Turning Year

Chapter 4: Heat

It had been a couple hours, the moon high in the sky. They had been walking for a while now, Stiles listening to the sounds of the night, arms wrapped around himself.

Stiles was freezing and though he tried to stop it, his teeth started to chatter. Derek huffed as he looked down at the small boy.

"Let's stop here and sleep." Derek suggested.

Stiles looked around him. Here? Where was here? The only thing near him was tall grass and the dirt road they were walking on, seemingly never ending.

"Um, how are we going to sleep here? It's freezing cold and we could get. . . trampled, or eaten." 

"By what?" Derek asked.

"I don't know, bears?"

"Stiles. There aren't any bears. We will be fine. And we're not going to sleep right in the road, I just meant in this general area. If you look around, you'll see the woods, over there. We will stay there, if you like. Shelter, and all." Derek waved his hand.

Stiles swallowed, looking towards the woods. So much bad had come from them and his heart began to race in fear. 

"Kid, I promise, we will be fine. Nothing's going to hurt you while I'm around, big bad wolf and all, right? What's up with you and the woods anyway? You can't be that scared, considering that's how you got here."

"Nothing."

"Look, uh. . . everyone is scared of something?" Derek was clearly trying hard to be comforting, he was just really bad at it.

Stiles looked at Derek. "Even you?" It was hard to imagine someone looking like that afraid of anything.

He smiled. "Yeah, even me."

Stiles was sure that he was just saying that to make him feel better, but he appreciated the effort.

They made it to the edge of the woods and Derek held back the tree limbs for him to walk through. It was peaceful, yet quiet. There were rickets chirping, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, the occasional snap of twigs that set Stiles on edge, and the crunching of their feet on the ground. It still seemed someone quiet.

"What are you thinking about, kid?" Derek asked softly.

"Huh? Oh nothing. Just thinking."

"Well let's stay here for a while. You can sleep, if you want."

Stiles looked at the ground skeptically. He knew it was hard and extremely uncomfortable.

Derek saw Stiles looking at the ground hesitantly and spoke up. ". . .or. . .we can just sit here."

"Yeah, okay."Stiles agreed. He was definitely tired, physically more than emotionally, but he just didn't feel comfortable sleeping. Like when you wake up from a nightmare, sometimes you don't feel like going back to sleep because you're afraid you will relive your dream.

They both sat on the ground in silence. Stiles had his knees pulled up to his chest, trying to maintain body heat, while Derek was spread out, leaned against a tree, as if the cold wasn't bothering him at all.

"Are you seriously not freezing?" Stiles asked, not moving from where he was curled up. He now wished he had kept his jacket. Clearly this village was colder than his own.

"No. I don't really get cold." Derek answered simply, as if that wasn't weird at all.

"Ever?"

He huffed. "Well yeah, I just meant not in this weather. I only get cold if its like snowing and I'm in a t-shirt or something. My body is naturally hot, around 105, while humans stay around 98 degrees."

"Woah. Wish I had 105 fever right now."

"You'd be dead." Derek said with no expression.

Stiles looked at him in horror. 

As Stiles was sitting next to Derek, he noticed he could feel the heat radiating off of him. Stiles scooted closer, trying to get closer to the heat, but still trying to be discreet. Derek huffed and slung his arm around Stiles, pulling him in close.

"Oomph! Well geez, Derek. If you wanted to cuddle you could have just said so." Stiles said sarcastically.

Derek glared down at him. Stiles smiled in return.

He soon felt his eye lids becoming heavy, like someone was placing weights on them. He fought the drowsiness, forcing his eyes open fully.

"Go to sleep." Derek whispered.

"Don't wanna." Stiles slurred.

"You're exhausted. Go to sleep. I will be here when you wake up."

Stiles stopped fighting his exhaustion and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep against Derek's hard, but warm chest.

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Sorry this chapter was so abnormally short!