Cora laughs nervously as she tells Stiles not to worry, though Stiles can feel the sweat collecting between their entwined hands. His normally rosy cheeks are an off white; exposing his anxiety over meeting his girlfriends family.

"Stiles, they'll love you," Cora comforts, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. He sighs and shrugs but accepts the affection none the less. "I've already met your dad and Melissa. Scott is basically family already."

"I know. I can't help it, though," Stiles sighs, pulling his hand out of hers.
"C'mon, lets go and get it over with."

She pulls him away from the gates to the Hale's driveway and they begin what feels like a never ending trek up the path to the famous Hale house.

Stiles can't help it. He's meeting the most notorious family in Beacon Hills. Everyone knows them. Everyone wants to be invite into their exclusive little clique. To find out the secrets that makes them seem so mysterious.

Of course his dad is in with them, there's a few who work in the force so Stiles has chatted with them in his many hours at the station. Even after being with Cora for 3 months Stiles hadn't discovered anything suspicious.

"Hey," Cora snaps her fingers in front of his face. He blinks dazedly and raises his eyebrow questioningly. "We're here. Chill out."

Stiles musters up as much of a smile as he can and then she unlocks the door.

Luckily Talia and Andrew make conversation easy, asking about his dad and Melissa, about Scott and school. Cora brags to her parents about Stiles' academic achievements, telling them he's the only reason she is passing chemistry.

Laura grins evilly as she divulges plenty of embarrassing stories of when Cora was pining after him and how she came running home after their first kiss and told Laura every detail. Stiles feels the glare Cora is sporting through the strength of her grip on his hand as his cheeks pink.

"Oh leave her alone, Laura. We didn't do this to Lydia, did we?" Talia scolds.
"Well that's different," Laura says, having the decency to look guilty, "she's my soulmate."

Stiles' eyes light up for the first time since he arrived.
"You're Soulmate's? That's awesome!"

Cora looks less than pleased but Stiles doesn't notice as he listens to Laura tell him about when she first met Lydia and how the soulmark felt as it formed. She describes the shock that went through her when they first locked eyes and how an itch formed at the base of her foot and traveled up her leg an inch or two before settling.

Proudly, Laura rolls her pants up and displays her soulmark, fondly tracing the pattern with her fingertip.

Derek listens from his room, wincing when Stiles asks questions about Soulmate's. Cora had complained to him when her and Stiles first gotten together that it wasn't fair that they weren't Soulmate's because they were perfect for each other.

He rolls his eyes as he hears Cora growl under her breath. The boy is with her; what more could she want? Most people don't meet their soulmate, though the chances are higher in the supernatural due to the raised senses.

Cora thanks whatever god there is when she hears Derek coming down the stairs, ready to intervene.

And then she regrets letting Derek meet Stiles at all.

Stiles feels his stomach twisting and his hands begin to shake. His breath stutters as Cora's brother walks in the room. Her older, muscly brother.

Laura is still babbling on about Lydia as Stiles takes in the gorgeous man before him. After realising he's been staring for maybe too long And that Derek has stopped in his tracks, Stiles shyly looks up at his face.

Their eyes lock and it's like nothing else exists besides pain.

Cora is by his side immediately as blood pools beneath his shirt.
"Mom what's happening?" She begs desperately as she tries to find the source of the bleed.

Andrew and Laura are helping Derek, cradling his head which bounced off the floor when he passed out. Talia is muttering something into her phone, her eyes never moving from Stiles.

When Stiles wakes up he groans, his body throbbing all over. He closes his eyes tightly to shut out the buzzing white lights. Paying attention to his body, he can feel the bandages wrapped around his left calf, around his ribs and around and over his right shoulder.

"Hey kid," the sheriff says roughly from the bedside, dropping a hand to squeeze his knee gently. Stiles grunts, mouth feeling too dry to talk. "Yeah. I agree."

Stiles rolls his head over to look at his dad, squinting his eyes open. John quickly turns the lights off.

"Thanks," Stiles croaks out. "What happened?"
"Well, you're soulmates with your girlfriend's brother." John rubs a hand over his face, eyes tired. "Only you, Stiles."

At that, Stiles let's his heavy lids close and the painkillers in his system knock him out once more.

Next door Derek is sat up with and ice pack on his head, eyes closed as he concentrates on blocking out the noise of the busy hospital. Which seems impossible as Cora is in the chair beside his bed sobbing about how awful life is.

She wails in Talia's arms about how she is in love with Stiles and it's not fair that she'll have to see him with another person - especially her brother. Talia kisses we head and strokes her hair, murmuring comforting words that calm her sobs to sniffles.

Before she leaves the room she glances over at Derek and flashes her eyes at him, a show of solidarity. He flashes his eyes back and watches as she hurries out of the room with Laura in tow.

He winces as his dad sits on the bed, shifting his aching body. Talia grimaces and squeezes his hand in hers.

"Son, we know this will be difficult, especially due to the circumstances. But we'll be here with you," Andrew promises. But it goes in one ear and out of the other.

Derek can only focus on his rampant thoughts and the pulses of pain through the marks spanning his body.
"I'm 25 and he's 17. How the hell does that work?" Derek groans, muscles cramping as the pain spreads. His parents glance at each other worriedly. "Fuck."

Stiles keeps his eyes shut when he hears the door open and close.
"I just want to check his marks," a deep, quiet voice says. "It's incredibly  rare to have this many. And due to the nature of the Hales, there is less information on this particular situation, so I want to keep an extra close eye."

He remains still as the doctor examines the one on his calf and rubs, a worrying sigh leaving his lips.
"They're still spreading. Slower than they were earlier but these are the largest Soulmarks I've ever seen. The Hale's boy is the same."
"And what does that mean?" John asks. Stiles can hear how worried and exhausted his father is. He wished, not for the first time, that his mother was here to help his dad.

The doctor sounds way too defeated for Stiles' liking as he sighs.
"We don't know anything yet."