When Stiles woke, it took him a rather long moment to recognize his surroundings. This was definetely neither his bed, nor his room. That man by his side, however, whose thumb was carefully caressing the skin underneath his eye - was his.

It had been the first night in months that Stiles had been able to sleep at Derek's place. For the longest time the two men had been unable to share a bed, to touch, to kiss, to rest side by side. Hours ago the alpha pack had been defeated, and with his head still aching from the minor car crash, Stiles had picked Derek up and went home with him.

It was strange to be back here. There had been times when Stiles hadn't been able to keep his hopes up, convinced that he would never end up back together with the alpha. The odds had never been in their favor, and yet there was no doubt that both of them were alive - and once again with each other.

"Hey", the boy murmured quietly, voice still a little raspy and hoarse. For some moments he allowed himself to close his eyes again, before finally glancing up to the older man by his side. Stiles moved, and winced right away when the bruise on his forehead sent a sharp pain through his system. Right. The accident.

Derek's thumb was still underneath his eye, and Stiles decided that he would focus on that familiar sensation rather than the pain in his head.

The sudden pain in Stiles' chest made it impossible to breathe for a moment. His lungs stopped working, stomach aching, sending a shiver through his body and causing it to jolt out of sleep and back into reality from one moment to the other.

With a loud gasp his eyes shot open, air filling his lungs violently, forcing them back to work. There was sweat on his skin, hair sticking to his forehead, cheeks deeply pink from the heat that his shaking and tensing had produced. At the same time he felt like freezing, eyes immediately, frantically looking for the open windows that turned out to be closed.

Stiles' heart was beating too fast, he felt like throwing up. Unlike the night before, and the night before that, he didn't end up running to the bathroom though. Instead he just sat in Derek's and his bed, panting, trying to get rid of the loud noise in his head that kept him from actually hearing his boyfriend's words.

It was getting better. Slowly. He could feel a familiar, calming hand on his arm. Then his neck, forcing his mind softly back into their loft.

Stiles might have been a coward. No, actually, there was no doubt at all that he was just that. There had been countless opportunities to tell his dad, to tell anyone, and yet Stiles had decided to keep that little detail to himself. That little detail that wasn't that little after all. Or was it? Did breaking up with his fiancé actually count as an important information that people should know about?

Thinking about it, Stiles really didn't know how he had managed to keep it a secret in the first place. He could have told his father months ago, right after it happened. Or maybe some weeks later during his birthday, when Derek hadn't been there, and Stiles had come up with the most ridiculous excuses. His excuses sure as hell had gotten better, more creative over time, ranging from 'He's sick' to 'Cora is sick' up to 'You're sick and Derek has this important job next week so he can't risk getting infected.' Okay, quite honestly? His excuses were terrible, and there was a chance that no one believed any of them anyway.

Being invited to his dad's and Melissa's wedding had been a shock - above all when both of the adults had urged him to bring his own fiancé along. Well shit. Now that was something Stiles really didn't want to lie about - it was come across as plain rude if Derek wouldn't come along, and after all, after all the fighting, Stiles really didn't want to make his father hate Derek. Not again. They had been through that already, no need for a repitition.

So Stiles had begged, and whined, and finally convinced Derek to spend a whole week in a hotel with him. Oh, now that had been a surprise Stiles really hadn't been prepared for. It wasn't enough that his father would marry his best friend's mom, no, they actually wanted to invite everyone for a whole freaking week - including Stiles and his 'fiancé', who would get to share a room for seven days.

willyouhearmehowlingatthemoon and allhalethehowl started following you

Cora felt the breeze run its gentle hand through locks of brown hair. Inhaling deeply, she held back the emotions bubbling under her skin. It was a common ritual for her. When things bothered her, Cora handled it one of two ways. Usually, she swallowed it up. But it'd always build to a point where she'll have an explosion of emotion. Sighing, she peered behind her at the direction of her brother. "What are you looking at?" A smirk tugging at the edge of her lips. 

All Leo knew was that he had no idea as to what was going on. He remembered walking into the woods around camp, fell over a root, and when he got up, was suddenly in a completely different forest in the middle of the night. Not exactly what he had been expecting, but when you're a Demigod, you just kinda learn to roll with whatever the Fates throw at you. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Stiles groaned quietly when the persistent noise of the heartmonitor that he was connected to reached his ears. It was the first thing he heard, or noticed alltogether, when he rose from sleep - or what he believed to be nothing but a short repose. If only his bones wouldn’t ache like that, his head appearently ready to explode any second. This wasn’t how he usually felt like when waking up. In fact, the pain almost made him believe that he had been hit by a car. Maybe Derek and he had taken it too far the evening before. Maybe that was the reason the boy still felt that sore.

Slowly his eyes flickered open, immediately squeezing shut again when he was confronted with the bright sun that was lightening up the completely white room he was resting in. This wasn’t his room, and it certainly wasn’t Derek’s. Another low groan escaped him, moments passing before he dared to give it another shot and open his eyes once more. This time the light wasn’t all that painful, still too bright, but more bearable by now.

Stiles moved his head carefully, the beeping of the heartmonitor still filling his ears. Something was definetely wrong.

"Derek?", he murmured, asking for the one person who would be able to tell him what was going on. At least that was what Stiles deeply believed in. After all, Derek was his partner, and if anyone could free him from his confusion it would be him. Right?