Human is Just a Word 66/?
Chapter 66
In the morning Stiles stood in the bathroom and examined the impressive bite mark Derek had left on his neck in the mirror. For a long moment he was debating with himself if he should cover it up or not. In the end he said fuck it. He was eighteen now and nobody could say anything about him having consensual sex with his mate.
Lydia gave him a proud smile when he came out of the bathroom with the mark still on display.
The pack came together over breakfast and there were more knowing looks and grins but all in good manner and Stiles didn't mind. He did, however, almost strangled Isaac when the beta asked if he wanted some bacon.
"I'll make you eat the whole bottle." Stiles promised darkly but then Benny asked "What bottle?" and suddenly every adult at the table found something very interesting on their plate.
"You knew." Stiles realized, gaping. "All of you."
"Hard to miss when you fell out of bed with laughter." Ellen said casually while she tried to distract Benny with cacao.
"Why did you fell out of bed?" Benny didn't let himself get distracted that easily. "Were you jumping on it? We're not allowed to jump on the bed."
The whole table resolved into laughter, only leaving the kids with confused expressions looking between them.
"I think this is about mating." Becky said wisely and snagged the cacao from her brother. "Adults get all weird when it comes to mating."
Benny frowned at her but took her word for it.
"School." Stiles just wanted to leave. "We need to got to school. Now!" With that he bolted from the table, followed by Lydia and Megan who had trouble walking because they were laughing so hard.
Behind them there was still snickering, Isaac the loudest, but Stiles just slammed the door shut behind them and then he stood in the stairway, hands braced on his knees and body shaking with laughter.
"Just remind me to never trust Isaac with lube ever again." He said once he could form actual words again. "And from now on I'm going to carry some lube with me all the time."
"For lube emergencies?" Megan asked and shook with a new fit of laughter.
"Did you actually use it?" Lydia asked, hiding her mouth behind her hand. Stiles suspected a huge grin behind that.
"Yes, we actually used it." He said with a flail. "Do you want details?"
"No!" Came the answer from behind the door. It sounded like Mark.
Right, werewolves and their freaking hearing. If it hadn't been for Jeremy and Becky also being able to hear him, Stiles would have been tempted to give them a few details but this way he just huffed, adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and strode towards the elevator.
By the time they reached the school they had composed themselves and when Stiles entered the building he wore Derek's mark on his neck like a badge.
"Dude, what?" Sean hissed at him when he finally noticed it on Stiles' neck. It was on the wrong side so Sean hadn't seen it in the car. But now there was no way to not notice it. Stiles just gave his friend a proud smirk.
With Stiles in the lead and Megan, Lydia and Sean right behind him, they walked down the hallway like they owned it. The girls did it every day but for the first time Stiles felt that confidence as well. He was the alpha's mate. His alpha had left his mark on him for everybody to see and Stiles owned it.
There were looks, of course there were looks, but Stiles didn't let them bother him.
Word got round quickly and somehow Mrs. Hanson heard about it as well and of course she asked him to see her after school.
"Stiles." She greeted him with that concerned tone of hers. "How do you feel?"
It was her opening for him to tell her how bad the pack treated him but he never gave her that satisfaction.
"Awesome." He answered truthfully. Since the fire this was the first time he truly felt good. "Celebrated my birthday yesterday." He yanked down the collar of his shirt to show off the mark.
"Stiles." It sounded almost like a sigh. "I know it can be exciting and you have to stay with Derek, I know that, but you don't have to do this."
"I want to do this."
"He's dangerous." She tried again. This was getting old. "I just want you to stay safe."
"I am safe" There was no safer place than in the middle of his pack. But that thought cast a shadow over his good mood. Laura's pack had thought the same.
"Derek is in the middle of a pack war." Mrs. Hanson reminded him.
"I know what has been on the news." Stiles said. He had seen it but he hadn't liked it. There had been little fact but lots of speculations. Just enough to get people worried. "It's not like that."
He stood and didn't let her hold him back.
"Derek is my mate and since I'm eighteen now, there is nothing you can say against that." He reached for the door. "I won't have this conversation with you again."
With that he left.
At his jeep Lydia, Megan and Sean were waiting for him. Only Megan was actually pack but Stiles felt better in their company.
Stiles was pretty sure that Mrs. Hanson was not allowed to talk about the stuff he told her during their sessions but the next day everybody knew that he thought that he was Derek's mate. He wasn't sure if that was a step up from being the pack's bitch but he didn't really care either.
There were other things on his mind.
Melissa was finally allowed to leave the hospital and as long as somebody was there to take care of her, she could go home.
"The first apartment just got ready." Stiles told his dad when John called to tell him the good news. By now all the apartments were in various states of renovation but the one Isaac, Mark and Sean had started with had been proclaimed finished a few days ago.
"We don't want to impose. You have others who need it more than us." His dad said but Stiles cut him off before he could start about renting something near by again.
"It's cool, Dad." Stiles assure him. The second he had said that he wanted one apartment for his dad and Melissa, he had to spill his beans about Scott to the pack. After that the whole pack had agreed that they would get the first apartment.
Besides, nobody felt good about Stiles' father still living in Beacon Hills.
Stiles would have loved to grab a few pack members, preferably some with werewolf strength, drive to Beacon Hills and help his father to get all their stuff. But he didn't want to endanger his pack like that. So they agreed that John would just take with him what he could fit in the car and leave everything else to get sold with the house. They could replace he had to leave behind, Stiles just needed to convince his dad to accept that Derek would pay for most of it.
What Stiles could do beforehand was to grab Derek's credit card and Boyd, he was the most levelheaded one, and go on a furniture shopping spree.
Isaac had put in a new kitchen as part of the renovation but other than that the apartment was empty. So Stiles made sure that his dad and Melissa had at least beds, a couch, chairs and a table. Everything else they could get over time.
Somehow throw pillows appeared on the couch and there were suddenly rugs on the floor and the linen closet was filled with sheets and towels and stuff like that. Stiles suspected Ellen and Erica but he had to admit that the apartment looked less like a sterile hospital room with just a few details added.
The big day was a Saturday.
Early in the morning John called Stiles to tell him that they were on the road and Stiles even spoke a few words with Melissa who thanked him again for giving them a place to stay. According to John she was doing really good but would still need some time and therapy.
When he ended the call, Stiles wasn't sure if Melissa actually wanted to live with the pack. Staying in Beacon Hills was not an option, they all knew that, but Melissa didn't really have a choice on where to go.
Stiles made a mental note to talk to her in private once she was here, just to make sure that she knew that she didn't have to stay with the pack if she didn't want to. This was just the quick solution, she was more than welcomed to stay and make it a permanent one but she didn't have to stay.
Stiles smiled to himself, that sounded a lot like what Derek had told him when he had followed him here. And in the end Stiles had stayed. He just hoped that it would be similar with Melissa.
John and Melissa arrived late in the evening and Stiles and Derek were the only ones waiting for them in the parking lot. They had agreed that they would let them arrive first and swarm them with pack later.
The second John got out of the car, Stiles flung himself at his father, embracing him in a tight hug. Until now he had feared that Peter would do something to prevent them from leaving Beacon Hills but the alpha either didn't know that they were leaving, unlikely because John had officially quit his job and had spent the last week preparing Deputy Parrish to take his place until there would be a new sheriff. So it was more likely that Peter didn't care about some humans. Especially not a human pet's father and a dead omega's mother.
Either way, John and Melissa had made the ride safely and that was all Stiles cared about.
Melissa greeted him with a warm smile and a sideways hug out of the car while John got a wheelchair from the trunk. Stiles stepped aside to let his father help her into the chair, both working together in practiced movements.
Derek had stayed in the background, helping John with the chair and their bags, but now he stepped forward.
"Mrs. McCall?" He offered her his hand. "I'm Derek."
"Melissa, please." She said and shook his hand with a smile. Stiles didn't need to have werewolf senses to tell that she was freaking out on the inside.
Derek must have noticed as well because once the introduction was over he stepped back so that John could take over the chair and wheel her towards the elevator. Stiles fell in step next to them and he used the chance to have a real look at her. Back in the hospital she had looked pale, more like a shadow of herself. She wasn't quite back but there was more of the woman Stiles knew.
She was still thin but her cheeks had a healthier color and her eyes were bright and clear. However, she held herself as if she was in pain and the way Derek's hand was twitching his instincts were telling him to help her with that. Stiles doubted that she would allow it, though. In the hospital Isaac had taken her pain but back then she hadn't really noticed that the werewolf was doing it and not the painkillers.
"This is your place." Stiles announced once they reached the right door. He stepped back while his father pushed the wheelchair farther into the apartment.
"It looks great." John said and Stiles could tell that he was fighting with tears. Stiles couldn't even imagine how the last few weeks had been for him. He hadn't let on to it but he must have lived in constant fear of what Peter would do next.
"It's just the basics for now. You have to put in your own stuff later." Stiles started to babble because he was in real danger of bursting into tears right now. "But at least you have a couch, right? If you don't like the color, blame Boyd, he said that gray goes with everything."
"Stiles." His father interrupted him and threw an arm over his shoulder. His other hand stayed firmly on Melissa's shoulder and she leaned her head against his arm. "It's perfect. Thank you." He turned to Derek who once again had stayed back.
"Thank you, Derek."
"You're pack." Derek said, clearly uncomfortable. "You're family."
Chapter 67
Masterpost