Human is Just a Word 25/?
Chapter 25
"Stiles." Mrs. Hanson sat down in the chair Derek had just left. "Do you want to stay with him?"
Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you implying?"
"Stiles." The principal spoke up but he had lost his rather harsh tone. "There are not many reasons for a human being in a werewolf pack."
"I know it can be rather exciting." Mrs. Hanson said, her hand itching as if she wanted to hold his to comfort him but didn't dare. "Werewolves are strong and mystical and I have to admit that Derek has this bad boy image going on. If such a person shows interest in someone a bit younger ... it can be very flattering."
"Whoa." Stiles made and was out of his chair and almost at the door as second later. "I am not in a relationship with Derek if that's what you're implying."
"Does your father know where you are?" Mr. Miller asked. At least he didn't go for the I'm so understanding bullshit.
"If you've read my file you'd know that he has signed the papers making Derek my legal guarding alongside with him." Stiles pointed out. By now he was wondering if they had read his file at all. "I'm not a werewolf, I'm in Derek's pack by choice, on my own free will, and my father, who is a goddamn sheriff, knows exactly where I am and who I'm with. We speak on the phone every day." He fixed every one of them with a stare, ending with the principal, daring them to say something. "If that's all?"
Stiles didn't wait for an answer before he turned on his heel and left the office.
Derek was right outside. Not close enough that it looked like he had been eavesdropping but close enough to do it anyway at least for somebody with werewolf hearing which most people didn't take into account. The secretary tried to not openly stare at them but it was obvious that she was curious what was going on. Especially since Derek had probably refused to sit down in one of the waiting chairs.
"Do you want to switch schools?" Derek asked, ignoring the principal coming out of the office right after Stiles.
"Mr. Stilinski." Principal Cunningham said over Derek's words but Stiles just ignored him. "We're not done here."
Derek raised an eyebrow at him but then dismissed him, focus back on Stiles, waiting for his answer.
"I'm not sure yet." Stiles said. "Let's see how the next few days are like."
"Just tell me if you change your mind." Derek gave him a nod, accepting his decision without questions. Then he turned to the principal who was now flanked by Mrs. Hanson and Mr. Miller. All three of them looked like they didn't know if they should fume or be embarrassed. Stiles just grinned at them.
"Mr. Cunningham." Derek spoke to the principal and once again he let his authority show. He was the alpha. He didn't use that power often, the last time Stiles had witnessed it had been after Derek had claimed him when he had been confronting Peter.
Immediately Stiles relaxed and let Derek handle this. It was still a strange feeling how easily Stiles felt himself agree to letting his alpha taking the lead.
"I think we established that Stiles is not a werewolf and as a human he's just a student like everybody else at this school. I expect you to treat him as such." He paused with a tilt of his head as if he was waiting for the idiot in front of him to understand his words. "Where he lives and who he is with is nothing of your concern. Stiles, his father and I have agreed to this arrangement and since Stiles' father is the sheriff of Beacon Hills, I can assure you that everything is legal and correct. Stiles will be back at school tomorrow." With that he turned and Stiles followed him out of the office.
"I like it when you go all alpha on them." He said, not bothering to hide the wide grin on his face.
"They're idiots."
Of course they entered the hallway just when the bell rang and students started to spill out of every door. Within seconds they were surrounded by people. Stiles noticed surprised looks and at least one whispered "That's Derek Hale".
"Great, that's not going to help to stop the rumors." Stiles muttered under his breath and hurried after Derek who walked straight down the hallway without looking left or right.
Stiles spotted Sean in the crowd but the other teen ducked out of sight before Stiles could make up his mind if he wanted to talk to him right now or not.
"Do you want to ride with me?" Derek asked. "I can drop you off tomorrow."
Stiles was about to say that he was fine with driving his jeep home but suddenly everything caught up with him and his hands started to shake.
"My car, c'mon." Derek led him over to the Camaro and opened the passenger side door for him.
"You don't have to come back here if you don't want to." Derek said again while he started the engine. "There are other schools. Or we can look into online programs."
"Thanks, I'll think about it." Stiles said, feeling numb all of a sudden. "It wasn't so bad the first few days. Maybe it will sort itself out in a bit." He thought about Lydia again who had gone through hell for a week or two after her disappearance. Kids were cruel. But they were also easily distracted. Chances were good that by the end of the week something more interesting had happened and he would just be the kid associated with wolves.
Derek didn't say anything to that and just drove them home. It was weird but by now Stiles did think of the loft as home.
The next morning Derek drove him to school without saying anything about the situation. In fact, he wasn't saying anything at all but Stiles took comfort from his presence alone. The bond with his alpha was the strongest in his mind and with Derek this close it was like a bright beacon. It was a nice feeling.
"Thanks, man." Stiles said and reached for the door. He took a deep breath and his best fuck you attitude and then he left the car. He felt Derek's eyes on him for a moment but then Derek drove off. At least he wasn't hovering like a soccer mom on her kid's fist day of school.
There were glances and outright stares but now Stiles knew what they were about and it was easier to ignore them.
His first class was history with Mr. Miller, so that should be interesting. Stiles didn't know what to expect from the man. An apology? An official statement that he wasn't a werewolf? Ignorance?
Turned out Mr. Miller went for the latter. It was a class like every other except for the fact that the teacher refused to even look at him. It reminded him of his old Chemistry teacher Mr. Harris. Stiles didn't really care. If he could survive Harris, he could survive the cold shoulder this teacher was giving him.
Stiles just hoped that things would go back to normal after a few days. If Mr. Miller put his grates at jeopardy with his attitude they would have to have a talk about it. Or rather Derek would have a talk with him. But for now Stiles just sat through class as if nothing was wrong.
Lunch was the same as the day before, his old group made it clear that there was no room for him at their table so Stiles sat alone in the back again. At least there he was more or less hidden from the other students.
To his surprise Sean came over to him.
"Can I sit with you?" The boy asked, awkwardly clutching his tray.
"Sure." Stiles made room for him and Sean sat down next to him.
"I was an ass the other day." Sean said without looking at him. He was suddenly very interested in his food.
"Hmm." Stiles made, waiting for him to continue.
"About the assignment." Sean started. "We could work on it after school? At my place?"
Stiles wasn't sure if this was genuine or just about his grades but he was willing to forgive Sean. It felt nice that at least one person was willing to even talk to him.
Sean didn't have a car so Stiles drove them over. On the way he called Derek to let him know that he wouldn't come home right after school so the alpha wouldn't send out the cavalry if he wasn't home on time.
"Is this okay for you?" Sean asked when Stiles put his phone away. "You won't get in trouble for staying at my place?"
"Why would I?" Stiles tried to sound innocent but he knew exactly what Sean was aiming at. Not long ago he would have thought the same.
Strange how much his view had changed over the last few weeks. Now living in a werewolf pack seemed to be the most normal thing in the world.
Sean just bit his bottom lip and didn't answer. He was trying, Stiles got that. The fact that Sean was willing to give him a second chance alone was something close to a miracle. Last time they had spoken, he had treated Stiles like the scum of the universe.
"You can park right over there." Sean directed him when they reached his house. It was small but cozy and well cared for. "My parents are still at work."
"Annoying siblings?" Stiles ask in an attempt to lighten the mood. He could tell how nervous the other teen was.
"Just me and my parents." Sean led the way into the house. It reminded Stiles of his old home in Beacon Hills. This was a place a small family lived in, not as open and cold as Derek's loft.
"My room is upstairs." Sean said, already on his way to the upper floor.
Sean's room was like every teenager's room with band posters on the walls and dirty socks on the floor. Stiles' looked the same and by now he dared to hope that Sean would be willing to come over to his place one day.
For a while they worked on their assignment. That way they could avoid talking about personal stuff. However, eventually the enthusiasm died down and at one point they were sitting there and neither of them knew what to say next.
Stiles knew what kind of questions were on Sean's mind but so far the other boy hadn't gathered the courage to ask them.
"You've lived here your whole life?" Stiles prompted. "Maybe you can show me around a bit, I found some nice places on my own but I bet I've missed a lot."
Grateful for the distraction Sean told him about the places he liked to go to and where to better not show his face. He promised to take Stiles there and it was almost as if there hadn't been a fight between them.
The conversation went to movies and shows they had watched and slowly Sean warmed up to him again. Stiles still stood with his earlier prediction that they would never become BFF but it looked like friends was on the table again.
They were drinking too much coke and eating too many Oreos with Stiles sitting backwards on Sean's office chair, chin resting on the top of the headrest, and Sean spread out on a bean bag. It was almost like it had been with Scott. Stiles felt a ping of sadness but that didn't keep him from proving his point why Batman would kick Superman's ass.
After that there was a lull in the conversation again which Stiles used to stuff more Oreos in his face. Sean used it to ask an overdue question: "How did you end up in a werewolf pack?"
Chapter 26
Masterpost