The Hale Orphanage

Ch. 1

Stiles: 5 Derek:7

Derek never minded his parents running an orphanage. Their house was always too big to him. There were far too many rooms and bathrooms. It was an inheritance, passed down through generations, but there weren't 50 person families anymore. So when Derek turned five and his parents explained to him and his sisters that there would be children coming to fill said rooms he was excited. He didn't quite understand where they came from at first, until a fourteen year old Laura explained to her little brother that not all kids had mommy's or daddy's to take care of them.

Derek was seven when he first met the boy. Amazingly enough the orphanage had been successfully operating through his home for over a year before he and the then toothless boy crossed paths. Stiles had just turned five and was moved from the toddler wing to the other side of the manor. Derek his behind the wall at the end of the hall and watched his mother walk the little kid down the hall stopping in front of his room. Derek wasn't quite sure what he was feeling but he liked how the boy looked. Initially he was drawn to him when he heard the kid talking his mothers ear off rattling off question after question. He had on a shirt that was a little too big leading Derek to believe it was a hand me down, his eyes were a deep honey brown he was amazed he could see them from where he stood but they shown so bright. He didn't look happy but he didn't look sad, just like he was taking the place in.

He was analyzing the hallway when his eyes fell on Derek. No matter how fast he tried to step back he just wasn't fast enough "Hey!" The kid shouted, his voice high pitched and demanding.

Then came his mothers, soft and questioning "Derek honey?" He came around the corner to meet with the two. The boy was staring up at him only a few inches shorter than Derek "Stiles, this is my son Derek. Derek this is Stiles"

"What were you doing?" He asked. Up close Derek could see he had a few teeth missing on the bottom row that somehow made him look even more intriguing to Derek.

"Nothing. Watching" The older boy kicked at the floor, slightly embarrassed he was getting interrogated by a small child.

"Do you want to see my room Berek? I get to decorate it myself, you can help" Derek found it in himself to grin at the boys mispronunciation of his name.

Intrigued, Derek looked up at his mother who just nodded "Sure, okay"

Fifteen minutes later Derek found himself sprawled out in the middle of Stiles' bedroom floor staring up at the ceiling. They had just finished covering it with glow in the dark stars because Stiles couldn't sleep in the dark and "it was okay for big boys to get scared"

"So Berek" Stiles' high pitches voice sliced through the dark room "What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

Derek snorted, that was an easy one "I wanna make cars. Cool cars. Maybe race cars, but I'm not sure"

"Hmmm I think I like that"

"How about you?"

"I wanna write awesome books, about superhero's. Hey maybe I can make one about us!" Stiles shouted "We can take over the world. In your fast cars" Derek just heard himself chuckle at the young boy making plans with someone he had barely just met, but maybe it didn't seem that way.

Stiles: 10 Derek: 12

"What's wrong Bear?" Derek asked while they played with cars in the back yard. Stiles had opted to keep the nick name Bear long after he gained the proper speech skills to pronounce it right. The other kids were inside not interested in the heat. Stiles was always willing to hang with Derek, he could see an upside to the heat, which was laying belly down in the cool grass.

Derek had been frowning slightly, yesterday was parent day. He always tried to keep Stiles away on those days, it was more for his peace of mind. He figured if they didn't have the chance to see him he could never be adopted. Only this time his mother had gotten Stiles up early and dressed in his best little outfit to meet a family. Derek thought it was terrible, like they looked at Stiles as if he were a family appliance to be bought and used. He shook those thoughts fueled by jealousy out of his head, and cleared his throat "Mom told me a family came to meet you yesterday" he said, not bothering to look up. It was selfish of him, he knew that. To want to keep Stiles to himself, he deserved a family just as much as anyone, but Derek figured he could be that family if he tried hard enough.

"Yeah" he said almost as if it were nothing, like he couldn't see how hard this was for the twelve year old boy "-but don't worry. I think I was too hyper for them. The wife nearly passed out when I told her the story about me rolling in the mud. Remember? When it rained and we walked home from school together" Derek smiled to himself thinking back to the day. He also discreetly hated himself for being happy Stiles felt the way he did. It wasn't that Derek didn't think Stiles deserved a family, he deserved everything bright and beautiful and loving just as long as it kept them together "I don't think I'm going anywhere Bear" Stiles admitted after some time of silence. Derek smiled inwardly thinking the young boy didn't understand just how great the reassurance felt.

Though it seemed to kill him Derek tried to be a good friend "Hey d-don't say that. There's a family out there" He wanted his friend to keep hope though it made Derek feel drained to even think about.

"You're my only family Bear" he said truthfully, not bothering to look up from his cars. If he did he would have seen a caring grin on the young boys face.