The Fox, The Wolf and The Rabbit's Throat

Chapter 6

Stiles stopped at a large tree, still not sure of what he'd just done. However, he knew he'd hurt Derek and he wasn't going to let himself go for that. Instead, he carried on running, pushing his physical limits. His lungs tore as they struggled for air and his legs ached as they moved at superhuman speeds, but he didn't stop. He deserved to hurt because he'd really badly hurt his best friend. He couldn't remember hurting him, but he knew it was him and he couldn't remember shifting, but he knew he did. He pushed himself faster as he struggled for breath and struggled to see, before falling to the ground.

Derek didn't even wait to heal as he chased Stiles. The boy was moving too fast for him and he was in pain as he ran faster, determined to catch up to him. But, when he did, he knew he was too late. Stiles was lying on the floor, his face flushed and his body heaving as it struggled to catch it's breath. Derek picked him up bridal style and carried him back to the Hale house.

When they got there, Derek took Stiles up to his room and lied him down on his bed. He made sure Stiles' breathing was back to normal before placing his hand on the boy's chest and removing his pain. He hissed as Stiles' pain targeted his healing wounds, but didn't remove the hand until Stiles had no pain left. Derek growled quietly as he removed his hand and looked down at his cuts. Three hadn't healed and he realised they would become infected if they did heal. He snuck down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink. The cuts were healing much slower than they should have been, but Derek knew it was from the amount of pain he'd taken from Stiles. He knew all of his senses would be decreased because of it. He turned around, a few antibacterial wipes shoved in his pocket.
"Derek?" Laura questioned from the doorway.
"Hey..." He smiled as he tried to slip past her, his arms covering the cuts painfully.
"What happened to you?" She asked, placing a hand on Derek's arm. She pulled it away instantly, hissing as her veins turned black. "What the hell have you been doing?" She whisper-screamed.
"Nothing." He tried to carry on up the stairs, but Laura blocked his way.
"This;" She gestured to his arms that were poorly hiding the gashes. "Is nothing?"
"It' fine. Can I go?"
"Just," Laura sighed at her brother's secretiveness. "Let me help you?"
"Okay." He walked up the stairs and was about to walk into his room, until he remembered Stiles. He stopped, unsure if Stiles wanted Laura to know about Claudia.
"What?" Laura asked when Derek still hadn't gone into his room.
"Nothing." He sighed, opening the door. He sat on his chair that was still under the window.
"What's Stiles doing here?" She whispered, eyeing the boy suspiciously. "Oh my God. Did you take his pain?"
"Yes. Now, help." He peeled off his sticky t-shirt and painfully wiped one of the antibacterial wipes across one of the larger cuts.
"What did he do?" Laura asked quietly, wiping another cut.
"Nothing." Derek hissed as her hand slipped, pushing the wipe deeper.
"Derek, Stiles is asleep on your bed, you're t-shirt is trashed from what I assume is another load of cuts and you're saying Stiles has nothing to do with it?"
"Exactly." He started wiping the last cut as the other one healed.
"Derek. I know you're lying and you know it too." Laura sat back, finished with the cut she was cleaning. "And I know you weren't planning on seeing Stiles today, so I'd like to know the truth as to why he's asleep on your bed."
"I don't know if he wants me to tell you." Laura started to interrupt, but Derek carried on. "I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready."
"Okay." Laura got up and ruffled Derek's hair, before leaving him with Stiles.
"What am I going to do with you?" Derek sighed to himself as he sat on the bed beside Stiles. Stiles stirred slightly at the bed's movement and murmured something that clearly didn't make sense. Derek sometimes wondered whether Stiles was actually thirteen, or still eight like when they'd met. In the five years they'd known each other, Stiles had barely changed, except he was now more rebellious.

About an hour later, Stiles started to wake up and, when he did, he was very disorientated.
"Derek?" He asked quietly as he sat up. Derek soon appeared in the room. "How did I get here?"
"I carried you here." Derek sat down next to him. "You'd passed out."
"You're not mad at me?" Stiles shook slightly at the memory of Derek sliced up.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I hurt you."
"Stiles, that's not a good enough reason to be mad at you. You had plenty of reasons to do it."
"What do you mean?"
"You just found out your mum might have an incurable illness; you're upset. Your fox didn't take it very well and it felt angry at being trapped- it wanted to be free. You couldn't control what you did to me and it's fine because it all healed." Derek smiled at Stiles and Stiles wrapped his arms around the older boy, nuzzling into his neck where he felt safe.
"Thank you." He whispered into the skin. They sat like that for a little while, until Stiles pulled back and put his hand on Derek's arm. He pulled it away instantly with his nose crinkled. "You took my pain. You shouldn't have. I deserved it." Derek shook his head with a scolding look on his face.
"Why did you deserve it?"
"Because I hurt you."
"Stiles..." Derek began to complain.
"I know. Okay. I'm sorry." Stiles put his hand back on Derek's arm, willing to take back some of his pain. However, Derek pushed him off.
"Nope. It's mine now." He got up with a sly smile. "So, are you hungry?"
"Starving." Stiles replied, getting up too. They both made their way down to the kitchen.

"Stiles?" Talia said as the two boys walked into the kitchen. "I wasn't expecting to see you today." Stiles rubbed the back of his neck.
"Um, same. I had to come and tell Derek something."
"Oh, what was it?" Talia asked, leaning on the counter.
"Mum..." Derek whispered in a warning tone.
"No, it's fine, Derek. She deserves to know." Stiles sat down at the table.
"What?" Talia looked between the two boys.
"Well," Stiles started as Laura walked in. "Um, my mum's in hospital." He croaked.
"How? I didn't think she could get sick." Laura said sitting down next to him, glancing at Derek.
"Melissa said she's definitely exhausted, but there's something else they've never seen. Dad said if they've, if they've..." Stiles started struggling, feeling, again, like the walls were closing in on him. Before he knew it, though, he was wrapped up in Derek's strong arms.
"If they've never seen it, there's no cure." Derek finished for him as a sob escaped him.
"Oh, sweetheart." Talia breathed, joining them in the hug. "Is your dad with her?"
"I, I think so." Stiles whispered. "He was when, when I left." Laura also joined them in the hug and the four of them stood there, holding each other until the phone rang.
"Hello?" Talia asked when she picked it up.
"Is Stiles with you?" Stiles heard his dad at the other end.
"Yes."
"Oh, thank God. Can you put him on?"
"Sure. Stiles?" Talia handed Stiles the phone.
"Hey, dad."
"Can you come to the hospital? Mum wants to talk to you."
"Okay."
"Tell Talia they can visit whenever they want."
"'Kay. See you in a minute." Stiles hung up. "Dad says-"
"I know, sweetheart. You go." Talia ushered him out of the house.
"Can Derek come?"
"Um... Of course." She sent Derek out with him.

The duo walked through the woods in a comfortable silence as Stiles thought about how he would cope if his mum died. He knew he'd be alright because he had Derek.