Human is Just a Word 64/?
Chapter 64
By Monday Stiles' room looked like a serial killer's wet dream.
There were newspaper clippings, floor sketches of Peter's mansion, pictures of pack members, pictures of houses of pack members and that was only the beginning. Red yarn connected what needed connecting and sometimes Stiles just connected things like a picture of Peter with one of his ugly mansion just because.
His dad wasn't sure how quickly they could transfer Melissa here, the doctors were still debating if she could go home or needed to stay in a hospital for a little while longer and if so they needed to find one near the pack's place, so John promised to send over Peter's file.
Stiles and Lydia hadn't said it out loud but they both, and probably the whole pack, knew that this wasn't about putting Peter in jail. They were planning to murder him, plain and simple.
Stiles had known that it wasn't an easy task but with Lydia at his side he knew they would find a way. He had been ready to do it on his own and he hadn't really cared if he died in the process or not. But that had been before he had Derek, before had a pack. They needed him, especially now.
The betas were constantly seeking out the alpha couple for comfort. Stiles didn't know how often he was absently scratching a wolf behind the ear while he was on the phone or doing paperwork. Or Stiles was just there when Charles needed to talk about Loreen or when Ellen needed a shoulder to cry on when she was thinking of her husband. Or he distracted the kids when they were asking for their missing parents.
Stiles had thought that it would be solely his role, the alpha's mate's role, but Derek was doing the same. A pat here, a kind word there or he got up in the middle of the night to fix a bottle for Stacy if Derek happened to be the one waking up first when she started to get fussy.
On Monday Stiles had to go to school again.
He picked up Sean before school so he didn't have to face his first day back alone. It felt like his first day all over again except that now he wasn't just the new kid, he was the human kid in a werewolf pack that was in the middle of a bloody pack war.
After almost a week the news coverage had calmed down but everybody at school had seen it. When Stiles walked through the doors, everybody paused to stare at him. Now he got how Lydia must have felt after she had been running around naked in the woods for a few days. It had been when Peter had tried to turn her, he knew that now, but back then she had been a freak and everybody had stared. Stiles too, he had to admit.
Stiles took a breath, squared his shoulders and then walked down the hallway with his eyes straight ahead. Sean was only a step behind him and the closeness made him miss Scott but he didn't have time for that.
When school was finally over, Stiles couldn't get to his jeep fast enough and he only breathed easier when he was back with his pack again. Sean came with him and they had the intention to study for the chemistry test the next day but then Becky and Benny got into a fight and it ended with Stiles patching up Benny in the bathroom while Derek and Ellen were lecturing Becky to not use her claws in a fight. Benny only had a few scratches and his crying abated to little hiccups rather quickly but the boy clung to Stiles for almost half an hour before he was ready to leave the bathroom.
Nobody had been sleeping well the last few nights and living in close quarters didn't helped to calm the fried nerves.
When they finally left the bathroom Sean was gone, most likely to find Isaac and Mark. They spent every spare minute renovating the apartments.
Isaac was in command of that operation and with Mark and Sean he had formed a rather efficient crew that worked surprisingly well together but everybody was welcomed to help.
Stiles had learned first hand how freeing it could be to rip out floor boards and he suspected that he wasn't the only one who used the chance to work out some frustration.
The next few weeks went by rather quickly.
Megan and Lydia started school with Stiles while Benny and Becky went to a different school. Stiles didn't like leaving the twins alone for the better part of the day but there was no other option. At least he was listed as their emergency contact along with Ellen and Derek and he made sure that there was always somebody there to pick them up.
"I just hope they won't get into too much trouble." He muttered under his breath when he watched them leave for their first day.
It was Megan's and Lydia's first day as well and together with Sean they entered the school as a solid group.
"Look at those freaks." Was the first thing Stiles heard but he couldn't make out the speaker.
"Lovely." Lydia commented and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. Then she walked down the hallway with murder in the clack clack of her heels.
In moments like this Stiles remembered why he loved her so much.
None of them was a werewolf and neither Lydia nor Sean were pack but from that day on they were the Wolves. It was meant mockingly at first, an attempt to bully and harass them, but Stiles took it in stride and Megan and Lydia were not ones to back down easily.
If he was honest, it was kind of scary how well Megan and Lydia got along. When they walked down the hallways of the school as if they owned them, they were noticed. And not in the "that's the pack's bitch and his loser friend" way Stiles and Sean got.
With everything going on, Stiles almost missed his own birthday. But everybody was still in grief so it felt wrong to celebrate anyway.
Stiles had totally forgotten what day it was, and after months of waiting for the day he would turn legal that meant something, so it took him completely by surprise when one morning Derek shifted in the middle of the pack pile.
"Happy birthday." He said. He was looming over Stiles, staring down on him as if he couldn't quite believe that Stiles was actually there. With gentle fingers he pushed some stray hairs out of Stiles' face and then he leaned in for a tender kiss.
Around them some of the pack were still sleeping but some were already awake but for the moment Stiles didn't care that everybody was looking at them. It was Derek's naked butt out in the open for everybody to see anyway. Not that anybody cared about things like that, they were all sleeping naked in the den by now without thinking twice about it.
There was an "aww" coming from Ellen and an "eww" from Benny but Stiles just ignored them and chased after another kiss.
Jeremy wiggled his way between them and placed a wet kiss on Stiles' cheek as well.
"Happy birthday." He proclaimed loudly and grabbed Stiles' face with both hands to keep him in place for another wet smack.
There was a round of hugs and Happy-birthdays and by the time the pack let him out of the den Erica had pancakes ready for all of them.
Since it was a school day they had to keep the celebration short but presents were promised for later and when Derek kissed him goodbye, he whispered into Stiles' ear: "We have the evening for ourselves."
Stiles left the house with a broad grin on his face that grew even wider when Megan sing-songed: "Somebody is going to get laid tonight."
"I hope so." Stiles grinned at her. "And there better be a knot involved."
That shut her up rather quickly. Face beet red she stared out of the window until they stopped at Sean's to pick him up.
Since the pack had moved into the loft, Stiles and Derek had slept in the den every night. They hadn't done more than the occasional kiss for weeks now but it was hard, pun totally intended, to get some time alone with his mate while there was the whole pack camping in their living room.
He didn't know what Derek had in mind but it better involved a horizontal surface and a locked door.
"What's up?" Sean climbed into the back seat next to Megan.
"Stiles is fantasizing about Derek's knot." Lydia informed him.
"I'm not." Stiles protested and wiped the dreamy smile off his face.
"Just drive us to school without hitting something." Lydia sighed. "And keep the drooling to a minimum."
It was the longest school day in the history of school days. By the time the final bell rang, Stiles was fidgeting in his seat, anticipation humming in his veins and his cock had been in a semi hard state for hours.
However, when they came home there was the pack waiting for him with cake and presents so his alone time with Derek had to wait for just a little while longer.
Shopping for his birthday hadn't been high on the pack's endless to do list and the knew pack members didn't know him well enough for personal presents anyway so Stiles got quite a few gift cards.
Gina and Jeremy had painted pictures for him and the twins had made birthday cards with way too much glitter. Stiles loved them. He made a show of putting the pictures and cards on the fridge which earned him hugs from all four kids.
The main present from the whole pack was a candle light dinner at an Italian restaurant Stiles had wanted to try out with Derek for a while now.
So for dinner time the pack kicked them out of their own home.
"My place is yours tonight." Isaac said and in a lower voice he added: "There's lube in the nightstand."
"Why does he have lube in the nightstand?" Stiles wondered on their way out of the building.
"I don't want to know." Derek answered and laced their fingers together.
They walked the short distance to the restaurant and the whole time they were holding hands.
The first few minutes felt weird. For weeks now they hadn't spent any amount of time alone with each other and for a moment Stiles didn't even know what to say.
He didn't want to talk about the fire or about the things they still had to do until the pack could truly settle in. He didn't want to talk about school either or how worried he was about his dad and Melissa.
"Do you realize that this is our first date?" He blurted out just to say something.
"We did things kind of backwards." Derek admitted and hid behind his water glass.
"I have to inform you that I usually don't put out on a first date." He winked at his mate. "But I can be persuaded to make an exception for you."
"How generous of you." Derek answered dryly.
The meal was delicious and by the time the waitress brought out their dessert, they were leaning in to each other, comfortable in the closeness and talking in hushed voices. Stiles didn't even care what they were talking about. He fed Derek a strawberry and then licked the flavor right out of his mouth.
"We should go back." Derek kissed him with a hint of red eyes. It could have been the candle light but Stiles knew better. There was hunger in those eyes but he was pretty sure he wore the same expression.
"I want your knot tonight." Stiles whispered in his ear and a minute later Derek was basically dragging him down the street back to their house. Stiles would have laughed if he hadn't been so horny.
The morning after this eighteenth birthday Stiles didn't bother with covering up the impressive bite mark Derek had left on his neck.
Stiles went to school, wearing Derek's mark like a badge.
Chapter 65
Masterpost