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Christopher Argent was a lot of things, a son, a husband, a dad, a widow, a childless father, a man suffering in his grief after losing his entire family. The world felt heavy with shades of grey, Beacon Hills had taken everything from him and he had to leave.
So he left.
He left with a promise to come back when he was ready, when he had healed from the wounds Beacon Hills had inflicted on him. He turned to whiskey as his only companion for months before his brain had thrown a punch so hard he felt his heart crack in his chest, was it possible to have his entire world change so completely? How had he forgotten about them for months? No calls, no check ins, were they even alive? Were they taking care of themselves? Who were they? In his grief he had almost forgotten about them, but now months later his grief had thrown them to the very front of his mind. How could he have forgotten?
Stiles. Lydia.
He had abandoned them, they had lost their best friend, their sister and he had abandoned them. They had lost the Argents they cared about most in a way no child should ever have to, they lost their sister, Lydia screamed her name and Stiles? The monster that had taken her wore his face. Then Chris had left, no note, no number to call, just a hasty goodbye and short hugs then he was gone.
With blurry eyes, shaky hands, quivering lips and a heart as heavy as stone he reached for his phone for the first time in months. He took a long deep breath to steady his nerves which were very obviously fried from the whiskey and instead of contacting the children directly he chose the easier route. He called the Sheriff's Department of Beacon Hills. The phone rang once, twice, three times before there was a voice on the other line.
"Beacon Hills County Sheriff's Department, how can we help you?"
Chris took a shaky breath trying to steady nerves that no longer remembered what being steady meant, trying to keep his head on straight long enough to actually answer the question being asked.
"Can I speak to Sheriff Stilinski?"
"Of course I can transfer you over in just a moment, who can I tell him is calling?"
"Christopher Argent."
The music that the deputy put on was more annoying than the actual wait, a stupid twinkling sound that only gave Chris a headache of the highest degree, but the Sheriff didn't have him waiting long and soon the music was stopping. Chris thanked all the gods above even if he doubted they existed at this point.
"Argent, what's going on?"
Chris tightened his hold on his phone, the sound of a familiar voice after so long without hearing one made him feel extremely lonely. Chris sucked in a breath.
"Sheriff, nothing's wrong. I just- how is Stiles? How's Lydia?"
The Sheriff filled him in on the kids and Chris felt his pain loosening around his heart. Chris was grateful for the relative peace Beacon Hills had for the moment. The Sheriff coughed after a moment of silence.
"Argent you don't sound too good. How are you doing?"
"I don't- it hurts, everything hurts and nothing works to drown it out."
It was the line that saved his life. The Sheriff had heard the desperate cry in his answer and after trading off numbers they spent weeks communicating. Chris slowly got better, he lost the whiskey, he cleaned the apartment he rented from top to bottom, opened the curtains and finally took a step outside. Noah Stilinski had saved his life by giving him a friend he didn't know he needed and Chris cherished the relationship they built together. The better Chris got, the easier it was to make the decision he had been dreading since he left, but something was calling him back. He had to listen to that gut feeling that had kept him alive up until this point in his life.
It was time to go home.
Chris had been in Beacon Hills for exactly three hours when he got the call to meet Peter Hale. What happened afterwards was something he would never imagine, he had let both Stiles and Lydia down, he had failed the children given to him by Allison. He had pushed aside his own suffering at the thought when Noah had finally snapped on Deaton. Noah had been there when he needed someone to help him up and he'd do the same no questions asked.
Somewhere along the way Chris had fallen in love with Noah Stilinski, he wasn't sure if it was during the friendly phone calls while he was healing or if it was seeing the man so utter torn when his own son's life was the one endangered- the difference there was Noah had called for help, he was afraid the town was going to kill Stiles and Noah had called the two people who would destroy the town before letting it hurt Stiles so yeah he wasn't sure when it happened, but it did.
Gods help him he had fallen for a Stilinski man and the man wanted him too.
Noah and Stiles had welcomed him with open arms. Stiles had given him something he never thought he would ever see; Allison's name on a diploma. Stiles had included Allison in their graduation in a way that made Chris' heart finally heal from the guilt of failing as a father, Chris gained not one, not two, not even three, but four children that day and it was all thanks to Stiles.
Chris had known he wanted to marry Noah a year and a half into their relationship. Chris had been having a hard day and the only thing he wanted was to go talk to Allison so he found himself making the drive to the cemetery. He had not expected the sight before him when he got there, Noah was squatted in front of Allison's grave his elbows on his knees with his hands pressed together against his face. Chris had moved off to the side wondering just want Noah was doing when he heard the man start talking.
"Hi Allie, can I call you that? Stiles does, I figured it was okay. It's Noah Stilinski, I know we didn't really have much conversation before, I was always busy, but I feel like I need to make the time now. I'm sure your father has already told you, but we're together and I hope that's okay with you."
Chris felt his heart squeeze. Was this the first time Noah was coming to Allison?
"Your dad is- god kid your dad is so strong. If it had been me I don't think I would have kept going, losing your wife is one thing, but losing your kid? God Allie I don't know how he does it, but I look at him everyday knowing he's fighting to stay here when you aren't and I'm so amazed by his strength. I see him with Stiles, treating my son like his own and I would give anything to treat his daughter like mine. Allie I'm so sorry that monster wore my son's face to take you, your dad has every right to not want to be around us, to hate us, but he stays and he doesn't hate us. Your dad has so much love to give that I don't think he could hate anyone. Allie I promise we'll take care of him, he needs gentle hands and we Stilinski's have a thing for that. He's safe with us Allie, we'd never hurt him, he's family now. Stiles adores him and against everything I believed I fell in love again, I really hope that it's okay with you that it’s your father my heart chose."
Chris pressed a hand to his mouth as he felt the tears fall. What did he do to deserve Noah Stilinski? He heard Noah stand with a groan.
"Damn kid my knees are too old to be in that position for so long."
Chris held a back a watery chuckle. When Chris looked over Noah had a soft smile on his face.
"Anyway I just wanted to stop by because I feel like it's a long overdue conversation between us, but I'll take care of him Allie. If you're anything like Stiles is with me then I know you'll worry anyway, but maybe you can rest a little easier knowing someone's got his back down here. I won't let anything happen to him."
Chris watched as Noah placed a hand on Allison's tombstone. Noah sighed as his fingers traced the name.
"Welcome to the family princess I've always wanted a daughter to go along with my hyper son, perhaps his calm in a storm, but we don't always get what we want the way we want them. I'm sorry it's got to be this way. You'll always be a part of our family and we will never forget you princess. You and Claudia can rest easier knowing we've got each other."
Noah dropped his hand and walked to his cruiser in the opposite direction of Chris who watched him go before walking to his daughter. Chris sat with his back against Allison's tombstone silent tears rolling down his face.
"I'm going to marry him one day princess. I- Allison I'm so sorry you aren't getting to know how wonderful the Stilinski's are. I'm sure you know Stiles, but Noah? Noah is everything I didn't think I'd get to have after I lost you and your mother. I didn't think I'd want to be married again, but well here I am."
It takes Chris another year and a half to get the courage to ask Stiles for his blessing to marry his father.
Now as Chris stood in front of his side of the closet in their room he was nervous. Tonight he was going to propose to Noah Stilinski and Chris sucked in a breath so deep he felt it burn in his lungs before he let it out in a slow exhale. Chris quickly put his clothes on having showered before Noah got home knowing the man wanted to shower before their date tonight. Chris was buttoning up his slacks as Noah came into the room his towel wrapped low around his waist water dripping down his chest from the wet ends of his hair. Chris blinked as Noah used another towel to dry his hair as he walked to his own side of the closet.
"So what's the attire for this date? It's your turn to pick right? Even if it's not, you might just have to pick anyway because I don't have any thing planned, I might have lost track of whose turn it is weeks ago any way."
Chris chuckled as he put on his shirt. Noah hadn't planned one of their dates in weeks, but Chris wasn't complaining, the man was busy and Chris was happy to spoil him plus he needed the time to figure out what he wanted to do for this particular date. They'll fix the date schedule later, Chris was happy to take this over for a couple of weeks. Noah turned and tossed the towel being used for his hair at Chris who caught it easily then tossed it over the door of the closet.
"Yes sweetheart it is my turn. You can dress semi formal."
Noah wrinkled his nose and whined.
"Chris, babe, seriously?"
Chris stepped closer to Noah who stepped back and Chris reached out to grab Noah's hips. Noah raised an eyebrow and Chris grinned as he pulled Noah towards him to kiss the smaller man's nose.
"Be good for me and get dress okay sweetheart? I promise it'll be amazing."
Noah smiled softly at Chris.
"Any time I spend with you is amazing. Semi formal? I can do that regardless of how much semi formal clothes give me an ick."
"I see where Stiles gets it from, I'm sorry to torture you this way."
"It's fine, I look forward to you making it up to me."
Chris smiled at Noah.
"God I love you."
Noah laughed.
"I love you more Argent."
Chris groaned.
"Hey now, get dressed, we've got places to be."
Noah turned around to grab his own clothes.
"So bossy, I kind of like that. It gives me a break."
"Not the time sweetheart."
Noah sighed dramatically as he got dressed and Chris made sure he had everything he needed before they left the house. Chris opened the passenger door and Noah pressed a kiss to his cheek as he sat in the car. Chris closed the door gently and hurried around to get into the driver side. As Chris started the car and began the drive to their destination. Noah started a conversation.
"Have you spoken to Stiles?"
Chris and his already wired nerves gripped the steering wheel tight. God if Stiles ruined this for him he was going right to Derek and Peter with nothing, but revenge in mind. Chris took a deep breath.
"I haven't, why? Is something wrong?"
"No. He wants to move out, says he can afford to move out now that I have you in the house."
Chris softened his nerves slowly relaxing remembering that he had Stiles' approval for this. They had discussed this.
"He said that?"
"Yeah. He said he can trust you to keep me safe."
Chris parked at their destination and turned to Noah gently placing a hand on the side of Noah's face, his thumb gently passing over Noah's cheek. Noah kissed his palm lightly.
"I'll never let anything happen to you."
It was a promise, a vow he intended to keep this around. Nothing was touching Noah in the way it had touched Victoria and Allison, he'd throw himself into harms way first before he ever let something take Noah away from him.
"Come on sweetheart, let's go have dinner."
Dinner was calm, the kind of calm that came with years of knowing someone would never judge you no matter what. Chris had engaged every single one of Noah's overdramatic tellings about work and Chris had laughed loudly at the prank the pack had done to send the department into a wild goose chase. Noah had beamed at him even while the other members in the restaurant glared at him for being so loud. The nerves didn't come back until after dinner, they were walking back to the car when the box with the ring suddenly felt heavy. What if Noah said no? What if Noah didn't want to be married again? What if he was about to mess this up?
He was brought out of his thoughts when Noah curled around his arm pressing his face into him as the wind blew hard from one direction. Noah pressed himself close to Chris before just moving Chris' arm to lay it over his shoulders and curl into his side as they walked. Chris looked down at him and Noah looked up as they stopped at the car.
"I had fun, thanks for being amazing Chris."
Did Noah think they were going home? Chris smirked.
"The date isn't over yet sweetheart."
Noah blinked and Chris chuckled.
"What do you mean it's not over?"
"I mean it's not over, now get your beautiful behind in the car."
Chris opened the door and Noah stumbled into the car after a light shove from Chris. Noah glared half heartedly and Chris blew him a kiss as he shut the door. Chris wasn't sure what he was worried about, but every worry had been washed away even if Noah said no to marriage, it didn't mean he was saying no to Chris or their relationship. Chris took a deep breath as he walked around the car and climbed into the driver side. He started the car with a steady hum, he reached for Noah's hand and held it as he drove to their next destination. Noah gently ran his thumb over Chris' knuckles, the silence comforting, safe, an understanding before them that they didn't need to fill it, but the option was there.
They chose not too.
Getting to their next destination before going home was actually the smoothest ride of Chris' life. Chris parked the SUV by the edge of the preserve, he squeezed his hands over the steering wheel the action grabbing Noah's attention and Chris' heart leaped out of his chest when Noah reached over to take one of his hands.
"Chris? What's going on?"
Chris looked at him heart pounding, blood rushing in his ears. He wanted so badly for the man next to him to be his forever, to be his second chance at a family. Chris leaned over and pressed his lips to Noah's in a kiss so sweet, so gentle, so absolutely perfect Chris felt like he was coming home. Noah let out a small sigh of content. Chris pulled away his nose gently rubbing against Noah's, faces not even inches apart.
"I want to talk to you, but we have to get out the car. It's not far, just over that way."
Noah turned to look in the direction Chris had pointed in.
"The cliff overlooking Beacon Hills?"
Chris hummed in acknowledgment.
"Let's go then."
They stepped out of the car together, Chris locked up the car and met up with Noah who was just a bit up ahead. Noah reached for Chris’ hand and Chris tangled their fingers together as they walked towards the cliff. The town sat silently with bright lights shining across the darkened sky and Noah sighed, the peacefulness of it all sitting just right on his heart. Chris slowly let go of Noah’s hand to shove his hands into his pockets, his nerves firing up again as his fingers curled around the box. Chris found himself looking at Noah, the way the man’s lips curled slightly into a smile, the soft streaks of grey in the man’s hair, the smile lines from years of raising Stiles on his own. Chris blinked, Noah Stilinski was- is the most beautiful man Chris has ever seen and Chris wanted nothing more than to call him his husband. Noah’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
Noah turned to Chris with a smile and Chris felt his heart slam. God Chris was such a loyal bastard.
“Yeah, it is.”
Noah chuckled and turned to Chris crossing his arms over his chest with an eyebrow raised.
“You wanted to talk my love? What’s going on? You’re nervous as hell, you stopped being nervous around me a long time ago.”
Chris chuckled.
“Can’t hide anything from you can I?”
“I’m a cop Christopher, now what’s going on?”
Chris gulped.
“I never thought I’d have this. You, Stiles, the pack. I grew up thinking my entire life was planned out for me, I didn’t have a choice. A life I wasn’t happy with until I got Allison and then the world took her from me too while wearing Stiles’ face.”
Noah sucked in a breath his hand reaching for Chris’ arm.
“Chris-”
Chris didn’t let him interrupt.
“I didn’t know how I was going to keep living in a world without my kid, I didn’t want to be in a world without her and then one day I realized I lost my kid, but Stiles had to see himself kill his friend who he saw as a sister and Lydia had to yell her best friend’s name while she died so I picked up the phone because if anyone was going to know how they were doing it was you. I don’t know what you heard in my voice that day, but I hope you know that I am forever grateful that you pulled me out.”
Chris turned to Noah who had teary eyes.
“I would do it again Chris, if it meant you were here right now I would do it again.”
Chris laughed.
“I know you would and that’s what makes you so incredibly amazing. Noah you saved my life, you gave me a reason to live again, you helped me find a version of myself I didn’t know how to find. You were my friend in a moment where I felt like I had nothing left. You are everything I didn’t know I needed, everything I didn’t know I could have and I love you Noah Stilinski. I would never trade you for anything in the world, I would live and die for you Noah. Thank you for being my second chance at living, but I want to ask you to be my second chance at something else too if you’re willing.”
Noah chuckled, the sound a bit watery, but he nodded anyway, curious as to where this was all going because Chris had just sprouted the most beautiful speech and he wanted to kiss him. Noah choked on his breath when Chris kneeled on one knee and Chris pulled out the box that’s been haunting him for weeks. Chris flicked it open before looking at Noah again.
“Noah, love of my life, my reason for existing, will you be my second chance? Would you do me the honor of becoming your husband?”
Noah froze and Chris smiled at him.
“Will you marry me Noah Stilinski?”
“Oh my god, you’re serious? You want-? Yes Chris. Yes I’ll marry you.”
Chris let out the breath he was holding as he slipped the ring onto Noah’s finger. Chris stood up just in time to catch his fiancé as the man slammed into him. Chris laughed as he leaned down to kiss the man he was going to marry. When they broke apart Noah tapped his nose to Chris’ with a small shy smile.
“I love you Christopher Argent.”
Chris let his thumb caress Noah’s cheek and a bright smile on his own face.
“I love you too Noah Stilinski. Thank you for everything.”
Noah kissed him again and Chris thought he’d rather die than lose this. Noah was his everything, his present, his future and his forever. Noah was his second chance and he wouldn’t waste a single moment of it.