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“Uh… Derek… Hello?” Stiles said snapping his fingers in front of Derek’s face. He just sort of zoned out. Standing there, lost in thought it seemed. Derek blinked at Stiles fingers, and seemed to remember what planet he was on.
“What? Oh. Um yeah.” Stiles had the same dream Derek had. He had seen Derek as a wolf. His blue eyes, Stiles had the moles. He, he might not be the same kid… well that would be true if it was based on looks. But an exact same dream, from different point of views. The details Stiles gave. There was no way…
Derek couldn’t logically handle this. His brain, went back to Laura, she could have lied about pranking him. But she couldn’t induce his dream. She couldn’t know what he would have seen exactly in his dream, or that it would look like a younger Stiles. She couldn’t have gotten Stiles ot be confident enough to go along with a lie and it not show in his heartbeat.
“So… you want to get a different tattoo, form yet another dream… and you say you aren’t impulsive…”
“Hey I never said I wasn’t impulsive. I just said I wouldn’t regret it later. I may or may not have been vague or embellished a little. But I don’t know how to explain it. Need this tattoo. I need something to represent this. I don’t know why. But yesterday I had a dream, about a Tattoo okay, and for some reason I couldn’t get it out of my head, it was stuck and I needed it, but after I saw it on your arm I was a little bit better, but I was still thinking about it, and for some reason I really want a tattoo of a wolf with glowing blue eyes okay? I can’t control it, but I really, really want it. So please just show me what you have of blue eyed wolves.”
“I don’t have any blue eyed wolf tattoos.” Derek said with a sigh. Pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn’t understand this need. The guy should just give up. He had never met anyone so relentless for something as simple as a tattoo he hasn’t even seen before, and then not to mention the headache coming on, because his brain can’t handle the dream he had. “Okay, just listen. I honestly don’t want to give you a tattoo. I will pull the underage card, because it seems I have to. You are seriously fighting for a tattoo you don’t even know I have. Because of a dream, of some wolf chasing you when you were younger.”
“Yeah I know but-…. Wait a second… I never said I was younger in the dream…” Stiles said shaking his head. Because that didn’t make sense he wasn’t younger in the dream… was he? He could have been younger in the dream? Right?
Suddenly more of the dream was clear in his head.
He was wearing pajamas. Spiderman ones, that he hadn’t seen in years. His mom had gotten them for him on his sixth birthday. He wore them as much as possible, only not wearing them when he had to leave the house, or it was time for them to be washed. He loved those pajamas.
Then he remembered that night.
His dad had been drinking. Not that it had meant much to Stiles at the time. He didn’t know that drinking led to problems, and lapses in judgment. His mom had died. Not very long ago at the time. They were still suffering from the aftershocks from it. The changes in schedule, the crying at night (mostly from Stiles.). His dad had been drinking, in the kitchen late that night. Stiles went down, because he thought he heard his dad crying.
He was right. He hadn’t seen his dad cry. Except for at the funereal. After that, the Sheriff kept his crying to when he was alone, it was hard enough to watch Stiles cry, but he didn’t want Stiles to see him cry. He tried to cover his face.
“Dad?” Stiles asked, as he walked into the dimly lit kitchen. The Sheriff jumped, startled at first. Stiles had gone to sleep over an hour ago. He wasn’t expecting him to be awake. He quickly wiped his face, and coughed, clearing his throat.
“S-stiles, what are you doing up huh?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” Stiles said.
“Oh, okay. Well come on. Let me tuck you in.” The Sheriff said, putting the lid on the bottle in front of him, and then standing up.
“No! I don’t want to go back to bed!” Stiles said taking a step back. This happened more often than not know. Stiles had these bursts of energy, he would jump on the couches, run around the house at three in the morning, and eventually he would crash. The Sheriff has tried to be patient, but it seems the alcohol put him on his last straw.
“No Genim! You are going to get your ass in bed and go to sleep tonight! You have to get up for school, and then I have to take you to the baby sitter and you are cranky as hell when you haven’t gotten any sleep, and I’m done dealing with it when all you need to do is put your hyperactive little ass in the bed and close your eyes. Count sheep until you get to a number you don’t fucking know! I don’t care but you will lay in that bed until it is time for you to wake up!” The Sheriff exploded. He never uses Stiles real name, and that scared Stiles more than the yelling, more than the curse worlds.
Stiles was about to cry. He hated yelling, he never used his first name, and he was hurt. But if he cried in front of his dad, he would try to comfort him, and Stiles didn’t want that. So he ran. He ran to the front door, he opened it, and he ran again.
The Sheriff yelled his name, but Stiles didn’t stop. He ran as fast as his little legs would take him. He ran to the woods. It was a straight shot, besides dodging a few trees. Eventually he was deep in the woods and out of breath. He sat down and sobbed. He didn’t know what to do, he was too conflicted with feelings. He was cold, and his toe’s hurt.
A few minutes into crying, there was this feeling. It was strange. But Stiles looked around. Suddenly aware of how dark it was outside. He felt scared. His sadness had drained, and turned into fear. There was a feeling like something was behind him, he looked around but he didn’t see anything. The feeling didn’t go away though. He kept looking, he stood up and began breathing hard with his fast paced heartbeat.
There was a growl.
An animal growl.
Stiles didn’t know where it came from, he couldn’t place it. Somewhere, in the dark, beyond the trees, was an animal that growled.
That wasn’t good.
Spinning ‘round and ‘round, Stiles looked for this animal. He didn’t know which way to run from it. He was too scared to just guess which way to go. He was kind of frozen solid in place. He didn’t know where to run. Because he suddenly realized which way was home, he looked over her shoulder panicked and that’s when he saw it.
A pair of red eyes in the woods.
Stiles didn’t have a chance to scream before the beast with red eyes was on top of him. It was like a dog but larger, much larger. It had large claws some of which were digging into Stiles’ chest at the beast pinned him to the ground. Causing Stiles to wince in pain. He looked up at the beast. Red eyes, large teeth. It was a monster. An overgrown dog or wolf, it looked more like a bear by it’s size.
And Stiles screamed. He screamed so loud he felt it in his feet. He screamed as loud as his lungs would let him. He screamed until the beast roared in his face, almost telling him to shut up. The beast leaned down, jaws open, it was going to eat Stiles whole and spit out his bones, like a snake or an owl. That’s all that would be left of him, bones and hair.
He was about to start crying when another beast, well this one very not beast like, tackled the beast off of Stiles. Stiles sat up instantly, watching the fight between the beast and what looked like a wolf, and actual wolf, this one also had red eyes.
Wolves didn’t have red eyes… did they?
The beast was bigger than the wolf and it overpowered it, knocking it to the side. But before the beast had a chance to catch it’s breath there was another wolf on it, and then another, and another.
Stiles knew what this was, he learned about it in school. It was called a pack. A pack of wolves. There were about for wolves on the beast and they seemed to be struggling a little. The beast was knocking them away like flies, but the shook off the attacks. Stiles was worried about who would win the fight, and even if the wolves won, who was to say they wouldn’t eat Stiles instead?
Stiles stood up with every intention to leave before the fight ended. Except he forgot one thing. He didn’t know the way home. He looked around, pitiful. Looking for any sign of home, any light other than the moon. He began to tear up, it was no use. He shouldn’t have run into the woods.
“I want to go home.” Stiles said crying to himself, he leaned back against a tree and cried into his hands. He felt so hopeless. But then he felt it. Something on his legs. Stiles opened his eyes and yelped, it was a wolf sniffing at his legs.
Probably trying what part of Stiles to eat first.
The wolf was calm and wide eyed. It sat in front of Stiles and then stood again. It looked back at the fighting for a moment and then at Stiles. Stiles didn’t know if he should run at this moment or not. Maybe the wolf would be too distracted by the fighting to chase him. He looked at the wolf again as it looked back at him, and he was surprised to see blue eyes. They were so bright, yet so beautiful. It was different than the beast that attacked him, and that made him feel better.
The wolf licked at Stiles hand and sat and stood again.
Stiles giggled.
In all the scariness, with all the fighting, and with it being so cold and dark. He was able to laugh at a wolf. That was weird.
But this wolf was acting like a dog, and somehow that comforted Stiles. Then the wolf bit the edge of his Spiderman pajama shirt and pulled on it. Dragging Stiles. It was leading away from the fight and Stiles was okay with any direction other than the beast fighting right now. The wolf pulled Stiles for a little bit before huffing and jumping a little.
Stiles was confused, but he felt like the wolf was trying to talk to him.
“w-what?” Stiles asked, and the wolf walked behind him, and nudged Stiles by the butt using its head to push him forward. “I’m going. Gosh you are so pushy.” Stiles said walking.
But the wolf huffed again, it passed Stiles, walking ahead a little fast. “Hey wait for me, don’t leave me behind.” Stiles said.
The wolf huffed again stopping and titling its head nodding farther up, and somehow Stiles got it. The wolf must have wanted him to go faster. So Stiles started walking faster, he followed the wolf, wherever it was taking him. Because it couldn’t be worse than staying back there and getting front row seats to a fight that could very well be over who eats you. Stiles didn’t seem as threatened with the one wolf, besides this one was nice and calm. It was more like a dog.
Maybe if he ever got home, he could ask his dad if he could keep it.
But suddenly the wolf stopped walking so Stiles did too. The wolf looked back and growled lowly. Stiles took a step away from it, but it wasn’t growling at him. It was growling at something behind him. The wolf looked at Stiles and made a noise that was pretty much a bark, and Stiles didn’t need anything to help him understand what it meant.
Run.
So he ran, and the wolf ran with him.
*
This time it was Derek snapping his fingers in Stiles’ face. Stiles gasped when he snapped out of whatever trance he was in.
“Stiles? You okay?” Derek said a little worried. Stiles’ heart was racing. He was sure you didn’t need to be a werewolf to hear it.
“I was running from a monster… in the woods…” Stiles said to himself in a whisper. Because it was so vivid in his mind. It could have been more of the dream. Things like that happen, you only remember bits and pieces of a dream, but for it to come in so clear was frightening. Stiles was have expecting to feel bruises on his chest from how much he felt the claws dig into it.
“What?” Derek asked.
“In the dream… I… I was in the woods, in my pajamas and something huge attacked me, and suddenly there was a pack of wolves and- and one of them saved me. It helped me run away.” Stiles said shaking his head, because who. He remembered what it felt like to be that scared, the feel of twigs and rocks scraping against his feet. The freezing air. The smell. Everything… it couldn’t have just been a dream…. Could it? Maybe that’s why he couldn’t get it out of his head. Because it was something more…
“Oh…” Derek said. He didn’t remember much of his dream. But he should keep it to himself. He didn’t know what it meant, and he wanted a handle on this situation before he did anything like expose himself as a werewolf to some impulsive teen.