Therapy Dog

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Most days, Stiles tries to hold his breath and just run; praying for the day to end quickly, avoid anything that could trigger a panic attack which of course meanteverything. He's thankful for the break in school, walking the halls and seeing the shadows of people who are gone because of him was almost impossible to handle. There was no avoiding anything when it was shoved in your face like that.

He tries not to think about Chris, hasn't seen him or talked to him since. He hid from him until he knew he'd left town, unable to face that man who lost his daughter because of him. Scott's not easy to be around either; he tries to act like everything is okay when he's with Stiles, but they've been friends for long enough that Stiles knows when he's faking.

Lydia tries actively to get Stiles out of the house, doing things to keep him busy even if its tagging along on a shopping trip. But, he mostly declines finding it just as difficult to be around her as anyone else. She seems be able to see the brighter side, accepting that though she lost her best friend she still has Stiles; she didn't fail him even when she could feel his death right around the corner.

She's an optimist. Who knew?

But, things have gotten easier. Stiles' panic attacks are spaced farther apart, somedays he doesn't get any at all and he's been sleeping for longer stretches. He's not well-rested exactly but the circles under his eyes have faded and the 4 hours he's been averaging verses the hour and a half, or less, he was getting before is making a huge difference in his mood.

He's got a big black therapy dog to thank for the nights he sleeps longer.

Derek's come by a few times since the night at the grocery store, and Stiles still isn't sure how he's getting up on the roof in his fully shifted form. Seriously, is he just leaping really high or is he stripping and stashing his clothes somewhere and shifting once he's on the roof? Is there a naked Derek Hale standing on his roof for any amount of time?

Not important.

What is, is that he's been showing up every other night to check in and Stiles lets him stay. He'll lay back in his bed, pat his side, and tells him to jump up. And it's not weird, he's actually surprised at how not weird it is.

It's been nearly two weeks since the incident at the store with Derek and Stiles is finally feeling okay for the first time in months. He has plans to hang out with Scott, ones that hemade and he's been hanging out in the living room with his dad more.

He feels lighter.

Derek's, nestled against his side when he wakes up with his head on his paws. Stiles scratches his head with a wide smile. "Morning." He says casually, shifting to sit up on the bed as he stretches.

Derek groans, rolling to his side and pinning one of Stiles' legs under his weight. "Dude." The boy laughs. "You're gonna have to let me up. I'm, ah...I'm meeting up with Scott." Derek sits up, ears perked and eyes on Stiles. "Yeah. I called him yesterday, asked if he wanted to hang out. He seemed...thrilled to even hear from me. Not like we don't talk, but it's usually him reaching out to me." Derek's tail wags, he nudges his head under his hand to get him to pet him. "Yeah, I guess I'm doing a lot better. I think this whole therapy dog thing is really working. I uhm...I sort of...I wanted to see how I do on my own...for a couple days."

The wolf cocks his head to the side, his ears sagging slightly. "What? Come on, you know you're doing your wolfy duty. Taking care of pack and all that, I just...I want to see if I'm really okay, you know? I like you hanging out here, I do, but I can't let myself get dependent on you. That's not really healthy, you know? I mean we can still hang out, if you want...I want to. And maybe not with just the wolf...Maybe. But if you don't want to that's totally cool." Derek nips at Stiles' fingers, wagging his tail again. "Cool." The boy grins at the wolf again. "Okay, so I'll stop by the loft or something sometime. Also, you should probably text me...Just to check in. I think I just need a little safety net, some contact to ease into this staying alone thing."