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Stiles taps his fingers against the steering wheel, partly to the beat of the music coming from the speakers but mostly a nervous habit he’s never been able to get rid of. Not that he’s nervous. Not really.
So what if he's in the middle of a snowstorm— one that the news has been calling the storm of the century. There's nothing to be worried about. At least, that's what he tells himself. He'd scoffed at the meteorologists, sure they'd been exaggerating. But now…
He sighs and leans forward, squinting as he looks out the windshield. The snow is coming down harder now, making it more difficult for him to see. He knows he should just pull over and wait for it to pass, but he doesn’t know when it will pass. And he’s still at least an hour out from the closest town. Stupid middle of nowhere.
He’d planned to already be there and beat the storm, but then he’d gotten a flat tire, which had put him behind. More behind than he cared to be. But there’s nothing he can do about that now.
His phone rings, and he glances at the screen to see Liam’s name flashing across. He smiles as he answers it, not taking his eyes off the road.
“Hey, Liam.”
“Where the hell are you?” Liam asks him. “You were supposed to be here hours ago.”
Stiles sighs. “I know, I know. I got a flat, but I’m on my way. I’d say an hour out, maybe. But it’s hard to tell with this weather.”
“Yeah, I know that’s why I’m calling,” Liam says. “They put out a travel advisory urging people to stay off the roads.”
“Well, that explains why I haven’t seen any cars for miles,” Stiles jokes.
“Not funny,” Liam says. “Is there any way you can pull over and continue on in the morning? It’s going to be dark soon, and—”
“No,” Stiles cuts in. “There’s no place around me, and I’m not going to get stuck sleeping in my car. I’m coming.”
“Stiles…”
“I’m coming,” Stiles tells him.
Liam sighs, and Stiles can almost see the worried pout that's no doubt on his face. "Just be careful, alright."
"Always am," Stiles says. "I'll be there in no time. Don't you worry."
"I'm always worried," Liam mutters.
"I know," Stiles says softly. "But I'm telling you, you don't need to. I'll be fine. I'm not going to let a snowstorm stop me from getting to you."
"You better not," Liam says. "Or I'll have to come out and get you myself."
"Now, who's being reckless?" Stiles teases. Though, the thought of Liam coming out in a snowstorm to rescue him does warm his heart a bit. Not that he's going to need rescuing.
"Just get here safe," Liam says.
"I will," Stiles says. "Promise."
He hangs up with Liam and shakes his head. Stop or turn around. Yeah, right. The weather isn’t that bad. Sure, he can barely see in front of him, but he’ll just drive a little slower, and it’ll be fine. Completely fine.
It’s that moment that he sees it. A deer or some other animal standing in the middle of the road. He honks his horn, hoping to scare it away, but it stands still. Cursing, Stiles turns the wheel, trying to avoid it and go around it.
He hits a patch of ice, and the car jerks, spinning around the road, barely missing the deer. Stiles tries to correct and hit the brakes but to no avail. He keeps spinning until the car suddenly lurches to the side and stops.
He grips the steering wheel tightly and looks around. All he can see is white.
“Shit,” he mutters. “Shit, shit, shit.”
He shifts, trying to look out the window to get a better idea of his situation, but immediately stops when the car starts to tilt further.
"Great," he mutters. "Just fucking great."
He reaches for his phone, trying not to jostle the car in the process, and after a few blind swipes across the passenger's seat, manages to get his hands on it.
He blinks down at the screen and sighs. No service. Of course, there’d be no fucking service now when he had it just a few minutes ago. He debates his options as he sits there, watching as the snow continues to beat down heavily around him. He could get out and try walking to town, but he’s still at least twenty miles out. The chances of him making it there…
Or he could stay here in the warmth and relative safety of his jeep and hope someone comes along and sees him. It’s a long shot. He knows it. He’s in a ditch on the side of the road, with the snow slowly covering the jeep and blocking it from view, most likely. But it’s his only option. For now, the car is still running, and he has the heat.
He’ll be fine. Liam knows he’s close. If he can’t get a hold of him and he doesn’t show up, he’ll come for him. They’ll come for him and get him out of this damn storm and somewhere safe and warm.
“Stiles? Stiles!”
“Stiles, can you hear me?”
“Stiles!”
“We need to move him.”
“He’s not waking up. Why isn’t he waking up?”
“Focus, Liam. You can hear his heart beating. He’s alive.”
“But he’s half frozen. I never should have…”
Stiles groans, shifting away from the bright light. He frowns when his cheek presses against something solid. A moment later, he can feel a hand carding through his hair. He blinks his eyes open to find a familiar pair of blue eyes looking back.
“Liam?”
“You’re okay,” Liam tells him. “Just rest.”
“But…” He looks around, tiredly noting that nothing in the room is the least bit familiar. “Where…?”
“We’re at the cabin,” Liam tells him. “When you didn’t show up, Derek, Scott, and I went out looking for you. You were—” Liam trails off, his chest rising and falling as he takes a deep breath. Stiles looks back at him to see him raising a shaking hand to his face, hastily wiping at his eyes. “You were so still when we found you. I thought I was too late.”
“But you weren’t,” Stiles says. “I knew you would find me.”
“You can’t have known that,” Liam says. “You were in the middle of a damn blizzard.”
“But I know you,” Stiles says. “You knew I was out there. I thought— well, I hoped you cared enough to come looking when I didn’t show up.”
“Of course I do,” Liam says. “I about lost it out there. Derek and Scott had to knock some sense into me to stop me from curling up in the damn snow next to you.”
“That’s a bit dramatic,” Stiles says.
“But it’s true,” Liam says. “You can ask them.”
“Later,” Stiles says. He sighs and snuggles further into Liam’s arms. “I’m too comfortable right now.”
Liam chuckles, and his hand resumes its motion through his hair. “You warm enough?”
“Mmhmm,” Stiles says. “You’re like my personal werewolf blanket. Never going to let you go.”
“I’d be okay with that,” Liam says softly.
Stiles flicks his eyes up to meet Liam’s. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Liam says. “Because I’m not letting you go, either.”
“You’re going to be insufferable about it, aren’t you?” Stiles teases.
Liam just smiles and leans down, kissing his forehead. “Sleep, Stiles. We can talk more later.”
Stiles wants to argue, but he’s exhausted. His body feels like it’s been hit by a truck. Even still, he’s more comfortable than he can ever remember being. Especially when he feels a little of the pain start to lessen.
“Did you just…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Liam says.
Stiles sighs. “Liar.”
“Sleep,” Liam murmurs against his hair. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah, Stiles. I promise.”
Stiles closes his eyes, relaxing in Liam’s arms. He’s just drifting off when he feels another brush of lips on his cheek and words spoken so softly he’s sure he must be dreaming. But just to be sure, he whispers them back.
“I love you.”
Liam just holds him tighter and presses another kiss to his cheek, letting his lips linger there as Stiles finally drifts off to sleep.