Be My Cover Story

36

When the jeep pulled into the parking lot of Derek's building, the rest of the pack was already there. Derek jumped out of the car to go around and help Stiles, despite the teen's protests. 

"I'm fine, Der." He sighed, swatting his hands.

"You almost died." Derek reminded him. He could tell how the fear of losing him was affecting him and he let Derek support him as they went inside. They were all lounging around in their usual spots when Derek, Stiles, and Lydia entered. Everyone had changed and it looked like they had managed to scrub off the blood. 

"How did you get back so fast?" Stiles groaned. 

"We don't have to worry about our cars falling apart when we go faster than 20mph."  Jackson quipped. 

"Hey you can't be mean to me, I almost died." Stiles pouted, ignoring the growl under Derek's breath. Derek tightened his grip on Stiles' waist. 

"So this is how its going to be from now on?" Malia remarked, gesturing to the way the former alpha was hanging off of Stiles. 

"Why don't we go get cleaned up and then we will explain everything?" Lydia suggested. 

They returned shortly after looking much better. Then as promised, they explained everything. 

"So you and Stiles were never together?" Allison asked for clarification. Her tone was judgmental, clearly not a fan of being lied to. 

"Right." 

"Because he's with Derek." 

"Yes." 

"And you're with Officer Parrish?" 

"His name isn't actually Officer." Malia commented. 

"Yes. Jordan and I are together." Lydia knew she should have asked Jordan before telling the pack but after what they'd been through, secrets were too hard. 

"You and Stiles have been together for months?" Erica turned to Derek. He nodded, smiling fondly at Stiles. "Okay, I have only one question for you two."

"Shoot." 

"Who tops?" The pack deflated into a fit of giggles as Derek and Stiles both turned bright red. Despite all the secrets and lies, the tension faded until Allison remembered what she saw. 

"Scott's the alpha now." She blurted out, turning apologetically to her boyfriend. "His eyes are red." 

"I didn't mean to. I don't want it. You can still be the alpha." Scott frantically rambled to Derek. 

"I was never meant to be the alpha. Maybe you will do a better job than I did." Derek stared at where he had Stiles hand in his. He hadn't been able to protect them. He had almost lost Erica and Stiles in one fight. 

"You are an amazing alpha." Stiles reached his free hand over and cupped Derek's cheek. There were remarks of agreement from around the room but Derek could only focus on Stiles. 

"I should have protected you." He sighed. 

"You did. I'm alive because of you." Stiles reminded him. 

"You're in danger because of me." He spoke barely above a whisper but they all heard him. "You're all in danger because of me." He almost lost his pack to Kate for the second time. He glanced around the room at all of them. You know there really are a lot of teenagers here Derek. Didn't want to build your pack with people your own age? He looked at Stiles, Kate's voice echoing in the back of his head Was that how you lured him in? Turn all his friends so he has no choice but to be around you?

Stiles could feel Derek tense beside him. Derek jerked away suddenly, causing everyone to look at him. He went from not wanting Stiles out of his sight to needing to be as far away from him as possible. He removed his fingers from Stiles' grip and stood up.

"Der?" 

"I need some space." He breathed out, leaving before anyone could stop him. 

"What just happened?" Allison asked, watching the door where Derek had disappeared.

"The fact that he's no longer an alpha is probably hitting him." Aiden commented. Guilt washed over Stiles. 

"Derek doesn't care about the power anymore. It has to be something else." Lydia protested, sensing the discomfort from Stiles. 

"Maybe its not about the power. Maybe its the relationships. Maybe the change in the pack bonds is affecting him." Boyd countered. 

"We should just give him some space for now." Scott decided. Everyone agreed except Stiles who remained silent and Lydia who didn't seem convinced. She wondered if Scott's new alpha status was already influencing their packmates. 

"Well since you're the alpha now, we need you to decide something." Kira brought up. "We found out Peter is responsible for the list. He's at Eichen house with Officer Parrish and we need to know what to do." Kira explained the whole situation and Scott processed his new role. He was not ready to be the alpha. 

"I'll go talk to him. Stiles, you should make sure your dad knows about the fight so he can get some officers out to the scene before people start asking questions." Scott told his friend. Stiles nodded gently, his mind clearly elsewhere. Lydia knew Derek had already gotten Stiles to call his dad anyway. "Everyone else, go home and get some rest. We've had a long night." Lydia glanced around as everyone started heading toward the door. They were supposed to be spending time together and now they were all going their separate ways. It didn't feel right.

"Do you want to go to your house or mine?" Lydia asked Stiles as he stood up. 

"What?" 

"There's no way I'm leaving you alone after all that. Do you want to come to mine or go home? If Derek does decide to show up, he'll find you easier at yours." 

"I need my pillow." He sighed and she nodded, nudging him toward the door. 

"You know you don't have to keep pretending." Allison scoffed as Lydia held onto Stiles' arm. 

"He's my friend and he almost died tonight. I'm comforting him."

"You're telling me that two months ago you would have been acting like this?" Allison gestured to the way Lydia was clinging to him.

"Why does that matter?" 

"Does Parrish know about your second boyfriend?" Lydia stared at Allison, surprised by her friend's hostility. 

"What's wrong Ally? Why are you being like this?" 

"You should have told me the truth." Lydia suddenly felt guilty about everything. If she had just trusted Allison then none of this would have happened. But then again, Allison would've told Scott, who would've told Stiles who would've told his dad or Derek and the whole thing would've just gotten out of control. Or maybe it would've been fine but there was no reason to dwell on it now. 

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely. 

"Have fun with your new best friend." Lydia realized that Allison wasn't mad about Stiles possibly replacing Jordan. She was worried about Stiles replacing her. And maybe she was right. Lydia had never felt closer to Stiles and she couldn't deny the distance that the lie had put between her and Allison. 

"You should go with her." Stiles spoke, reminding Lydia that she was still holding onto him. 

"It's okay. Let's get you home."