Human is Just a Word 53/?
A/N I've changed my upload plan. Chapters will be posted as followed:
"Gambling Debts" on Mondays
"Human is Just a Word" on Wednesdays and Saturdays
Chapter 53
Before they went to bed Stiles called Derek to tell him that they had arrived safely but since Isaac was already in his fur, lying right next to him on the bed, the conversation stayed on a very tame "How are you?" and they said goodbye only minutes later. After that Stiles shot a short message to Erica and Boyd. They were most likely working so he didn't call but he wanted to let them know that they had arrived in Beacon Hills and at the same time Stiles felt the need to make sure that his betas were alright with their alpha and the alpha's mate gone.
"It's weird, you know?" Stiles put the phone on the nightstand and crawled in next to Isaac. "The pack split like this. I don't like it."
Isaac buried his wet nose in the crook of Stiles' neck and let out a few hot puffs. He didn't like it either.
What was even weirder was that by now he thought of the betas as his and he couldn't help but worry if Boyd and Erica were okay with half the pack gone.
"At least we're not alone." Stiles said softly and buried his face between Isaac's shoulder blades. His fingers dug into the thick fur of his beta and even if it wasn't Derek he was cuddling with, it helped.
Stiles woke up with his mouth full with fur. Over night Isaac had crawled on top of him, a hot, heavy wolf blanket that tried to suffocate him.
"Get off me." Half awake Stiles pushed and poked until the wolf rolled off him. The look Isaac gave him with his head lowered to his paws woke him up rather quickly, though.
Isaac had a few rough days and now Stiles was the only pack he had around and after his revelation about his asexuality yesterday it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on in his head right now.
Isaac was waiting for rejection.
"Don't look at me like that." Easily Stiles closed the gap between them and hugged the wolf close in an octopus-like grip with his whole body. "You were crushing me."
At first Isaac was stiff in his arms but at those words he slowly relaxed into the embrace.
"You're pack and I love you." Stiles said into his ear, counting on his heart-beat to tell the truth behind his words. The way Isaac tilted his head, he was listening.
They stayed like that for a while and then, because Isaac was an asshole, he shifted.
"I hate you." Stiles said but didn't loosen his hold on the now stark naked human body in his arms.
Isaac just hmmed and nestled his head against his shoulder.
Of course that was the moment when his dad opened the door.
"Boys, breakfast is ..." He stopped dead when he caught sight of Isaac's naked butt.
"We'll be down in a minute." Stiles only lifted his head far enough to answer his father but he still didn't let go of his beta. And Isaac didn't try to get away or even cover himself up, if anything he snuggled closer to Stiles, counting on him to deal with the situation.
John just stood there, stunned, before he closed the door without a word.
Since Isaac was already naked Stiles let him have the first turn in the shower and went downstairs for some coffee.
A minute later he and his dad were sitting at the kitchen table, each with a steaming cup of coffee in front of them. The way his dad didn't really look at him, Stiles could tell that there was something on his mind. He probably wasn't over the shock of seeing Isaac's butt yet.
"Stiles." His father finally said. "Are you cheating on Derek?"
"I'm not …" Stiles started to protest but it died on his lips when he noticed the expression on his father's face. He tried to guard it but Stiles knew his father. And he knew the fear behind his eyes.
"No, Dad." Stiles assured him. "I'm not cheating on Derek. And I'm not the pack's bitch if that's what you're thinking."
Since Stiles had left with Derek his father had only one short visit to see for himself how Derek and the pack treated his son. Other than that he had only their conversations over the phone to rely on and they both knew that Stiles wasn't above lying to his own father if he thought that he needed to protect him from something.
"Derek is not Peter." Stiles reminded him. Since Laura had arrived his father had to face the nastier things Peter had done over the years again so it didn't come as a surprise that his dad jumped to the worst conclusion when he found his son with a naked man in his bed.
"I'm with Derek and I want to be with him." Stiles stated. "And he's very big on the consent thing."
Stiles wasn't sure if his father believed him but then the shower was shut off and now Isaac would be able to hear every word they said. Stiles didn't have a problem with that, privacy was a rather abstract concept in a werewolf pack, he had learned, but it was enough for his father to drop the topic.
After breakfast the sheriff drove them over to the hospital to visit Melissa. And later they would meet Laura for lunch.
Isaac came with them because as he pointed out Derek would kill him if he let Stiles wander around alone in Peter's territory. The tension between Isaac and John was palpable on the short ride over to the hospital but at least his father wasn't giving Isaac a hard time. One look at Isaac when he had come downstairs after his shower had been enough to melt away any suspicion John had towards the werewolf.
Stiles hadn't been here in months but he knew his way through the long-term care unit by heart. What was new were the looks and whispers he got from the few staff members they passed on the way. It reminded him of his early days at his school. The way Isaac's expression hardened and how he inched closer to Stiles, he noticed it too.
"Don't expect too much." John warned before he opened the door.
On some level Stiles had expected to find Melissa awake, maybe sitting up, and with a warm smile on her lips when she saw him.
He didn't expect her to be sleeping and to not even stir when they entered the room.
"Hey, Melissa." His father greeted her with a warm voice and without hesitation he was at her side, holding her hand. "You have visitors. Stiles is here with a friend."
Stiles thought that the heart-monitor picked up for a moment but he wasn't sure. There were still things attached to her, a stomach tube and a catheter, but she was breathing on her own.
"I heard somebody is waking up." Stiles tried to sound cheerful when he stepped over to the other side of the bed. She was thinner than he remembered and too pale with dark shadows under her eyes but she looked healthier than his mother did in her last days. At least there was that.
"She has been awake for a few minutes over the last few days." His dad said, his eyes shiny.
"That's awesome." Reluctantly Stiles took her other hand and gave it a little squeeze. She wasn't squeezing back but he didn't really expect her to.
However, she did respond to John when he started to talk to her. He didn't say anything important, just how the weather was, that Stiles and his friend were staying at his place for the weekend, things like that. The words came easy to him and Stiles wondered how often his father visited her. More often since Stiles had left, he was sure of that.
But once he had started talking, Melissa's heart-beat did speed up and her eyes started to move under her lids. At one point she even turned her head in the direction of John's voice. And for a second Stiles was sure that she would open her eyes. She didn't but when it was time to go and his father tried to let go of her hand which he had been holding the whole time, her fingers closed around his hand, refusing to let him go.
"Sorry, we have to go." He gently placed her hand back on the mattress. "But I'll be back in the afternoon."
When they left the hospital, Jackson and the twins were waiting for them in the parking lot.
Just seeing them standing there, Jackson in the middle, flanked by the twins, brought back memories. Stiles tried to keep his heart steady but his palms were sweaty and an icy rock settled deeper into his guts with every step.
"Never thought to see you again, Stilinski." Jackson said without even acknowledging the sheriff walking right next to him. "Derek's keeping you on a long leash."
Isaac let out a warning growl but Jackson didn't look impressed.
"Just visiting friends and family." Stiles told him. "I'm not here to deal with your pretty face." He would have loved to rearrange that face with a baseball bat, even just for the time it would take to heal, but even with Isaac at his side he didn't stand a chance against three werewolves, he knew that.
Sniffing the air Jackson stepped closer.
"Look at this." He yanked down the collar of Stiles' shirt, revealing the still dark bruise Derek had left there. "Properly marked."
Suddenly Isaac was between them, fangs and claws out.
"Don't touch him." He growled and Jackson actually backed off with his hands in the air.
"Wouldn't dream of touching an alpha's bitch." Jackson said with a smug grin.
"Okay, that's enough." His dad used his sheriff's voice and with his hands on his hips, close to where his gun usually was, he stepped between them. He wasn't in his uniform but he carried himself that way and in most cases that was enough.
"The sooner you get back to licking Derek's boots the better, Stilinski." Jackson said for good measure before he turned around and walked away followed by the twins.
"What a dick." Stiles said loud enough for him to hear, just because.
"Stiles?" His father asked and that haunted look in his eyes was back.
"It's not like that." Stiles assured him when Jackson was out of earshot. "I'm not … Derek is not …" For once he was at a loss for words.
"Stiles bites right back." Isaac spoke up and for a moment the mischievous glint in his eyes was back. "They both have a biting kink."
"How would you know?" Stiles hurried to catch up with his beta who was already half-way across the parking lot. "And you don't say stuff like that in front of my dad. Isaac!"
Shaking his head, his dad followed them.
They met Laura and the two betas she had with her, Ellen and Stephen, for lunch.
"Peter invited me over for dinner today." Laura told them once she was done hugging and nuzzling Stiles and Isaac.
"Is that a good sign?" Stiles asked.
"It's a start." Laura shrugged. "I expect him to tell me to mind my own business, to be honest."
"Are you expecting trouble?" His dad asked with a look at Ellen and Stephen.
When Derek had visited Peter, he had been alone. But his pack was smaller than Laura's, it wasn't as easy for him to take somebody with him.
"Pack politics." She shrugged. "I need to make clear that I'm not here to beg and that I'm not afraid of him."
And a bodyguard or two never hurt, Stiles had to admit.
"I'll call you tomorrow. We should meet up again and discuss what to do next." She said and then hugged them before they parted.
The next morning they were back at the hospital and this time Melissa actually opened her eyes when they entered the room. Her face lit up when she recognized her visitors.
John was at her side in a heart-beat and she turned her head to not let him out of her sight. She tried to speak but couldn't quite bring out the words and way too soon her eyes started to drop.
"She needs time." The doctor said but patience had never been Stiles strong suit. And today he was more nervous than usual because they still hadn't heard from Laura. He was close to calling her himself, when his dad's phone rang.
"The station." He said and stepped outside to take the call. When he came back in, his face was ashen. "I have to go, they found a body in the woods."
Chapter 54
Masterpost