A Place to Hide Away- Sterek

Then We Will Remember the Things We Said Today

          Stiles lies in bed for maybe an hour before giving up on sleeping. He can hear that the others are still awake downstairs, talking and still eating. His heart hammers in his chest and he bites his lips, wondering if he should go tell his dad to stop eating the pizza. Even if it tasted like heaven on earth, it was still really bad him and Stiles didn't want to lose another parent.

He was brought out of his musing by the brush of his tail against his hand, and Stiles looked at it, startled. It was strange to think that he had fox ears and a tail now. It somehow felt really weird and really normal at the same time. The feeling of this other creature inside of him that was also him made Stiles feel like what Bruce Banner must feel like when turning into the Hulk.

He heard a gentle knock on the door, and Stiles shot to his feet, feeling on edge.

The door creaked open and he sighed in relief when he saw that it was his dad.

"Hey, Stiles, I just wanted to come up and make sure you were doing okay." John gave him an awkward smile and came to sit down next to him on the edge of the bed.

"I would be better if you hadn't sent me with Derek." Stiles crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. "He's a liar, Dad, and you shouldn't be talking to him. Did you know that he didn't tell me about mom dying? He let me think that mom was still alive and that she was just—" His voice wobbled and his lip trembled. A rush of anger filled him that he couldn't help but cry whenever he talked about his mom. An arm wrapped around his shoulder and gently guided him to the familiar scent of home and family.

"It's okay, Stiles." John hushed him gently, carding a hand through his barely there hair. "Derek didn't want to tell you, because you need to think about it, Stiles. You were just a little kid. We didn't know how long you were going to stay in that condition, maybe it was temporary and you would be back to being normal by the end of the day. Why would we put a kid through that for nothing?"

"Because it's important to me, Dad!" Stiles pushed him away and angrily rubbed at the tears on his face. The result was a very red and wet face that John knew all too familiarly. "Because I deserved to know. He just..."

"Stiles," John put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Are you mad about Derek lying to you? Or are you mad that your mother isn't alive?" Stiles looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He clenched his teeth, looking resolutely at the floor.

"I'm angry at Derek." There was a tone of teenage resolution that John knew meant he would hold this opinion even if he was proved wrong. He changed the subject.

"I talked more with Merlin about the claws and memories thing. I'm going to do it, and I think you should too." John said. "I know you don't really know these people, Stiles. But you've told me all about them when you were older, you've told me of how you saved their lives and they saved yours. You once saved Derek from drowning in a pool, and Derek once saved you from this weird werecoyote, I think."

"But how can you trust them?"