I am quiet now and silence gives me space

To say that Stiles ever imagined himself cheating on Lydia Martin would be fucking preposterous. He loves Lydia, always has. Except now he kinda loves Malia too. Stiles fooled around with Malia after his month break up with Lydia. During that time they grew close emotionally. Had actually become friends more than fuck buddies. But eventually Lydia came back around and Stiles was wrapped around her finger once more. It was hard to let both of them go, so why should he? He could see Malia on the side after school and keep Lydia during the day. Simple, right?

THE ARROW STRUCK STONE AND Isaac nearly died from a panic attack that could have left him fainting if he didn’t manage to rein himself in. His eyes shut and his grip tight on the metal handle; sweat quick to collect on the back of his neck and drip all the way down to his spine. He cursed whoever this was for almost putting him into a stupor before he heard it. 

The drop of someone’s feet. 

And with the aid of darkness slipped from where he had hidden in anxious anticipation to hit the stranger square to the face. Whether or not it had been enough to actually kill him, he wasn’t sure. He hoped not.  But then again, he had no idea what he intended to do after because just throwing him out the window seemed like an ill-advised decision. Then again, he could but   —   no, he didn’t want to kill the guy. 

He stays in the moment, arms hanging in the middle of the air, not truly processing whether he actually knocked the guy out or not, just staring at the general direction of where his pan made contact with his nose. Eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly when the first thought he has is “ It’s a boy! “

Pain. Blinding pain. That was all Stiles felt. First, he was standing in the unfamiliar tower and the next he was crashing to the floor. The room was spinning, making it difficult for Stiles to recognize anything. He groaned and cupped his nose. It was bleeding and most likely broken. Dammit. That was his best physical attribute. 

At the words that were spoken, Derek couldn’t help but bristle. Of course it was wealthy, and successful. Derek knew that better than anyone, consider that Peter had stole it from him. However, he chose to keep that bit of information to himself for the time being. Rolling hues, a huff of breath was let out in annoyance. “What tipped you off?” He retorted, the corner of his lips twitching ever so slightly. “Yeah. I’ll help you. Just don’t take forever to get it finished. I do have a life you know.” More importantly, he just wanted his business back from Peter before he ruined completely.

It was well into the early morning hours when Derek finally drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t a good sleep at all. The wolf tossed and turned all night long, and he was plagued with nightmares of the events that had recently just happened. When the sun finally rose, Derek wasn’t fully awake, but awake enough to hear and feel Stiles when he crept his way out of the bed. He waited until he heard the water turn on before he finally climbed out of the bed himself. Sadness overcame him, but Derek knew this was something he had to do. He just needed space right now. Time to clear his head, and gather up his thoughts. Bending down, he jotted a small note and left it on Stiles’ pillow. All it said was to not come looking for him. That he would find him when he was ready. With that, the wolf made his exit from the small apartment that he shared with the other.

It was a little over a month later until he finally decided that he was ready to speak to Stiles. He had zero contact with the other male during that time. He made sure to stay as far away as he could. It was time that he needed, and he knew Stiles needed as well. Truthfully, Derek had no idea where they stood now. Hell, he wasn’t sure if Stiles had moved on or not either. Guess he would find out, though. Returning back to the apartment that they shared, when he walked in he knew that Stiles was still staying there. He could tell from how strong his scent was. Inhaling sharply simply to steady himself, he took a seat on the couch as he waited for the other to return. Derek didn’t know when that was going to be, but he was internally grateful for whatever time he had to gather himself together.

All that was left was a note on a pillow. The covers were still pulled back, and the sheets were still warm from Derek’s body. He must’ve just left. The human’s world was crashing down and he needed somewhere to sit before he fell to his knees. Derek was gone and there was nothing he could do. Fuck that, Stiles had to go find him...no. No, he opened the crumpled up note in his palm and read it until he could he say it in his sleep. Stiles loved Derek enough to respect his wishes. The wolf would come back. He had to...he promised...

It’s been a month and three days since Derek left. Every day Stiles entered their apartment he expected Derek to be there waiting for him like he always did when Stiles came back from class. Sometimes Stiles would find Derek reading, sleeping, or just thinking. But he’d always be there. Despite Scott and Lydia’s advice to stop expecting Derek and move on, he still waited for Derek to come back. He couldn’t be with anyone else because there was no one else. Cheating on Derek was the worst mistake of his life and the thought of having sex with another person lead him to remember that night. He couldn’t stop comparing each attractive person in the club to Derek, how Derek would’ve danced, kissed, smelled, laughed...Derek consumed Stiles’ thoughts. 

Every move that Stiles made, Derek tracked them like a hawk. The wolf knew where the human was at all times, and this made him feel only slightly alright with being back in his human form. He had been in his wolf form for so long, that Derek knew it was going to take time until he was back to ’ normal.’ When the blanket was picked up and wrapped along his shoulders a grunt was given as a thank you. Hearing the request, caused a brow to raise a tad. After a moment, a hand reached out as it wrapped along the other’s wrist. Making his way over towards the fire, Derek didn’t release his hold on Stiles until the younger male was standing right in front of the flames. Once he was sure that Stiles was getting warm, the wolf was satisfied and took a small step back.

“  you're  lying.  "  her  voice  shaky  as  she's  lead  to  an  empty  classroom,  no  doubt  to  calm  the  animal  threatening  to  burst  out  of  her  as  she  fights  to  calm  down,  her  claws  sharp  and  out,  her  breathing  erratic  as  her  heartbeat  doesn't  calm.  "  don't  lie,  okay?  i  saw  the  blood,  god-  what …..  how  did  this  happen?  i  was  doing  so  good.  "  she  mutters  softly  as  she  closes  her  eyes,  hiding  the  deep  blue  shade  for  a  moment  as  she  listens  to  stiles  voice,  even  if  he  was  lying,  his  heartbeat  remained  calm  and  she  was  grateful.  "  part  of  me  wants  to  say  she  deserved  it.  "  she  admits  as  she finally  opens   her  eyes  to  meet  stiles  eyes,  no  trace  of  deceit  in  her  statement   as  her  jagged  claws  slowly  turn  into  hands. 

Stiles was lying...kind of. Truthfully, the student would survive. Besides, she barely received a scratch worthy of being turned, and she probably didn't see Malia's claws anyways. If he hadn’t intervened, things would have escalated at a dramatic rate. 

Did she deserve it? Ever since Stiles began dating Malia, every time a girl looked at him longer than she liked the coyote would start growling. Perhaps Stiles was oblivious to the girl’s flirty winks and gentle touches. He wasn’t accustomed to having girls fawn over him, the only one he ever paid any attention to was Malia. 

Both brows raised, as he waited for Stiles to get over his little fit about Derek agreeing to the amount that he had tossed out. Once he was finished, a huff of annoyance was let out before hues rolled lightly. “I’m not telling you what this is for, so you might as well give that up now. Otherwise, I can gladly find someone else to do this job for me.” He challenged, hues narrowing a bit. Reaching into his back pocket, a piece of folded up paper was pulled from it before he shoved it over to Stiles. “This will tell you everything else you need to know.” Taking a brief pause, his head tilted slightly. “So. Do I need to find someone else, or not?”

When Stiles shifted on his side, Derek didn’t bother to look over towards him. He wanted to be close, but after everything that had happened? He wasn’t sure he could stomach looking at Stiles without getting angry all over again. He had barely kept his wolf reigned in the first time. If he got that mad again, he wasn’t sure he would be able to do that again. Listening to the words that came pouring from the other’s mouth, caused the wolf to let out a long slow breath of air. Lips pressed into a thin a line as he thought to himself a moment. Eventually, a hand came up and dragged down the front of his face. Rubbing it slightly, a sigh fell from the older males lips. “I don’t want you to leave Stiles. We both know what’s going to happen tomorrow. So, just stay here tonight. We will figure out the rest after we get some sleep.” Which was out of the question for him and he knew that, but it was a worth a shot anyways.

“Yeah...whatever you want,” Stiles mumbled in response. A part of him wanted to leave now. Handle this situation like he handled the rest of his problems, entirely avoid them until they've vanished. Distance would do them good but leaving Derek left a sinking feeling in his gut. They need to use their words or else they’d lose all their progress. But what’s there to say? He was drunk, pissed, and cheated on him? They’re well past that. The only other option for Stiles was to sleep. And for the first time in a long time, he’ll be sleeping alone.