Author:
jonjokeatTitle: Except Stiles
Rating: G
Pairing/s: Derek/Stiles maybe, Allison/Scott, Lydia/Jackson
Character/s: Stiles, the Sheriff, Derek, Allison, Lydia, Erica, Isaac, Boyd, Scott, Danny, Jackson, Melissa McCall, Chris Argent
Summary: They are all there for Thanksgiving, except Stiles
Warnings: None
Word Count: 840
Prompt: Family
Author's Notes: Not mine except for the mistakes (unbetaed).
Derek had got used to the Hale House being quiet. It had been nearly three months since they’d all left. They had been scattered by their education needs, though none of them had ventured off alone except Stiles. Derek had worried at how determined Stiles had been to go his own way. In reality Berkeley wasn’t that far from Lydia and Jackson at Stanford and none of them were more than two or three hours from Beacon Hills.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen any of them, Allison and Scott had come back from Chico a couple of times and Isaac and Erica had been back from Humboldt. This weekend was different though. This was Thanksgiving and they’d all told him they’d be back. He hadn’t actually spoken to Stiles but the sheriff had told him Stiles was expected so he’d have to make do with that.
Since the renovation of the Hale House had been finished the month before it had been decided that it would be the venue for their Thanksgiving party. There was plenty of space to cater for a large group and it seemed to Derek as if everyone had been invited. The potential for conflict between his guests had not escaped Derek but he was counting on propriety and occasion to at least temper their behaviour. There was little he could do anyway but hope.
They’d started arriving on Wednesday Isaac and Erica first, then Boyd. Allison and Scott arrived in the afternoon having visited their parents and by the evening they were all there except Stiles. Danny, Lydia and Allison were in the kitchen preparing food. Derek had already made pies and soup. Boyd, Isaac and Scott were shifting furniture and Erica and Jackson, much to his chagrin, were laying the tables. Derek it seemed, was just interfering, stalking from room to room, changing his mind about arrangements and getting in peoples way. Eventually it was Lydia who challenged him and sent him out for a run, giving him the excuse of checking the perimeter. Five minutes after he’d left the rest of the werewolves decided to follow him and the house emptied out again.
By nine they were all back in the house. The wolves had arrived back covered in mud, and been sent to clean up. The betas having caught up with Derek and indulged in what they’d insisted on calling ‘an impromptu training session’. ‘Puppy pile’ however was the term on the humans’ lips.
Pizza was ordered not long after and they all settled on sofas and cushions to eat and relax, happy with their preparations. Except Stiles, who still hadn’t showed. He wasn’t answering his phone, to anyone, they’d all tried. Even Jackson, which seemed a long shot, but you never knew.
Derek was up early the next morning, not having slept much. He was jittery, no longer able to hide his anxiety; there was still no sign of Stiles. He decided to extend his morning run and take in the sheriff’s house to see if there was any news. The sheriff was looking much like Derek. He was considering contacting police colleagues he knew who worked the road south, to see if the blue jeep had been spotted.
There had still been no sightings by the time everyone was gathering for the party. Melissa McCall and Derek had to practically bully the sheriff into joining them. He did in the end, sitting together with Derek in a private fug of angst.
The rest of the party, though concerned about Stiles, had settled with little antagonism. Happily Mr. Martin had decided not to come, with some mention of a new girlfriend, which Lydia had purposely not passed on to her mother. Allison and Scott’s parents were being positively friendly towards each other, although that hadn’t necessarily helped the sheriff’s mood. Chris Argent, though, had made a special effort to stay out of Derek’s way, which had helped. There was over twenty of them sitting down to eat and Derek couldn’t help but think of a time before the fire and everything that had followed from that.
After the pies and ice cream were brought in from the kitchen, Erica started the giving of thanks for the past year. It went all around the table, some with heartfelt thanks, some flippant remarks and many toasts. It ended with Derek, thankful for his renewed home and leading a toast to ‘the pack’. Cheers went up, followed by mumblings of ‘except Stiles’. Derek was beginning to feel that ‘Except Stiles’ was becoming the motto for the weekend.
Just as they were beginning to think of moving from the table and clearing up, there was a loud clang of metal on glass and Scott asked them all to charge their glasses and be upstanding for one more toast. Someone raised a glass behind the sheriff with a shout of ‘Family’ which they all echoed loudly, turning to see Stiles practically disappear in the middle of a hug from his father and his... friend, Derek.