' I get it," the guy teased as he poured some orange juice into a glass, "No, seriously, who are you and how do you know who I am? Where are we?" if Derek could put a word to the expression that Waffle Guy wore when he turned around... "crushed" would be putting it mildly, "Wait... what do you mean 'seriously'? Derek.... this better be some kind of joke..." "It isn't," he growled, the other swallowed, looking like his entire world had just collapsed around him and he gripped the counter, "Oh God... oh God... that ... that bump on the head yesterday was more than a bump..." he muttered, "What? What are you talking about?" "Yesterday! You hit your head Derek! You said you were fine but clearly you aren't and... you... just... stay here, stay here I need to ... to call some people," he muttered back, rushing out of the kitchen towards the nearest phone, when Derek tried to remember what he was referring to... it all suddenly flooded back to him, the accident.... the car accident... Derek felt as if his world were in a tailspin and sat down quickly, burring his face in his hands, what had he ended up getting into....?
Derek honestly wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but being dragged into a vet's office was definately not it, "Just... please, PLEASE wait here," Waffle Guy- he NEEDED to learn his name good God- urged as he pushed Derek gently into a chair in the waiting room, Derek glared at him, not at all pleased or impressed with the behavior, but deciding to let it go for now and just do as he was asked, he was still exhausted for some odd reason and didn't really feel like getting up and jumping down this weird rabbit hole any further anyway, but for some reason, when Waffle Guy left and went to one of the back rooms, Derek didn't feel any better, in fact, for some reason, he just felt worse... much worse....
"Remind me... why am I at a VET'S office and not the office of a PEOPLE doctor?" Derek asked slowly as he stared up at Waffle Guy- he hadn't mentioned his name yet, still- "Because you're a werewolf and have to see someone who isn't going to freak out over your blood type? Derek... how much of your life do you even remember?" he asked with concern, "I.. all of it?" he replied in confusion, inhaling deeply as the vet instructed and flinching in discomfort at the cold metal of the stethoscope pressing against his back, "Derek, what exactly do you remember of your life?" Derek took another breath, but this time out of disgruntlement, "Could you please just tell me your name? And who you are?" the guy shifted on his feet and exchanged a worried look with the vet before turning towards him again, "I'm Stiles, I'm... I'm your husband," Derek frowned deeply as the vet circled around and started checking his eyes, "That's impossible, I'm not married, I'm not even dating," Stiles looked away, as if it were hard for him to even hear, "We ARE married dude... just... tell me, what do you remember of your life?" Derek took another deep breath, trying not to flinch as the vet placed his hands on the center of his back, "I'm a very wealthy and successfull attorney with no social life, no family or freinds to speak of, and an offer to be a partner at my firm, I live in New York in a grand high-rise apartment, drive a Camarao, and have not been in a romantic relationship since I was twenty-one, over five years ago," the vet tightened the blood pressure cuff and turned towards Stiles, cringing instantly, "Dude.... his fake life sounds even worse than his real life," he hissed, "I know, I'm kinda glad to break it to him.." Stiles muttered, "What are you talking about? Break what?" Derek insisted, Stiles took a deep breath as he stepped forward, hands up as if he were surrendering something, "Ok Derek... I need you to bare with me here a minute.... you live in California, you aren't an attorney, you're a children's writer with a little bit of a counseling thing on the side, you aren't twenty-six, you're barely twenty-four, you don't live in an apartment, you live in a house... in a neighborhood that has an association fee... with me and two dogs- who are currently at the groomer's thank GOD- and a future planned for lots and lots of little kids..... your family IS gone except for your sisters Laura and Cora, you have a TON of freinds though! A big pack! Just like you always wanted!" "A PACK? What- and why do you keep calling me a werewolf? You can't seriously be trying to tell me I'm a werewolf are you?" he snorted, "Well..... yes," Stiles coughed, Derek narrowed his eyes, peeling the cuff off and hopping off of the exam table, "That's it, whatever you're playing at, just tell me, I'm sick of this game! You know, you almost had me going until the werewolf thing? Why would you rui- oh.. ohhhh..." he groaned, leaning immediately into Stiles' touch when the other man started to scratch him behind his ears, "What... did you do to me?" he muttered, nuzzling against him, "Erogenous zone man," "W-Why...? I never.... never had.... ohh..." "Yeah well it's an untested theory of mine that it's a werewolf thing, Scotty won't let me TEST that theory ofcourse..." "I'm not going to let you try to excite me Stiles," the vet- Scott- squeaked defensively, "Oh come on you know you'd have a good time, I have MAGIC HANDS Scott!" "And Derek would MAUL me later are you kidding?" the way Derek arched into Stiles' touch almost made him think that he was about to start shaking his leg, it was pretty adorable honestly, "Oh yeah, this looks like someone who's capable of mauling someone,"
~+~
"So.... werewolves," Derek said slowly, Stiles gave a slow nod and nudged Scott, who shifted his features back to being human immediately, Derek had gone on a rant for almost a full three minutes on how there was no way werewolves existed and then Scott wolfed out just to prove him wrong, this was the disaster that fell from it, "I'm... I can't be a werewolf, you've.... you have to be making some mistake," he stressed, Stiles took a breath and rifled through the cabinet across from the exam table, coming away with a needle and cautiously taking Derek's hand, the larger man jerked away and started to squirm but Scott carefully held him in place, "Wait, wait, what are yo- ouch!" he hissed, jerking back after Stiles pricked him and staring in alarm as the needle mark faded instantly, "That's impossible..." he muttered to himself, "It's possible and... you not remembering the call of the wild here means I'm going to have to reteach you before the full moon," Stiles added, "Luckily that isn't for a few weeks," Scott chimed in, "I don't.... I don't understand," Derek said quietly, "I don't understand how my entire life could just be.... what? A dream? My imagination? It's... this is my LIFE!" he insisted, "Derek... I know," Stiles said gently, taking his hands and sitting next to him on the table, "I don't know what happened either, maybe you got struck with some sort of hallucinogen or something, I don't know, but .. I mean pinch me, I'm real, this is all real, I don't know how else to prove it," he said softly, Derek looked down, his hands were shaking and he could feel nothing but anxiety coursing through every vein, "I feel like I'm going to be sick... I can't... I can't remember anything... everything I remember seems to be a lie, I don't... I don't..." "You don't have to adjust right away," Stiles added quickly, cautiously pulling him in for a tight hug and letting Derek lean on his shoulder, "I know it doesn't look like it right now, but it's gonna be ok Derek, I promise... I'm going to make it ok..."
~+~
"Once we get those werewolf senses turned on it'll be pretty overwelming so try to familiarize yourself with things as much as you can before that ok?" Stiles suggested as they walked into the house, it broke his heart, every breath felt like he was inhaling glass to see Derek so pensive about going up the stairs of his own house, but he had to just keep reminding himself that all of this would be ok, eventually, that his memories would come back eventually, that this confusion wouldn't last forever, he had a hard time coming to that conclusion, but it was the only conclusion he could come to
"So... your shirts are here and your underwear is here, your so-" "This is wrong," Derek interrupted, speaking for the first time since entering the house and glaring holes through the dresser, "What's wrong?" Stiles asked in confusion, "My t-shirts are in the bottom drawer? They're always in the top drawer... they're always in the top drawer," he muttered to himself again, "We can move them if you want Der, it's no big deal," Stiles said softly, "No, it's a big deal, it's just... it's just one more thing that shows how... proves that..." "That this is so different, yeah," Stiles nodded slowly, Derek glared at the underwear drawer for a moment before grabbing a pair of Joker themed boxers and sighing, "Really?" "Hey man, you bought those ALL on your own," Stiles grinned, Derek stared at them and put them down, trying to keep it together, it seemed small but it was just one more thing that reminded him where he was... or where he wasn't, rather....
~+~
"So ... I wrote these?" Derek asked quietly as he stared at the books in front of them, five of them, all aimed at children if the cartoonish cover art was any indication, "Yep, and those over there are your WIP boxes," Stiles replied, pointing to a large shelf beside the bookshelf full of thin, clear plastic boxes, some were empty, some were full of papper and business cards and other various things, some only contained a few pages and a flashdrive, but there were many of them, "WIP boxes...?" "Yeah... yeah you know, um, work in progress? This is the stuff you've either already finished or are close enough to finishing that you've started getting things together for getting them published, you think this is alot? Pfft, you don't want to see what's on your laptop," Stiles mused with an uneasy rock on the balls of his feet, Derek didn't speak at first, just looking over the books in silence, "Did I illustrate them too?" he asked quietly, "Yeah, actually you did," he answered, chewing his lip slightly, "And why do I get the feeling that you're the one who actually organizes all of this?" "I am," he grinned, "I'm sort of your manager, you could say," "My manager?" he replied slowly, "Well yeah, it's my second job pretty much," "And your first?" "I'm a psychologist, for the supernatural.. I get alot of werewolves, sometimes you help when I can't figure something out," he explained with a slight shrug, Derek nodded, taking a deep breath as he tried to take all of this in, "I have to... make some phone calls, are you going to be ok here by yourself?" Stiles asked cautiously, Derek sighed and nodded, "Yes, I'll be fine," Derek assured him, Stiles just gave a brisk nod, squeezing Derek's arm slightly before slowly taking a step back and leaving Derek to his own devices
"Yeah, yeah I'm SORRY it's just... something really personal and really horrible just happened and I really need to focus on that right now so.. if you could just give me a week? And then I promise, next week as scheduled, ok buddy? Yeah... yeah thanks, alright, see you next week then.... yeah, bye," Stiles sighed as he hung up, collapsing down onto the couch and running his fingers through his hair, "Were you cancelling appointments?" Derek asked from around the corner, making Stiles yelp and jump up as he stared at him, "W-What? N- ... ok yeah, yes, I was, you just... I need to keep my full attention on you right now ok?" "Stiles, you really don't hav-" "I do though, I NEED to Derek, so don't argue with me ok?" Derek sighed, sitting slowly next to him on the couch, "Did my family burn to death?" Derek asked suddenly, "Wa- ... yeah, yes they did... do you re-" "Kate? Was the woman's name Kate?" Stiles swallowed deeply and took a shaking breath, "Yeah... yeah her name was Kate, are you starting to remember Derek?" he asked gently, Derek looked down, shaking his head slowly, "Not... exactly? Kate burned my house down in my... the last world I was in... there too, she did it there too," Stiles nodded, looking thoughtfull, "Maybe there's more of a connection here than we thought... maybe your memories are like... BURIED there somehow? Just mixed up, a little disorienting, maybe ... we can figure out a way to pull them out," he mused, "A way? Like what?" Derek frowned, Stiles took a deep breath, "Like Lydia Martin,"
~+~
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but atleast I thought of it now so that counts for something right?" Stiles asked with a small shrug as he leaned back against the bookshelf behind him, "Yeah, it counts," Derek said softly, "I'm sorry, what did you say this ... Lydia? Was again?" he asked, "A banshee, but she can predict more than just death, it's kind of a complicated story, I'm just lucky she'll be in town tomorrow, back home from college you know?" he added, "Yeah," Derek said quietly, glancing out the window and taking a deep breath, Stiles bit his lip, hopping up to his feet, "Come on, we're gonna go out," "Out?" Derek asked in confusion, "Yeah, you know, into the outdoors? Come on, we're gonna go get ice cream," Derek pursed his lips, "I do-" "Double chocolate moosetracks, your favorite, let's go," Stiles insisted, Derek wrinkled his nose, more than a little concerned that Stiles new his favorite flavor, although they were supposedly husbands.... it must make sense right?
~+~
"There they are!" Stiles grinned as two black and tan dogs came stampeeding into the house, one was clearly bigger than the other and they were different breeds but still had the same coloring, "My BABIES!!" Stiles cooed as he watched the dogs tumble in and run towards Derek, "Awww you two are such buttholes!" he groaned, Derek stared at the dogs, not knowing what to do, he didn't even know their names, "Um..." he mumbled anxiously, "Derek, say hello to Sydney and Laurie, AKA our pride and joy!" Stiles grinned, Derek squinted slightly, "Sydney and Laurie? Did we seriously name them after horror movie protagonists?" "Oh my GOD you know that!? You're still a nerd! Thank the heavens!" Stiles dramatically, Derek just shook his head shamefully, glancing up at the girl shifting around awkwardly at the door, "O-Oh! Hi Derek! Are you fe-.. oh... um... I'm Kira, this is weird, you know, we .. we know eachother pretty well actually but..." "It's fine, I'm sorry I've forgotten everything," he replied quickly, "Oh!! No no no don't worry about that! Really! It's fine! I mean it clearly isn't FINE because... but it isn't your fault or anything!" she said quickly, Derek swallowed, holding his hand out politely and feeling himself go tense when she took that as an invitation to wrap her surprisingly strong arms around him and give him a tight hug, "Oh Derek I hope you get your memories back soon! We all miss you so much!" she said as she squeezed tighter, Derek made a strangled noise and she let go quickly, "Oh! Sorry!" "It's... fine..." he muttered quietly, glancing at the necklace around her neck, it seemed oddly and vaguely familiar, a bottle full of purple glitter powder with some charms on the cord, "Oh my God are you remembering the necklace?" Stiles asked hopefully, "I ... don't know.... what is it?" he frowned, "A faery dust necklace, you made it!" Stiles grinned, "I ... MADE that?" Derek cringed, it didn't seem like something he would do... "Yeah! You make those all the time! They're a pretty big part of the buisness, actually, you wouldn't think homemade, $10 necklaces would do much damage but last Christmas you sold ten of 'em at the farmer's market just when you showed up to get honey and welp that did a good job on the Christmas list so you know," Stiles shrugged, Derek just pursed his lips, "I don't understand... how would I even...?" "I'll show you," Stiles offered quickly, Kira just beamed at them, looking excited, "I .. should probbably go now, and tell Scott you're still doing ok, call me tommorrow with an update ok?" she asked, "We will Kira, thanks again," Stiles nodded, waving as she ran off and then turning on his heel to face Derek, "C'mon!" he insisted, pulling him up the stairs as quickly as reasonably possible
"Why would I ever start doing this to begin with?" Derek asked in confusion as he watched Stiles run towards a closet in his office, "Because Cora bought one at a convention once like this for like $15 and you scoffed at it and went 'I could do better than that' and the next day, mark my words, you're mass producing them, so Cora starts talking to you about selling them and you pull your Grumpy Cat face and you're just like 'No', and then this little girl sees Cora's and wants it and Cora, because she's not a normal person, sells it to the kid for $10 and THAT, my freind, is how it started, ever since you've been making these things using wholesale Ebay supplies and making them to match your books, they're kind of a hit, the blue ones glow in the dark and are my FAVORITES," he grinned as he opened the closet, Derek inhaled sharply, the closet looked roughly like remains of a tornado... "What the hell...?" "Ohhh yeah.... the last time we were making them it was LATE and I was too tired to see straight so I just sorta shoved everything in here and ..." he clicked his tounge, "You make them too?" Derek asked, "Oh hell yeah, I mean I help you make them, we work like a well oiled machine, c'mere, let me show you," he insisted, grabbing a show box, a pencil case, a bottle of glitter, a papper cup, a tiny funnel (Derek didn't even know they MADE them that small) and a big purple case before slamming it all onto Derek's desk and opening everything, "Ok look, it's easy, first you get a bottle, then you pick out your glitter, pick some glitter Derek," Derek sighed and pointed at some random orange glitter, "Orange? Sweet, I love that shade, now you pour a good bit in this cup here- we usually make fifty at a time so we usually just dump the full bottle in here but we're not doing that so for now just a little, then you pinch the tip of the cup and put the funnel in the bottle- except the bottle is too small for it to actually go IN the bottle- and do NOT try to force it because I broke one in my hand like that once and let me just say OUCH to broken glass in your hand- anyway you tilt the cup and pour in the glitter- see? Now normally you'd glue the cork in but this is a demonstration so you do that later," he explained, putting a small cork in the bottle, "NOW you put an eyehook- did you know these things were called eyehooks?- in here like this, you twist it like a screw see? It took us like two hundred necklaces before we figured that out, I'm a little ashamed, anyway the screw is in so now you take a jump ring, like this," he paused, grabbing a jump ring and a pair of bizzare looking tweazers that looked like manicure scissors, "You pry it open, loop it in the hook, snap it shut, ta-da! Now pick some charms," Derek frowned at him but Stiles looked completely serious so he pointed randomly at a wolf and a key, "Oh that's PERFECT! Derek! That's like the first necklace you ever made! That is SO great!" Stiles said enthusiastically, scrambling around as he grabbed the charms and jumped them as well, "NOW pick a cord color," "Blue," he sighed, Stiles nodded, grabbing a blue cord and stringing them all together, "TA-DA! Necklace! Now if you're feeling fancy you can bless it," he grinned, "No thanks," Derek huffed, "Didn't think so," he shrugged, standing and putting the necklace around Derek's neck, standing back and preening up at it, "Now you have OFFICIALLY been blessed by the little faery folk that you tell children make these! Word to the wise, don't sleep with it on," Derek made a face, scrunching his nose, "Who would sleep wearing a tiny glass bottle around their neck?" Stiles snorted, "Wow, ok Judgey McJudgerson, it HAPPENS," he grumbled, "It happens to YOU, you mean," Derek teased, Stiles just snorted at him but didn't reply, "I'm gonna order pizza, do you want pizza?" "I always want pizza," he shrugged, Stiles grinned, patting him on the shoulder, "That's my boy!"
~+~
"So... I can sleep on the couch tonight," Stiles offered, glancing up at Derek, the werewolf shook his head, taking a deep breath as he did so, "No... really, that's alright," "No, dude, you should have the bed, we-" "No I mean.... I'm not opposed to sleeping with you Stiles," he said quietly, only realizing how that sounded after he said it, "I mea-" "No, no dude you're really ok," he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't want to push you to sle-" "You aren't pushing me, I really don't mind," he insisted, Stiles swallowed, nodding slowly and taking a deep breath, "If you say so... thanks man," he said quietly, looking down and taking another breath, "Do you want to watch a movie?" Derek volunteered suddenly, he wasn't sure where that came from, but he just couldn't stand seeing Stiles looking so ... forelorned..... luckily he perked up immediately and grinned, "Hell yeah! Let's go! Your choice!"
"Why do we have so many kid's movies?" Derek sighed as he looked through the DVD cabinet, "Oh dude you're in the wrong cabinet, that's the light-hearted stuff, YOU want horror and sci-fi and fantasy stuff I'm betting," Stiles mused, clicking his tounge as he jumped up and landed with a thud on the bed, Derek glanced over his shoulder, watching as the other man bit into a twizzler, "I'm starting to get why we have so many kid's movies," "Um, no, hey, YOU are the one who writes children's books, do you think your ability to do that just popped out of thin air? You, my freind, are a Disney freak like me," Derek pursed his lips, grabbing a random DVD and holding it up, "I didn't know Rango was a Disney movie," "Rango is Johnny Depp GENIUS, now put that back," he demanded, Derek just shook his head, he was a little too amused to stop now even though he knew he should, "My God... how much Monster High do we HAVE?" he sighed, Stiles snorted, rolling over and grabbing a bag of M&Ms to open, "You haven't even seen the doll collection yet," the werewolf paused, hand clutching a Paranorman DVD as he slowly turned and stared at Stiles, "You CAN'T be serious," "I am so serious, it's a LONG story but I've gotta show you the collection room sometime," Derek just inhaled and turned back to the DVDs, one Peter Pan crisis at a time thanks, he'd deal with that another day... "How did we ever become adults?" "We only did by like a 20% margin, again dude your day job is coming up with catchy rhymes and painting pretty butterflies, and also do NOT nock animation ok? Animation is awesome, you've SEEN Frozen right?" "Yes Stiles, I've seen Frozen, I can't think of a person alive who hasn't- in one way or another- seen Frozen," "Ok good, good to know, and also what you are holding my freind is no children's movie, that is ANIME, totally different, do NOT test me," Derek rolled his eyes and glanced at the DVD cover, "Yeah, the girl with the eye patch doesn't look like a kid's charector at all.... 'Another'? What is this?" "Horror anime, it's REALLY good," Stiles nodded, Derek shook his head, starting to put things back where he found them, "I mean... we could watch that, it's long, it's... I think it's 24 episodes?" "No thanks, I just wanted a movie, not an insomniatic night watching a mini series," "Ok, maybe tomorrow?" Stiles offered with a shrug, flipping onto his back and staring at Derek upside down like a child, Derek stared at him for a moment longer than he normally would have and nodded slowly, "Yeah, maybe tomorrow,"
~+~
Derek woke up to theme music and lights flashing in his eyes, he brought a hand up and dragged it over his face, trying to wake up a little more and raising up on his elbows to squint at the TV, right... he had fallen asleep half-way through "Insidious".... that shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did honestly, he'd worry about getting the DVD out of the player in the morning... he moved to grab the remote and turn the noise off when he felt a weight on his arm and looked down, only then realizing that Stiles was laying over his arm, clutching his pillow for dear life, "Stiles?" he mumbled tiredly, feeling him twitch and jerk on top of his arm, "Der.... Derek...." he huffed in his sleep, groaning and kicking aimlessly at the sheets, "Stiles?" he repeated, a little clearer now, Stiles twisted his body, inhaling sharply and letting out a tight, choking noise followed by a shrill scream, "STILES!!" Derek shouted worriedly, reaching over and shaking him instantly, he kept screaming and shaking though, jerking around beneath Derek's hands, "Stiles wake up!! WAKE UP!! It's a nightmare! Stiles it's a nightmare wake up!!" he insisted, the other gasped suddenly and sat straight up, panting desperately and looking around in a panic, "Stiles?" Derek repeated worriedly, Stiles licked his lips, running his hands through his hair and twitching slightly, "Derek?" he called quietly, "Yeah, I'm here," he said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder, Stiles slowly raised his own hand to place over it and gave it a squeeze, bowing his head, "I guess... you don't really know, I'm sorry, I totally forgot about the nightmares... it's just been a long time," he confessed, "It's ok," Derek said softly, squeezing his shoulder, Stiles just shook his head, his breath shaking as he inhaled again, "Stiles I'm right here, it's alright," he assured him again, "Yeah..." was all Stiles seemed to manage, and Derek swears... he didn't know what came over him... but a moment later he leaned down and was kissing Stiles, a few moments later they were tangled together in the sheets, his hand fisted in Stiles' hair as the slightly smaller male left teethmarks in Derek's neck, and he wasn't sure what came over him, but he wasn't complaining, and they didn't sleep for another hour
~+~
"I need you to just close your eyes now Derek, take a deep breath for me, in through your nose, out through your mouth, do that three times ok?" The voice was soft, smooth, and gentle, but it was commanding, full of power, and Derek easily did as she asked, he knew it seemed odd, considering he was a werewolf and his husband was apparently some witch-thingy known as a spark, but he still found the concept of hypnotherapy rather strange and hard to swallow, Stiles assured him that Lydia was the best, but he was still a little concerned by that, the best at WHAT exactly, he wondered? "Now I want you to picture yourself at the top of a staircase alright? A very old staircase, old stone steps, a torch sitting on the wall beside it, take the torch, and go slowly down the stairs, every step you take takes you an inch deeper ok? Relax every part of your body, starting with the tips of your toes going all the way up to your crown, when you get to the bottum step you'll be completely under, are you ready?" "Yes," Derek said automatically, "Alright, first step, you feel the relaxation in your feet, take a second, get used to it, now the second step, up through your ankles, deep breath for me, third step moving up slowly, slowly through your calves, keep breathing hun, fifth step..." Derek was glad for her constant voice, if he had a moment to himself to actually keep a train of thought he'd be trying to time this in his head and really, it felt like it was taking a minimum of a full ten minutes, maybe even longer, how did people stand it? He kept unintentionally rushing, trying to keep a step- or three- ahead of her without meaning to, his mind just moved faster, and everytime she spoke he had to back up and do over what he had already done, it was frustrating but admittedly he was relaxed enough that he couldn't really feel frustrated, "-Thirteen up through your neck, soothing over your voice and your Vishuudi chakra, fourteen up over your face, feel it in your mouth, your cheeks, your eyes are getting heavy now, peacefully heavy, and your third eye is opening... fifteen, last step, relaxing over your crown, one more deep breath... and under, do you feel relaxed Derek?" that was a loaded, complicated question that could be answered both yes and no, he did feel relaxed in that he didn't want to move and he felt his mind drifting in a way that he wasn't at all used to, but there seemed to be a jitteriness to him too, like a hyper awareness instead of a sleep-like sensation, everything around him was finely tuned, he could hear everything from the way Stiles tapped his foot to the clock ticking to the birds chirping, he could feel everything and even though he didn't want to move he felt almost like something was crawling under his skin and he was desperate to twitch and see if he could get it out, it was the strangest feeling in the world, but it didn't feel at all like sleep, "I .. kind of... yes... but.. I feel too awake.. overly awake, hyper-aware..." "That's normal honey, 'sleep' in hypnotherapy is not actual sleep, it's hyper-awareness, your conscious mind is more or less asleep but your unconscious mind is now awake and aware and ready to work with me, it's not because you're a werewolf, many people feel overstimulated like this," she assured him, Derek nodded slowly, well, atleast he knew he COULD still move if he really wanted to... although his movements felt strangely light and weighted all at the same time and he was definately off-balance... "Alright, now what I want you to do is look for a door, can you do that for me hun?" "Yes..." "Good, find a door, and see if you can open it,"
~+~
"Coming up now, in three, deep breath, two, eyes fluttering, one- awake, how do you feel?" The light stung when he first opened his eyes but other than that he felt strangely well rested, "I'm alright," he replied, sitting up slowly and trying to smooth out the back of his hair, laying on the couch with his head pressed into the armrest for over an hour was perhaps not the best thing.... "That's good," Lydia nodded, flipping her notebook closed, "So?" Stiles asked anxiously, Lydia pursed her lips, looking grim, "Stiles... you heard the entire thing, when I asked him to reiterate to me what was happening in this lif-" "I know, I know, the... lonely lawyer in New York thing, but isn't that just a spell? Lydia... please tell me it's just a spell," he pleaded, Lydia looked down, apparently gathering her thoughts before making eye contact with Stiles again, "It doesn't appear to be just a spell, what I think happened is that this is ... not our Derek," "What do you mean?" Stiles asked anxiously, "I mean... you know there are other universes out there... I think somehow he got pulled from his own into this one," "Well then where's our Derek?" the spark almost shouted, "I don't know.... Stiles, I think.... I think he might be gone," she said gently, Stiles sprung from his seat, shaking his head quickly, "No.... no no no no no NO! No! Ok!? Derek is.... Derek is NOT gone ok!? He's just.... he isn't gone! He can't.... no!" he shouted, breathing heavy and gripping at his hair as he paced the room, "Stiles-" "Don't say that! Don't say that Lydia! He isn't gone ok!? He just isn't!" "Stiles I don't know what else this would be," "Then maybe it's just not.... not in your realm! But he isn't gone! MY Derek cannot be gone ok!?" he screamed, shaking his head again and again and rushing out of the room quickly, Lydia took a breath, setting her notebook aside and dipping her head down to her hands, "Can you do more?" Derek asked quietly, drawing her attention, "What?" "Can you do something else? Anything else?" she took a breath, "I could potentially take you deeper... but that would be-" "Do it.. please do it," "Derek, that sort of-" "Please Lydia... please," he insisted, she stared at him for a moment, leaning down and reaching into her purse before pulling out a deck of cards, he stared at it curiously and watched her mutter a prayer over them before spreading them out on the coffee table, "Pick one," she said immediately, he stared at her warily before slowly drawing a card out of the center, "Turn it over," she commanded, he turned it over slowly, staring at the odd image of a faery and what appeared to be a blue walrus on it, "Well would you look at that? There's still hope..." she breathed, smiling to herself, Derek didn't understand it at all but she seemed happy about it, "Alright, lay back down, I'll go get Stiles... we'll need him here to anchor you if things go wrong," he nodded slowly, doing as she asked and staring at the ceiling, he didn't know what he was getting into, but he was willing to try, for Stiles he was willing to do just about anything, the night before may have been a rush but it was the best kind of rush, it was a rush of loving sensations and hearts thundering in chests and seeing nothing but Stiles even in his dreams, and Derek... he already felt something, something deep, soulfull, so much more than just desire.... and whatever it was, he wanted it, he wanted this all-consuming thing that he felt was lurking just beneath the surface, and if there was even a chance that he could have that... he was more than willing to go through a little agony to get it...
"Alright Derek, you're at the door again, but we're going to do something a little differently this time, we're going to go about this as a timeline, so when you open the door, I want you to step in front of your timeline, it's a long road, full of bright colors and doors, don't go towards any of the doors ok? Just stay still at the edge of the road," Lydia instructed, Derek agreed and did exactly as she asked, although it sounded weird and he was initially pretty certain that he would see no such thing... it wasn't hard at all to visualize it... "Alright, now where are you? Are you closer to your past or your future?" "Future," he replied quietly, and just like so many other things in these hypnotherapy sessions he had no idea how he knew that, he just instinctively did, "Alright, now turn and face your past, go to the very first door you see ok? Just a few steps, I want you to stop in front of the door and don't touch it, alright honey?" "Yes," he said softly, doing exactly as she had asked, the door he saw seemed cracked open, a light seeping through the edges of it... "Now open the door, do NOT step in, do not relive this, just watch from your current perspective ok?" "Ok," Derek agreed, opening the door as asked, "Alright Derek... can you tell me what you see? What life are you living?" he stared through the door as asked but... something seemed wrong, something was off.... he shook his head, trying to make it right, but it just... stuck like that... and he couldn't see past it... "Derek? Honey what's wrong? Tell me what you're seeing," "I... don't know..." he muttered, "You don't know what you're seeing? Can you describe it?" Lydia asked with a bit of urgency, "It's... split... in two," "What's split in two?" "I... this...... I don't know how to say it," he sighed hopelessly, ofcourse, he feels as though he's having a break through only to be inhibbited by his limited vocabulary, ofcourse, "Ok, just try, we'll figure it out I promise," he nodded, sighing slowly, "I think... I feel splinched," he replied slowly, Lydia glanced up, looking quizzically at Stiles, "Splinched? I don't know what that means..." she admitted, Stiles frowned, thinking for a moment before snapping up, "Oh my God... I do! I ... oh Derek you complete nerd, oh my God... it's a Harry Potter reference," he sighed, Lydia rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "It's the only word I can think of," Derek huffed in frustration, "I don't understand, what does splinched mean?" Lydia frowned, "Well for one thing it means it's been way too long since you've read those books and need a refresher," Stiles hummed, "Focus!" Lydia huffed, "Right right.. um... splinching happens when someone apparates unsuccessfully, leaving part of themself in another area," she nodded slowly, thinking to herself, "I think I get what you're saying... you can see both this life- here with Stiles, and the life in New York, can't you? You're split?" "Yes," he sighed, "Ok... ok I think I get it... Derek, I want you to try to go back a little bit, go back three days, are you still splinched?" "Yes..." "Ok.... what about three YEARS? Are you still splinched?" Derek inhaled, nodding slowly, "Yes..." Lydia bit her lip, leaning back, "What the hell does this mean?" Stiles asked in a huff of confusion, "It means... it's confusing is what it means... I'll explain later..." she insisted, turning back to Derek, "Derek, I need you to go back to present time alright? Go towards your memories of this life- this, here with Stiles, ok? Pick up those memories and absorb them, can you do that?" "Yes..." she glanced at Stiles, giving him a small smile and nodding assuringly, "Good... that's progress..."
~+~
"Are you done calling everyone yet?" Derek asked with a small pout as he watched Stiles finally hang up the cell phone, "Dude! You're finally back to normal! I'm EXCITED! I have my husband back! The father of my future adopted children! I'm HAPPY here so don't ruin it by being a grump!" he huffed, Derek just shook his head, dragging Stiles by the wrists over to him and leaving a kiss on his lips, "I still don't get it... what exactly happened to me?" he asked in confusion, "Yeah, what the hell Lydia?" Stiles huffed, "Sit down, both of you, this is... complex," "Oh joy," Stiles grumbled, sitting next to Derek with ease, "From what I can gather, the witch tried to banish you to another realm, but what actually happened was her bringing another Derek- another version of you from a universe very simaler but also very different from this one- here, now obviously you still exist here, a sort of. ... merge, took place, you could say, and your memories were overwelmed by your copy's memories, to an extent, that clone copy of you is still part of you, those memories, experiences, feelings... all still part of you, it won't fade," Derek swallowed, looking down and running his fingers through his hair, "Is that why I feel lonelier than usual?" "I believe so yes," she confirmed, "Will it go away?" "Eventually, once you get used to your skin again and that part of you that isn't from here begins to accept the life you have, your freinds, your family, your husband... I believe it will fade in time yes," "So what about the other Derek? Don't we like... need to send him back to the future or whatever?" Stiles asked with a frown, "I'm afraid it isn't that simple, as I said, the two souls- who were already barely a hair's difference from eachother- are merged now, you can't separate them, it would cause too much damage," Stiles nodded slowly, thoughtfully, "Thank you Lydia... seriously, thank you SO much," she smirked, patting him on the head as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door, "Oh don't worry, I'll just put it on your tab~" she teased, Stiles snorted, "That's an awfully big tab you're building!" he called out the door after her, "Yes I'm looking to cash it in for something good~" she replied without missing a beat, Stiles grumbled, listening for the door to shut before turning back to Derek, "So..." "So?" Derek hummed, "You're you again... but different, right?" "Right," "Some part of you is still ...-" "Right... splinched," "Yeah... do you think there's a me in New York that... maybe one day-" "I don't think so, I was so alone... I really don't think there was anything there for me," "Oh... well that's pretty.. pretty sad.... do you... I mean..... so do you remember how to be a werewolf again now or..?" "I remember," he confirmed, "And ... you like cartoons again?" "I like cartoons again," he agreed, "And you... do you.... um..." "Stiles?" "Y-Yeah?" he leaned in, pulling Stiles down for a deep kiss, lips meshing, heart pounding, agonizing, minutes-long kiss, "I still love you," he said softly, Stiles exhaled a breath he didn't even realize he was holding, "Good... because if you didn't it'd make the 'I'm still totally in love with you' thing on my part sort of awkward," Derek just grinned, shaking his head, "I .. was falling for you here though, back when I didn't even remember you," "You were?" "Yeah.... I think it's proof that... no matter what universe we're in, no matter where I am... we're still going to love eachother, come hell or high water," Stiles nodded, smiling and kissing him again, "Yeah, come hell or high water,"