Cut It Out And Then Restart by suchfun

Sterek | 18k | Teen

Years ago, when they were first starting out both in their relationship and their careers, when they were babies and hardly understood their car insurance let alone the multi-billion dollar, all-consuming, world-encompassing, life-altering business of news reporting—back then, Derek would practice his expressions in the mirror, and Stiles would think, I'm so glad he'll never have to use that face with me.

"That was stupid." He bats the kid's hands away and rearranges the items in the bag. He's mixed canned goods and dairy, does this kid even know how to efficiently pack a bag? "The TiMER is a gift." He says it automatically, because that's what his mom says. That's how he was brought up. That's what he's supposed to think.

Author: fishcommander (tumblr), suchfun (ao3) Type of Work: Fic Title: When My Landscape Changes, Rearranges Rating: T Word Count: 7k Warnings: Stiles is not exactly in the most healthy of mindsets and occasionally refers to himself in a derogatory way. I tried not to cross a line, and everyone calls him out on it, but it is there. (Note: Despite the warning and summary, this fic does have a happy ending!)

Summary: Stiles tries not to be pissed off at the world in general, but it’s fucking hard.

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Stiles is twenty two years old. He should be out there, living his life, doing… whatever it is normal dudes in their twenties are doing. But he’s not. He’s doing this. He’s getting fired from the job he barely started and wasting his degree and spending days at home alone, mostly laying down because anything else puts too much pressure on his lower spine. He’s relearning how to walk and remembering the time his surgeon looked at his scans for the first time and said, “Well, it sucks to be you.” He’s thinking about about how when he gets home his dad will probably have to shower him, because he’s been in the pool for half an hour and he’s fucking exhausted.

There’s a lot to be pissed off about.