Fic: Learning To Belong (Teen Wolf, gen)
Title: Learning to Belong
Pairing/Characters: Gen, Isaac Lahey-centric but it features others, too.
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1221 (24 points)
Summary: Isaac returns from France but things have changed.
Spoilers/warnings: Spoilers for lots of Teen Wolf, mentions of character death and abuse.
A/N: This was written for the Beacon Hills Big Bang challenge at beacon_hills. (Set sometime after season four). Thanks to seraphina_snape for the beta! This is the first thing I've managed to write in months!
Isaac stays - not hides, he isn’t hiding - in France for a year, spending his weekdays working casual jobs and learning more and more of the language, his weekends alternating between sleeping and training with a few of Chris’ more accepting hunter friends. It’s a useful year in which he grows as a person, manages to actually go a significant amount of time without discovering a new enemy, and most certainly does not avoid the fact he’s left his pack behind.
And then it’s Erica’s birthday - or the day that would have been - and Chris is still away which means Isaac is alone, thinking about the friend he loved and lost, and about all the others he has loved and lost. He’s alone while somewhere miles and miles away Derek - maybe Scott, maybe Stiles - are thinking about her, too. He’s been alone quite a lot over the last year, but Erica’s birthday is the first time he feels lonely.
He makes his way back to Beacon Hills slowly, taking a longer route through France than is really needed. Over the year he’s saved up quite a bit of money so he travels via London, buys a bunch of tacky souvenirs for Scott and a probably-too-expensive necklace for Melissa. Eventually, Isaac can’t delay the inevitable any longer. He returns to his hometown in the middle of the day, the sun beating down on him as he shakes Chris’ hand and wonders whether his former pack will be pleased to see him.
“It’s good to have you back, Isaac.” Chris places a hand on Isaac’s back as he leads him into his apartment building. “It’s been quiet living without you.”
“I’ll try to make a lot of noise, then,” Isaac quips. It’s the least he can do.
~~
If anyone had asked, Isaac would have said for sure it would be Scott to notice he was back first, to ask him questions about his year away, to bring him back into the fold. Instead, it’s Derek who turns up on Chris’ doorstep and invites himself inside.
“Chris never said you were coming back.”
Isaac shrugs, feeling like the awkward teenager he’s been pretending he isn’t. “He didn’t know. Spur of the moment decision, really.”
Derek nods, as if he understands, drops down into Chris’ armchair and studies Isaac. It’s not really clear what he’s looking for but after a minute or so Derek smiles, and Isaac relaxes.
“Okay, you got to tell me about this full blown wolf thing you’ve apparently got going on. Stiles - Stiles - actually texted me about it. Stiles doesn’t like me, so it must be cool.”
“Stiles likes you,” says Derek, frowning. “Why wouldn’t he?”
Isaac snorts. “Stiles thinks I’m a jerk - probably because I am. It’s fine, we have a dynamic.”
“That what Scott called it?”
“Nope. Melissa.”
“She’s a good person.”
“Yeah.”
Derek clears his throat, then looks Isaac square in the eye. “Are you going to live with them again? The McCalls.”
“No.”
“Are you going to move back in with me?”
There’s a spider on the wall furthest from Isaac; he can see it moving, crawling its way up the surface. He crosses over and holds his hand out, waiting until it moves onto his palm before going over to the window to let it outside, his back to Derek. “No. No, I don’t think so.”
“I can understand that,” Derek says, tone soft and honest.
Isaac wants to believe him.
~~
When Isaac first sees Stiles and Lydia again, it isn’t under the best of circumstances. His hands are cuffed behind him as he’s led into the station by a deputy he doesn’t recognise. Isaac catches a quick glimpse of Stiles, open-mouthed and staring through the window of the sheriff’s office, before he’s hurried into one of the interview rooms. He supposes he should be lucky someone was there to recognise him because just a couple of minutes later the door opens and Stiles, his dad, and Lydia all walk in.
“What happened?” the sheriff asks, with the resigned tone of someone who has had to get his son’s peers out of trouble all too often.
“Is it my fault if some jerk wants to beat up his girlfriend right as I happen to pass by their house?” Isaac schools his face into its best smirk, aiming for casual. Maybe it doesn’t quite work, though, because he catches the way Stiles and Lydia look at one another, the way the sheriff seems to deflate ever so slightly before he steps forward to unlock the handcuffs around Isaac’s wrists.
“Been back two days and you’re already in trouble,” Stiles remarks as they walk out of the station together. “Great start.”
Isaac scowls. “Would you have rather I let him kill her? Put her in the hospital? Do it again tomorrow?”
“Of course not,” says Lydia, pursing her lips. “I think all Stiles means is you could have been a little more subtle.”
“That what you meant, Stiles?”
“No,” Stiles says, lightly, “but that’s much nicer than what I meant so let’s go with that.”
Isaac’s pretty sure Stiles still doesn’t like him, but they walk Lydia home together all the same.
~~
Three more days pass, and Isaac still hasn’t seen Scott. He’s hung out with Derek a lot, helped Chris paint the spare room - which is now Isaac’s room - and walked past the McCall house a dozen times. He’s antsy, not knowing whether or not he’s forgiven for leaving so suddenly with Chris, so he goes to find Scott himself, finds him easily enough, leaves without even speaking to him.
Scott has a beta, one he turned instead of another alpha’s cast-off. He’d seen them on the lacrosse field, just messing around and having fun together.
There’d been no need to intrude.
Isaac heads to the graveyard, goes to sit in front of the stone that’s there in memorial for Boyd, and stares at nothing. He’s not sure how long he sits there before someone drops down beside him.
“What’s wrong?” Derek asks, hands reaching out to brush away some of the soil that’s started to cover up Boyd’s name.
Isaac pulls at a thread that’s coming loose on his jacket, wrapping it around his fingers. “Things have changed while I’ve been away. I - it was stupid but I kind of forgot they would.”
Derek’s quiet for a long moment, long enough that Isaac thinks he’s going for a solidarity silence instead of words of advice, before he replies. “Some things have changed, yes. There’s new people, new orders to things - there’s a new mall on the outskirts of town, too. You’ve changed - you’re more confident, less apologetic, more honest. But the important things? Pack, family -they’re still here. They’ve evolved, sure, but they’re still here.”
“I’m still here,” a voice says from behind.
Isaac turns to see Scott, big grin on his face, standing with the rest of his pack - old members, new members; all pack.
“You’re a part of this, Isaac,” says Derek, placing a hand on his shoulder, “if you’ll just let yourself be.”
Isaac takes a deep breath and nods. It doesn’t matter that he’s been gone for a year, or that he ran away. They’re asking him to be a part of their -his - pack again. He thinks he can try that.
Pairing/Characters: Gen, Isaac Lahey-centric but it features others, too.
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1221 (24 points)
Summary: Isaac returns from France but things have changed.
Spoilers/warnings: Spoilers for lots of Teen Wolf, mentions of character death and abuse.
A/N: This was written for the Beacon Hills Big Bang challenge at beacon_hills. (Set sometime after season four). Thanks to seraphina_snape for the beta! This is the first thing I've managed to write in months!
Isaac stays - not hides, he isn’t hiding - in France for a year, spending his weekdays working casual jobs and learning more and more of the language, his weekends alternating between sleeping and training with a few of Chris’ more accepting hunter friends. It’s a useful year in which he grows as a person, manages to actually go a significant amount of time without discovering a new enemy, and most certainly does not avoid the fact he’s left his pack behind.
And then it’s Erica’s birthday - or the day that would have been - and Chris is still away which means Isaac is alone, thinking about the friend he loved and lost, and about all the others he has loved and lost. He’s alone while somewhere miles and miles away Derek - maybe Scott, maybe Stiles - are thinking about her, too. He’s been alone quite a lot over the last year, but Erica’s birthday is the first time he feels lonely.
He makes his way back to Beacon Hills slowly, taking a longer route through France than is really needed. Over the year he’s saved up quite a bit of money so he travels via London, buys a bunch of tacky souvenirs for Scott and a probably-too-expensive necklace for Melissa. Eventually, Isaac can’t delay the inevitable any longer. He returns to his hometown in the middle of the day, the sun beating down on him as he shakes Chris’ hand and wonders whether his former pack will be pleased to see him.
“It’s good to have you back, Isaac.” Chris places a hand on Isaac’s back as he leads him into his apartment building. “It’s been quiet living without you.”
“I’ll try to make a lot of noise, then,” Isaac quips. It’s the least he can do.
~~
If anyone had asked, Isaac would have said for sure it would be Scott to notice he was back first, to ask him questions about his year away, to bring him back into the fold. Instead, it’s Derek who turns up on Chris’ doorstep and invites himself inside.
“Chris never said you were coming back.”
Isaac shrugs, feeling like the awkward teenager he’s been pretending he isn’t. “He didn’t know. Spur of the moment decision, really.”
Derek nods, as if he understands, drops down into Chris’ armchair and studies Isaac. It’s not really clear what he’s looking for but after a minute or so Derek smiles, and Isaac relaxes.
“Okay, you got to tell me about this full blown wolf thing you’ve apparently got going on. Stiles - Stiles - actually texted me about it. Stiles doesn’t like me, so it must be cool.”
“Stiles likes you,” says Derek, frowning. “Why wouldn’t he?”
Isaac snorts. “Stiles thinks I’m a jerk - probably because I am. It’s fine, we have a dynamic.”
“That what Scott called it?”
“Nope. Melissa.”
“She’s a good person.”
“Yeah.”
Derek clears his throat, then looks Isaac square in the eye. “Are you going to live with them again? The McCalls.”
“No.”
“Are you going to move back in with me?”
There’s a spider on the wall furthest from Isaac; he can see it moving, crawling its way up the surface. He crosses over and holds his hand out, waiting until it moves onto his palm before going over to the window to let it outside, his back to Derek. “No. No, I don’t think so.”
“I can understand that,” Derek says, tone soft and honest.
Isaac wants to believe him.
~~
When Isaac first sees Stiles and Lydia again, it isn’t under the best of circumstances. His hands are cuffed behind him as he’s led into the station by a deputy he doesn’t recognise. Isaac catches a quick glimpse of Stiles, open-mouthed and staring through the window of the sheriff’s office, before he’s hurried into one of the interview rooms. He supposes he should be lucky someone was there to recognise him because just a couple of minutes later the door opens and Stiles, his dad, and Lydia all walk in.
“What happened?” the sheriff asks, with the resigned tone of someone who has had to get his son’s peers out of trouble all too often.
“Is it my fault if some jerk wants to beat up his girlfriend right as I happen to pass by their house?” Isaac schools his face into its best smirk, aiming for casual. Maybe it doesn’t quite work, though, because he catches the way Stiles and Lydia look at one another, the way the sheriff seems to deflate ever so slightly before he steps forward to unlock the handcuffs around Isaac’s wrists.
“Been back two days and you’re already in trouble,” Stiles remarks as they walk out of the station together. “Great start.”
Isaac scowls. “Would you have rather I let him kill her? Put her in the hospital? Do it again tomorrow?”
“Of course not,” says Lydia, pursing her lips. “I think all Stiles means is you could have been a little more subtle.”
“That what you meant, Stiles?”
“No,” Stiles says, lightly, “but that’s much nicer than what I meant so let’s go with that.”
Isaac’s pretty sure Stiles still doesn’t like him, but they walk Lydia home together all the same.
~~
Three more days pass, and Isaac still hasn’t seen Scott. He’s hung out with Derek a lot, helped Chris paint the spare room - which is now Isaac’s room - and walked past the McCall house a dozen times. He’s antsy, not knowing whether or not he’s forgiven for leaving so suddenly with Chris, so he goes to find Scott himself, finds him easily enough, leaves without even speaking to him.
Scott has a beta, one he turned instead of another alpha’s cast-off. He’d seen them on the lacrosse field, just messing around and having fun together.
There’d been no need to intrude.
Isaac heads to the graveyard, goes to sit in front of the stone that’s there in memorial for Boyd, and stares at nothing. He’s not sure how long he sits there before someone drops down beside him.
“What’s wrong?” Derek asks, hands reaching out to brush away some of the soil that’s started to cover up Boyd’s name.
Isaac pulls at a thread that’s coming loose on his jacket, wrapping it around his fingers. “Things have changed while I’ve been away. I - it was stupid but I kind of forgot they would.”
Derek’s quiet for a long moment, long enough that Isaac thinks he’s going for a solidarity silence instead of words of advice, before he replies. “Some things have changed, yes. There’s new people, new orders to things - there’s a new mall on the outskirts of town, too. You’ve changed - you’re more confident, less apologetic, more honest. But the important things? Pack, family -they’re still here. They’ve evolved, sure, but they’re still here.”
“I’m still here,” a voice says from behind.
Isaac turns to see Scott, big grin on his face, standing with the rest of his pack - old members, new members; all pack.
“You’re a part of this, Isaac,” says Derek, placing a hand on his shoulder, “if you’ll just let yourself be.”
Isaac takes a deep breath and nods. It doesn’t matter that he’s been gone for a year, or that he ran away. They’re asking him to be a part of their -his - pack again. He thinks he can try that.