Shatter My Reality

We'll figure this out

Silence hung in the air. All eyes were now on Stiles who swallowed thickly.

"Me?" he squeaked out.

Lydia only nodded, a solemn expression on her face.

Stiles gripped his water bottle causing the plastic to creak in protest. His tongue swiped across his bottom lip as he recalled the person he saw on his way to the meeting. Maybe it really was the nogitsune.

"Hey, we'll figure this out." Scott placed a hand on Stiles' shoulder. He must have smelled the worry on him.

"What are the chances you're wrong?" Malia asked, her eyes on Lydia.

"I don't know. I don't know how this works. It's just...a feeling sort of. It's not an exact science but... last night, I had a dream. I was walking through the woods and I found a body. It was torn to shreds like an animal had gotten to it. I wanted to run but something told me to get closer. So I did. And I saw you." Lydia looked at Stiles with apologetic eyes.

"So it was a bad dream. I get them all the time." Stiles waved a hand. He knew that his scent likely gave away his doubt.

"We'll figure this out." Scott insisted.

"I don't know what I'm doing. I get these warnings and I don't know what they mean. I keep finding the bodies after it's too late. I don't want to find Stiles' body." Lydia clenched her hands.

"We won't," Malia said, her tone full of determination.

"We can keep an eye on him until we learn what's going on," Isaac offered.

"Take shifts," Kira agreed.

Derek, who was quiet until now, looked to Stiles. "You can stay here until we know what's going on."

Stiles shook his head. "I'm not okay with being babysat."

"Stiles, what part of harbinger of death do you not understand?" Lydia huffed, her hands slamming flat on the table.

"You said yourself you don't know how this works. This may not mean anything. So what if I'm in danger. I'm always in danger. And I'm not completely helpless, remember? I've been working with Deaton."

"Stiles." Derek's tone was sharp. "Banshees don't predict danger. They predict death."

"What am I supposed to tell my dad? We just got through the nogitsune thing. I can't... I can't put him through that again." Stiles gestured to the door as if his dad were on the other side.

"Tell him we're camping." Isaac shrugged.

"In these woods?" Stiles scoffed.

"In...Derek's...loft..."

Stiles rolled his eyes.

"I'll go with you. We'll tell him we're doing a pack bonding thing," Scott suggested.

Stiles squinted at Scott.

"Just for a week. Until we can find out more," Lydia pleaded.

Stiles huffed. He hated being the problem. "Fine. One week."

"Can you handle all of us for that long?" Kira asked Derek who didn't look away from Stiles.

"As long as it takes."

-

Stiles wrung his hands as his dad stared through him and Scott.

"You're gonna be camping?" he asked with an incredulous look.

"In Derek's loft," Scott added.

Stiles closed his eyes as his dad turned to Scott.

"Camping in Derek's loft...for a week?"

"Pack bonding," Scott said with a nod.

Noah turned back to Stiles with a look he knew well. He wanted the truth.

Stiles stepped forward, lowering his voice.

"Okay, look, with Scott and Derek both being alphas there's a lot of...conflict. We thought a pack bonding experience would be good. Now obviously camping in the woods is not the best idea, werewolves or not. So, Derek's loft is the next best thing. It's large enough to hold all of us and it's safe." Stiles chewed on his bottom lip as he waited to see if his dad believed his blatant lie.

Noah looked from Stiles to Scott, who gave an innocent shrug.

"Fine, but if anything happens—"

"You'll be the first to know." Scott cut in, stepping forward.

"Is Derek okay with this?"

"It was his idea," Stiles raised his hands, a wide grin on his face.

Noah crossed his arms, the disbelief setting in again.

"Everything will be fine, dad." Stiles placed his hands on his dad's shoulders.

"And you're still working with Deaton?" he asked.

"I'm getting pretty good." Stiles nodded.

"Alright." Noah sighed, resigning himself to trusting Scott and Stiles.

Scott grabbed Stiles' wrist as they left the station. Stiles paused, his jeep keys in hand. "Everything will be fine."

Stiles' tongue swiped across his bottom lip. Scott must have heard a blip in his heartbeat or a scent on him when he told his dad that.

"We won't let anything happen to you."

That Stiles believed. They wouldn't let it, but that didn't mean they could prevent it.

"Let's get our things," Scott said, changing the subject. It was obvious he wasn't convincing Stiles.

"You're mom believed your lie?" Stiles asked, climbing into the jeep.

"She accepted it. Whether she believed it or not..." Scott shrugged.

Stiles nodded. He hated that everyone was so worried about him, but maybe he would sleep better knowing he was surrounded by his friends.

He gripped the steering wheel and tried to ignore the carnival as they passed. Whatever he had seen had to have been something. Especially now that Lydia was dreaming about his death.

"Seriously, don't worry, we'll handle this, just like we handle everything." Scott reached a hand over and squeezed Stiles' shoulder affectionately.

"With a body count?" Stiles quipped.

Scott dropped his hand with a sigh.

"We already lost Erica and Boyd and then Allison and Aiden." His grip on the wheel tightened even more.

"Exactly, so I can't lose you too." Scott's tone was determined.

Stiles sighed, his jaw clenching in frustration. "When has Lydia ever been wrong?"

"I don't care. We know something is coming, so we can be ready for it."

"We don't know what 'it' is," Stiles snapped. He thought he might have a clue, but he didn't want it to be right. Surely that was just his PTSD. Not worth mentioning. Not until they knew more. But what if it was worth mentioning? What if not telling the pack got someone hurt? But what if he was just seeing things? What if he didn't see anything at all and he was just sleep deprived and stressed? The pack was already worrying about him. He didn't need to make them worry more.

"Doesn't matter. We'll face it together. If it wants you, it has to go through us first. And we've all lost too many people. We won't lose any more," Scott said with a shake of his head.

Sometimes Stiles admired Scott's blatant optimism, sometimes he loathed it. At the moment he wished Scott would approach this more realistically. But someone had to be the optimist and it wasn't gonna be him.

*AN*
Hey, sorry. Wanted to get this up sooner but uh...things are...happening... in another Fandom of mine...