Lady... I am so unhappy with Teen Wolf that may I humbly request a small, tiny, ficlet? Something to make me feel like I am not investing in a losing relationship. My otp is painful enough (DESTIEL 4LIFE) I didn't think Teen Wolf aka sterek would lead me down such a troublesome path. Why can't they just all be happy and in love? (with babies of course)
Iâve watched 0% of Teen Wolf season 5. So. Uh. Hereâs Sterek anyway. (AndâŠif you want it, you might get a sequel/more.)
Before Derek disappears, he pays Stiles a visit. It isnât the first time, but it is, too.
Itâs the first time things go from talking, from just being in the same room, breathing the same air, to something wordlessâbut not soundless, no. The muffled sound of skin on skin, of breath catching, the slick back and forth slide ofâ
Stiles showers, scrubs his skin red and raw. He washes his sheets over and over again and hopes that none of the others will know.
He doesnât tell them about the nightmares, but his dad knows. And thatâs enough to keep them from asking too many questions about why heâs so meticulously clean, why he wonât let anyone touch him.
Stiles tries not to be obvious.
Itâs Malia who tells him that he smells weird. Theyâre not really together anymore, except when they are. Itâs a comfort thing, a need for some kind of contact. And Malia doesnât make it weird.
She tells him that it smells like thereâs been a girl in his room and he raises an eyebrow at her, as if that much should be obvious. She shoves him, says, âNot me.â
She shrugs. âDunno. I guessâŠI guess it smells like you. But alsoâŠâ Thereâs a look that crosses her face, but she shrugs. âDonât worry about it.â
Stiles starts to feel off though. His nightmares morph into other things, start centering on something growing inside of him. He thinks itâs the nogitsune again, almost expects it even in dreams, but theyâre wolf claws that finally puncture through the skin of his stomach, prying their way out.
Itâs Derek who stands in front of him. Faces away from him.
He reaches out, but then he curls in on himself, crippled by the pain in his abdomen.
It still hurts when he wakes up and he clutches his stomach, buries his face in his pillow so he wonât make any noise.
Stiles doesnât want his dad to worry.
So, in lieu of seeing an actual human doctor, Stiles ends up going to Deaton.
With Deaton, he can be honestâabout the dreams, if nothing else. Deaton knows. And Stiles tells Deaton all that he thinks to say, anything that seems pertinent.
Deaton approaches it with the same kind of serious concern he approaches everything else, especially given their history. âIn the dream,â he starts, looping his stethoscope around his neck, âitâs something inside you?â
Stiles nods, swallows, taps his fingers under the edge of the metal table heâs sat upon.
Then, Deatonâs getting out those things that vets donât needâstrange herbs and objects Stiles can only guess the purpose ofâand Stiles whispers, meek and helpless, âPlease tell me itâs gone.â
He means the nogitsune, but Deatonâs face is carefully blank as he performs some sort of ritual that Stiles is literally too freaked out to pay real attention to.
âItâs not the nogitsune,â Deaton says, and Stiles doesnât breathe a sigh of relief.
Stiles canât leave after he hears the news. He sits in his Jeep, hands glued to the steering wheel, his eyes squeezed shut.
âGet rid of it,â heâd told Deaton, voice rough, the sound punched out of him.
But here he is. Here it is. The curious part of him itches to reach down to his abdomen, to feel if it could really be there, but he clenches the steering wheel instead. âGoddamn it, Derek,â he murmurs under his breath.
Eventually, he drives home, locks himself away from his dad and Malia and Scott and anyone else who might try to talk to him. Not that anyone comes, not tonight.
He has an intense nostalgia for Derek dropping by, can see it is his head: Derek climbing through his window, Derek appearing behind him soundlessly, Derek sitting at the edge of his bed and unable to make eye contact. Stiles blinks away tears he didnât realize had been forming. Derek was only the latest in a long list of people leaving, but it seems particularly unfair. After all, they had finally found Derek and then he had left. On purpose.
And Stiles is left with thisâ His hand hovers over his abdomen and he finally presses down. This is one of many marks that his life has left on him, but this is one left by Derek. Not that Stiles isnât to blame.
If Derek werenât what he is, Stiles wouldâve left his fair share of marks, tooâwhere fingernails had clawed into Derekâs back, where his teeth sank into Derekâs shoulder as he muffled a sob, a cry, a curse.
It had only happened once, even though Stiles had probably imagined it hundreds of times, perhaps thousands.
Stiles wonders if he could find Derek now, but he doubts it. The Hales are particularly good at disappearing, it seems. Hell, Derek hadnât known one of his sisters had survived the fire until she had come back.
Lying back on his bed, Stiles tries to just breathe. âDerek,â he says, as if it will somehow summon the werewolf back to him.
He falls asleep in his clothesâjeans and shoes and allâon top of the covers.
He wakes up to tapping and, as groggy as he is, he thinks again of Derek.
When he opens his eyes, he realizes that itâs light out and that itâs his dad knocking at the door. He glances at the clock and swears under his breath. âIâm up!â he shouts.
The day doesnât drag by so much as disappear completely in the haze of Stilesâs mind. When Scott nudges him, he grunts in response, nods when Scott asks him if heâs okay. Scott looks at him with concerned eyes, but he shrugs his friendâs gaze off, murmuring, âDonât worry about it. No big bad wolf knocking on my door or anything.â Unfortunately, his mind so helpfully adds.
A month passes like this. Stiles is a few months in, he knows. And his body isnât shy about telling him through various aches and pains, the stretch of his skin.
He doesnât gain as much weight as he probably should, but, despite everything else theyâre always going through, Stilesâs friends take note of the changes in him. After the nogitsune thing, he guesses they canât afford to ignore boring, human Stiles anymore.
âWhatâs wrong?â âWhatâs going on?â âAre you okay?â âYou smell different.â âDonât keep secrets from us.â âWhy havenât you said anything?â
Much as Stiles normally loves to talk, he makes Deaton explainâand the idea has Scott even more freaked out becauseâŠif Deaton is involved, it must be serious. They come find him after, come to his bedroom and confront him with all their thoughts and questions andâ
âCanât you get rid of it?â Malia asks, blunt and oblivious to the shock it will cause.
Stiles opens his mouth, words caught in his throat: Donât you think I want it gone? âCanât,â he ends up saying, after shaking his head a moment, uncertain. âDeaton doesnât know what thatâd do to me, anyway,â he explains, as if thatâs the entire reason he hasnât tried. He doesnât add, He doesnât know what this will do either.
âWaitâŠâ Scott starts, and Stiles braces himself. He knows that Scott has put it together finally, that thing that no one else has dared to ask. âIsnât thereâŠanother person involved?â
Malia looks alarmed. âIt couldnât be mine, could it?â
Stiles can laugh at that, although it comes out sharp and bitter. âNo. No, itâs not yours. God, is anyone else hungry?â he asks, deflecting. Malia and Kira are kind enough to go grab something, but Scott isnât ready to let go.
âWho?â he asks, claws lengthening. It makes Stiles want to laugh again, but he just keeps sitting, knees pulled up to his chest, hiding himself. âStiles,â Scott demands, with an anxious glance at the door, as if a werecoyote and a kitsune couldnât hear them anyway.
Stiles lets out a long breath. âWho do you think?â he asks. He thinks it should be obvious, but his friendâs furrowed eyebrows say differently. His finger traces the initials out onto the bed, the ones that he had stared at on the wood. DH.
Scottâs eyes narrow, then widen. Before he says it, however, Kira and Malia return, arms stacked with everything they could find in the house.
âOh, my god. Thank you,â Stiles tells them, and begins rooting through the selections. He was lying about being hungry, of course, but he can make a show of it for their sake. Stiles doesnât know if heâs even capable of eating now.
Eventually, he convinces them to leave, although Scott lingers.
âDH?â he asks. âDH as in⊠As in Derek?â
âGoodnight, Scott,â Stiles says, and shuts the door behind him.
Stiles can never shake them at school after that. Everywhere he goes, he knows thereâs a protective presence nearby. Itâs almost like the old days, when Derek would show up to stalk him and Scott. He didnât think heâd ever miss that.
Missing it now seems stupid, but this thing in him⊠This thing is part Derek and Derek will probably never know unless he comes back to Beacon Hills to die like everyone else has.
Maybe itâs best if Derek stays away.
He decides this, reminding himself of it every day for another month or so, until even going to school is too awkward to bear and he has to tell his dad, has to stay home, claiming stress and trauma and all these truths that are not the truth.
Stiles has to tell his dad whose it isâhis dad wonât let that go, no matter how hard Stiles tries to say it doesnât matter.
âDerekâs, alright?â he finally shouts. âItâs Derekâs!â
He pushes even his dad away.
But one morning he wakes up and heâsâŠwarm.
Stiles enjoys it for a momentâcomfortable and groggy and always exhaustedâbut it doesnât take long for him to realize itâs not right. Is it another dream? Is it⊠Who is it? His heart starts racing and heâs about to slam an elbow back just in case andâ
Stilesâs entire body goes tense. âDerek?â he says, barely a whisper.
âStiles,â DerekâDerek?âsays.
Stiles doesnât know what to say. Will he ruin it by turning around? It canât⊠It canât really be him, can it?
Thereâs a hesitance in the voice and the uncertainty reflects Stilesâs own. âCan I?â
A hand waits above his abdomen and Stiles gives a minute nod. Fingertips barely brush over his rumpled t-shirt before he hears the gasp and has to turn, has to see for himself.
âDerek?â And it shouldnât be a question this time, but it is.
âStiles,â Derek says again, presses his forehead to Stilesâs.
Stilesâs bump brushes Derekâs abs and it should be scaryâthis whole thing is terrifyingâbut in that moment, just for a second, all Stiles feelsâŠis calm.