A/N: Hi all, sorry it's so late, life and all.

Hope you like this one and as always I love your beautiful comments, you all make writing worth it!

~~~

Chapter Fourteen: Velocity

Peter stood smugly a few metres from the two of them as Erica glared over at him and hoped he couldn't smell her nervous energy.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her body still and her gaze unfaltering.

"I thought I told you?" he said. "I heard that I had family back in town, and who doesn't love a family reunion?"

"I'm sure Laura didn't really appreciate it," Erica said coldly.

"How did you hear about me?" Cora asked and Erica could hear the speed of her heartbeat quicken. "Who told you I was here?"

"I have many sources of information," he said. "It's so good to see you."

He started to take a step forward and Erica stepped in front of Cora to stop him.

"What do you want?" she said through gritted teeth.

"I already told―"

"I don't mean the whole family love and friendship bullshit, I mean the truth," she said. "What are you really doing here?"

"Surely you know when I'm lying," he said.

"You and her have this thing that you do where you don't lie but you don't actually tell the truth either," she said, gesturing back to Cora. "Maybe you did hear that Cora was back and wanted to see for yourself but I don't believe for a second that you came here for sentimental reasons. What do you want from her?"

"Already so protective," he said.

"You're a manipulative sociopath," she said, turning to look at Cora. "Not sure if Derek had the chance to cover all of that yet."

"He told me a few things," she said.

"And where is my nephew? Surely he wouldn't let you out of his sight for too long at a time?" he said and there was a pause before Erica spoke up again.

"We're out for a walk, he trusts me to be able to keep an eye on her," he said.

Peter smirked. "I'm not sure whether that's a lie or if you just don't believe it yourself."

"I don't really need anyone to keep an eye on me."

"Clearly you do because otherwise you would have ended up out here alone with him on your trail," Erica hissed. "And I'm not lying."

"Well then?" he said. "Where is he?"

Erica didn't say anything, she just stared at him while her nostrils flared.

"Someone's coming," Cora said quietly as the footsteps approached.

"It's Jackson," Erica said without looking over at her.

"What the hell is he doing out here?" she asked.

"I texted him earlier when I was following your dumb ass out here," she hissed.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Jackson said as he came jogging into the clearing.

Peter rolled his eyes in the most over exaggerated way he could manage and turned slowly to give Jackson a smile.

"That seems to be the question of the hour," he said.

"I wasn't asking you," Jackson said without looking over at him.

"Can I have a moment with my niece please?"

"I don't think―" Erica started.

"I can deal with him," Cora said.

Erica turned to look at her, the anger clear on her face before she sighed slowly.

"You want to do it, fine," she said. "But don't even think about walking out of my sight."

Cora just gave her a nod before Erica started walking towards Jackson, pausing beside Peter and looking up at him with her mouth set in a hard line.

"If you try anything funny," she said under her breath.

"You'll what?" he breathed back as he walked over to Cora and the two of them took an extra few steps to put the distance between them.

Erica breathed out slowly, her heart thudding in quick repetitions as she walked over to stand by Jackson.

"So uh, I thought your text said S.O.S. crazy sister, not crazy-ass family reunion," he hissed.

"That's because it was only the crazy sister before he showed up out of nowhere," she said.

"I thought he was in Iowa."

"He sent a postcard from Iowa but he probably bought it from some dollar store in Seattle," Erica said. "Hell, maybe he never left, he's been watching us the whole time like some creeper."

"Yeah right he was probably in a cave somewhere plotting some kind of evil plan," Jackson said.

"Where would he have got postcards in a cave?"

"What?"

"You know he's more of a city person anyway, you saw his apartment," she said.

"True," he said, lowering his voice to barely a breath. "Does he know Derek isn't here?"

"I don't know, I tried not to say much before but as much of an asshole that he is, he's never been an idiot."

They watched as the two of them spoke in hushed tones that even they couldn't pick up and Erica shook her head.

"I don't like it," she said.

*

Stiles lay staring up at the ceiling with Derek by his side, fingers caressing the side of his head and running through his hair. Neither of them had said anything in a while and Derek was content just lying with his eyes closed as Stiles' heartbeat sounded to a steady rhythm.

"I spoke to Kyle," Stiles said after a few moments of silence and Derek opened his eyes. "In the hospital I uh, I spoke to him."

"He found you?" Derek asked and Stiles turned his head to look at him.

"I'm starting to wonder if anyone around here is normal, human even," he said.

"What did he say?"

"Told me he was an... shit what did he call it? Addonexus I think," he said. "You heard of them?"

Derek's brow furrowed as he thought a moment, "I don't think so."

"I'm not sure what he's doing I mean he just kind of disappeared, more than once too," he said. "I think he's more powerful than he wants to let on, he was pretty blasé about it all back in that building."

"Do you trust him?"

Stiles sighed.

"You should have seen my hand Derek," he said. "I would have been scarred forever, it was... I'm sure there was a lot more that he fixed too. Going off that, going off the last few months of being his roommate then... yeah, I trust him."

Derek's hand ran down over Stiles' chest, fingers gently caressing his stomach back and forth and making Stiles sigh.

"Going off everything I've learnt these last few years about supernatural creatures... I'm less inclined to trust him," he said. "Kind of at a crossroads here."

"What does your gut tell you?"

"That I'm hungry, starving actually," he said and Derek laughed, nuzzling against him and kissing the corner of his mouth.

"You're an idiot," he whispered. "What do you want, anything."

Stiles smiled and turned his head to catch Derek's mouth with his.

"I should get blown up more often," he said and Derek pushed him back.

"Don't even think about it," he said. "And don't think about that either."

"Oh come on," Stiles said.

"You are going to hurt in the morning, I won't contribute to that," he said.

Stiles was already leaving kisses along Derek's jaw, heavy breath and gentle groans already slipping out as his hands trailed down his side.

The sound of Derek's phone buzzing from his jeans that lay on the floor made him push Stiles back again and this time Stiles just looked up at him with a shake of his head.

"Saved by the bell," he said and Derek narrowed his eyes at him as he got up to find his phone. "Over by the desk."

Derek shook his head and raised an eyebrow as Stiles watched him intently. As Derek pulled the phone out and looked at the message he let out a loud groan and ran a hand through his hair.

"What?" Stiles asked as Derek looked over with a dark look.

"Erica sent me a message," he said.

"Cora?"

"Peter."

"What?"

"He must have been waiting for me to leave," he said.

"I thought the last postcard you got was from Wisconsin?"

"That means nothing with him," he said.

"Can you maybe just... deal with it in the morning?" Stiles said. "I think maybe Erica needs to feel like you trust her and Peter's... I mean he's a pain in the ass but he's not as psychotic and murderous as he used to be."

Derek looked over at him slowly and shook his head.

"Just trying to help," he said.

"You just want me to get back into bed," he said.

"Well yeah, but I'm pretty happy with the view from here," he said with a smile. "Call her, tell her what she needs to hear because she can totally take it. She can handle Peter."

Derek sighed, walking into the bathroom to call Erica.

Stiles smiled and lay back, letting out a sigh as the exhaustion started to set in.

Scott and Isaac however had more than enough energy.

Scott's back slammed against the wall as his hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, one hand locked in Isaac's short curls and the other clawing at his back as he thrust up into him.

"I don't think... oh... I don't think this is what Derek meant when he said... behave..." Scott said, his lips in Isaac's ear.

Isaac grunted and quickened his pace a little.

"Not the time to be talking about Derek," Isaac said. "I mean anything else will do just... not Derek."

"You want me to go through the paper I have due?" Scott moaned with a breathy chuckle tacked on the end.

"I love it when you talk science to me," Isaac said and Scott laughed harder, letting his head fall back against the wall.

"I'm not that smart," he said before Isaac's hips were harder against his ass and he was biting down on his lip.

"You don't have to be," Isaac said and Scott gave a sharp tug on his hair that made Isaac still in his movements.

"You're not supposed to say that," he said.

Isaac gave him a smug grin.

"You make up for it in other ways," he said, leaning in for a slow kiss, pulling out and slowly urging himself back inside him.

Scott tightened around him, making Isaac's toes curl.

"Like that," he breathed.

"Shut up," he said and pulled Isaac's hair to make him kiss him, all tongues and teeth and noses pressing against one another.

Isaac's hips started to lose their rhythm and Scott tightened around him again, making him come undone a whole lot faster than he intended, burying himself inside him.

His lips parted and the groan barely came out as he lifted himself up on his toes and Scott just smiled.

"Not fair," Isaac breathed.

Scott tapped him on the shoulder and Isaac nodded, waiting a few moments before slowly sliding Scott down the wall and pulling away before he was stepping back and falling onto the freshly made bed.

"Sorry," he said with a breathy laugh and Scott just shook his head.

"No control," he said as he lowered himself over him, pushing his arms up over his head and staring down at him.

"I have control," he said. "Just not when it comes to you."

"Shut up," Scott said as Isaac reached between them with a smirk.

"Okay," he said, shoving Scott over and onto his back before pulling him back and getting onto his knees at the end of the bed.

"You know we didn't come here for a vacation," Scott said, making no move to escape Isaac's wandering hands.

"So I'll feel bad in the morning then," he said before going silent as he attended to more urgent matters.

"Liar," Scott said.

*

Erica seethed as she watched the two of them making conversation. She tried to hear anything, even the slightest hint of what they were talking about but they weren't stupid, they grew up with wolves and knew exactly how to speak without being overheard.

Jackson tried to keep a calm exterior but Erica could smell the nervous energy on him. He wasn't scared as much as cautious.

"So Stiles is okay then?" Jackson asked, cutting through the silence.

"Yeah, I think so," she muttered. "I mean you can never be totally sure when you're here and not there."

"Why are you so bitter?" he mumbled in return and she looked over at him in frustration.

"I don't know Jackson, why are you so uptight?" she snapped. "Didn't get enough in Europe?"

"Jesus what the hell is your problem?"

She grunted angrily, staring at him with her nostrils flaring.

"Really?"

"No not really you moron," he snapped back. "It's just amusing to watch your face turn three shades of pissed off. I know what your problem is. You don't like being left alone."

"Oh like you're any different, you can't be alone for more than an hour before you get antsy," she said, folding her arms and turning away.

"Not true."

"Oh really then why'd you come running out here so quickly?" she said. "It's not like we're that close."

"We're pack," Jackson said and Erica turned to look at him with a hint of guilt written in her features. "If you ask me for help then I'll give it to you."

They stared at one another in silence for a moment before she sighed.

"I'm going to message Derek."

She flicked off a text and neither her nor Jackson said anything much. They watched as Peter put his hand on Cora's arm and she looked at it like she might tear it off.

"I suppose that's a good sign," Jackson mumbled.

It wasn't long after that Erica's phone was buzzing and Derek's name was flashing on the screen.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"What happened?"

She sighed and launched into a quiet spiel about how Peter had shown up unannounced, not failing to mention the part where they were both having a virtually silent conversation together.

"He didn't say a whole lot about anything really, just that he heard Cora was back and had to see it for himself," she said. "Not that I believe a word that comes out of his mouth. It's not like it could be a coincidence that he's here now. I knew he was playing some bullshit game with his postcards."

"Are you okay?" he asked and she paused for a moment.

"Why?" she asked.

"What do you mean why?" he said. "Can you handle this?"

"I... well I have Jackson with me," she said. "Is that what you're ―"

"I said can you handle this?"

"... For now I think," she said. "I mean, yeah. I think so."

"Good, if you need anything then call me," he said. "I... you know what you're doing."

"I do?"

"Erica."

"Okay, alright, where is the sudden confidence in me coming from?" she said.

"I can't have confidence in you until you do," he said. "So handle it. I trust you."

She didn't say anything for a while but she was immediately aware of Jackson's eyes on her and she didn't quite feel like turning to look at him just yet.

"So Stiles is ―"

"He's fine, probably bruised but otherwise fine," Derek said.

"Better after tonight right?" she said with a suggestive lilt to her voice and Derek didn't say anything back before he hung up on her, though she could almost hear his eye roll through the phone.

She turned back to see Jackson giving her a look.

"What?"

"Do you always have to go there?"

"Every god-damn time," she said.

They turned their attentions back to Peter and Cora and Erica was folding her arms over her chest again with a shake of her head.

"I still don't like it."

They watched them converse a while longer before Peter reached out to stroke her face with his fingers before turning to Erica and Jackson with a smirk and a gentle wave and turning to walk the other way.

Cora put her hands in her pockets and walked back over to them.

"Well?" Erica said.

"Well what?" Cora said with a shrug.

"Don't give me that," Erica said and Cora made a move to walk past her. "Hey!"

Erica grabbed her arm and pulled her towards her.

"Yes?" she said.

"I asked you a question and you're acting like a bratty little teenager," Erica said.

"You said 'well' which is barely a question," Cora retorted. "Don't treat me like a child if you don't want me to answer like one."

Erica let her arm go, shoving her back and scoffing.

"Do you even give a shit? About any of us?" she asked. "Do you even want us to trust you?"

Cora let out a sharp sigh, the first sign Erica had seen yet of frustration. She looked over at Jackson who just stared back as if he was interested in the answer to the question.

"You think I don't want to trust you?" Erica said. "You think that makes things easier? It doesn't. I get it, you're Derek's sister and you're not going anywhere but you could at least try giving us something or even just answering a question without making more of them."

"He asked a lot of questions," Cora said quickly, "Some I answered, some I didn't. He asked me why I came back and I asked him why he murdered my sister. He asked me where I've been, who I saw, when I decided it was time to leave them. I asked him how he knew I was back."

Erica sighed and looked down at her feet while Jackson slipped her a side look.

"He also wanted me to ask you when Lydia was coming back," Cora said with a look to Jackson who began radiating rage almost the moment she said her name.

"Son of a bitch," he growled.

"Jackson," Erica said quietly, putting a hand to his chest as he made a move in Peter's direction.

"Either way it's not really any of your business," she said. "I won't do anything to hurt Derek. I came back here for him so why risk it?"

"Like I've said, long lost relatives of Derek aren't exactly trustworthy," Erica said.

"Then what difference does it make if I tell you what we talked about? You've already made up your mind about me," she said, turning on her heel and breaking into a run.

Jackson took a step back, somewhat calmer than a few moments earlier.

"She has a point," he said with a shrug.

Erica sighed because she didn't want to admit he was right.

"Just... shut up and give me a lift back to the loft."

He nodded and the two of them began walking back to his car, the likelihood of finding Cora now a whole lot smaller anyway.

*

"Tell me you were nice?" Stiles said as Derek walked back into the room.

"I was nice," Derek said.

"Now this would be a perfect moment for me to have werewolf lie detector skills," he said and Derek raised an eyebrow. "Not saying I want them, just saying that they would come in handy."

Stiles chuckled to himself and winced a little, reaching up to put his hand against his ribs. Derek took quick strides over to the bed and climbed in beside him, opening his arms to let him snuggle in beside him.

"Guess that hurt a little more than I thought," he said.

"Go to sleep," Derek whispered, pulling him in and closing his eyes as he breathed him in. "You need it."

"I'm fine," he said. "I'm not as fragile as you think I am."

Derek smiled, kissing the top of his head.

"We're all fragile Stiles," he said.

Stiles tried to think of something witty to come back with but the warmth of Derek's arms and the weight of the day hit him harder than he expected. Within a few moments of closing his eyes, cheek pressed against Derek's chest, he was asleep.

By the time he woke up in the morning he was feeling the full extent of his injuries.

Before he had even shifted in the sheets he could feel the ache in his body holding him down. Derek wasn't in bed beside him but he could hear the shower running.

Stiles pushed himself up, crying out with the burn in his shoulders and the creaking of his joints. He looked down at his chest and let out a startled yelp at the purple lines and blotches marring his skin.

"Oh my god," he said, breathing heavily and trying to calm himself when he realised how much that hurt.

The shower shut off pretty quickly and in a short moment Derek was walking into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Stiles said with a wince as he sat himself up.

"No you're not," Derek said.

"I am one hundred percent fine, just a little bruised," he said.

"You think I can't see them?" Derek said, walking over to him and taking his hand, some of the pain easing the moment he touched his skin.

"Derek you don't have to ―"

Stiles tried to pull away but Derek's grip tightened.

"Derek," he said.

"Stiles," he said mockingly back.

"You can't protect me from everything," he said softly.

"I can't heal you either," he said. "But I can do this."

"Not jealous are you?" he said with a smile.

"Of what?" Derek said but Stiles' smile only got wider.

"You know what," he said. "Kyle healed my hand, could probably heal my bruises too."

"Could have," Derek said. "Doesn't look like he did a very good job of it the first time though."

"You're so jealous."

Derek shook his head and sat down beside him, leaning in for a kiss.

"Why would I be jealous of him when you're here, in my bed?"

"Because you're hopelessly protective of me and don't like me spending too much time with anyone," Stiles said against his lips.

Derek kissed him again before pulling back with a shake of his head.

"You know, the more you open your mouth the more I think you do things just to get me to react," he said.

"You're so controlled, I like seeing you lose it sometimes," he said and Derek gave him a look. "What? You're hot when you're jealous, or angry, or frustrated. I mean you're hot all the time, like now, just sitting on the bed in a towel or when you're reading or when you're trying to read and eat your cereal, well actually that one's more adorable than hot ―"

"Stiles," Derek said with a smile.

"I'm just saying," he grinned.

"Well, stop. Come on, I'll help you get up, have a shower. You slept for a long time, it's nearly lunch."

He took his hands off him and Stiles felt the heavy ache creep back into his muscles.

"Why'd you stop?" he groaned.

Derek smiled and got up, scooping Stiles off the bed in one smooth motion and Stiles sighed as the pain started slipping away again.

He hummed in quiet appreciated and rested his head against Derek's shoulder as he carried him to the bathroom.

*

Erica had work in the morning, the breakfast rush seemed to take longer than usual, not that she wasn't happy for the lengthy distraction.

She had thought a lot about what Cora had said and it irritated her that she had made a lot of sense. Every time she tried to find an argument about why she shouldn't trust her it all came back to the fact that she had already chosen not to trust her based on Peter's bad decisions.

Sure, she was somewhat hostile and cagey, she never seemed to say a word of anything real and had no real story about who or where she came from other than a few choice words about South America and 'a Hale in Beacon Hills' but Erica knew that she wouldn't exactly be giving away everything about herself to total strangers, especially when the strangers are just as hostile and cagey.

"You okay?" Raj asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Yeah, just thinking," she said.

He nodded.

"Anything I can help with?" he offered.

"No, I think I have to fix this one myself," she said. "Just uh, a little too proud to admit that maybe I was a little too harsh on someone."

"I can't imagine you being too harsh on anyone," he said and she gave him a smile.

"You don't know me that well," she said, wondering if the words had sounded too crass coming out of her mouth.

"I'm trying," he said with a nervous laugh and she could smell the anxiety on him.

She reached out slowly to run her fingers over his wrist and into the palm of his hand, making the anxiety in the air a whole lot thicker. She looked up at him from under her thick eyelashes and saw his cheeks flush as he struggled to keep eye contact.

"Relax," she said. "I'm kind of closed off but I don't bite."

His cheeks flushed even darker at that but he squeezed her hand back all the same.

"You're not closed off," he said.

She nodded.

"I am, but I guess I can't be forever," she said, taking her hand out of his and reaching into her apron. "Do you mind if I send a quick text, something I have to do."

"Sure," he said. "I should, I mean I probably... customers," he said nervously before heading back out to the counter.

Erica sighed as she typed out her message, shoving the phone back into her apron before she started putting together one of the orders that came through.

It was just over an hour later that Cora came walking through the doors of the little café, Jackson and Danny not far behind her. She walked over to the counter, catching Erica's eye and the two of them seemed to sigh, sizing one another up to gauge how the other would react.

Jackson nudged Danny to sit in one of the booths off to the side, giving Erica a short nod.

"So," Cora said. "Nice apron."

Erica rolled her eyes.

"Don't make me regret asking you down here before I've even said two words."

Cora put up her hands in surrender.

"And technically I asked Jackson to get you to come here," she said.

"So what was so important that it couldn't wait until later?" she asked and Erica sighed again.

"I wanted... I wanted to say that... you... were right," she said, hoping that Cora wouldn't get that smug look on her face before she finished or she would never get the words out. Thankfully she just looked back at her, expression mostly unchanged. "I wasn't really fair to you and... I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"Yes, okay? You were right, I had made up my mind about you and it wasn't fair of me. I don't know you and I'm wary of people who just show up out of nowhere because everyone has an agenda," she said. "And maybe it didn't help that you didn't really want to tell us anything about yourself but I guess, I wouldn't want to tell my life story to a bunch of strangers either.

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I'll try, for Derek's sake," she said. "Not saying I like you, or that you aren't irritating, or even that I trust you... but I'm willing to make an effort if you are."

She held out her hand and Cora just looked down at it.

"I'm trying to make a peace offering here," she said. "You're just being rude if you don't accept."

Cora smiled and shook her hand. Erica sighed in relief.

"Good, now let's not talk about that again," she said. "You want something? On me, you know, just this one time."

"Sure."

Jackson shook his head from over at the table and Danny raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"Chicks are weird," he said and Danny chuckled.

"I wouldn't really know," he said.

"True," Jackson said with a shrug. "Must be so much easier for you."

Danny shook his head, still chuckling lightly.

"Not really dude," he said. "For one, I've probably been cheated on at least twice as much as you have, for another, guys always forget to answer their phones or call back."

"You're being real stereotypical there Danny," Jackson smirked. "Besides I thought gay guys were supposed to be―"

"Supposed to be what, huh?" he said with a smile. "Relationships are just as frustrating for us as they are for you."

"That's because people suck," Jackson grumbled. "Erica, get us a couple of coffees would you?"

He didn't raise his voice at all but by the filthy look Erica was giving him from across the room he knew that she heard him.

"Get your rich-kid ass up here and order one yourself," she said through gritted teeth. "And don't skimp on the tip you jackass."

Jackson chuckled and Danny just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What did she say?" he asked.

"Just being a bitch like usual," he said with a grin and she looked around a moment before holding up the finger when she thought no one was looking.

"Werewolves," he said with a shake of his head.

*

Once Stiles had been on his feet for a while he felt a little better, still in pain but at least he could stand it.

They headed down to a restaurant not far from the hotel for lunch and the sheriff was visibly enraged that someone could do something like bomb a university.

He asked a lot of questions, mainly wanting to know whether they thought the supernatural was involved, whether Stiles could have been the reason for the attack, questions that they were all thinking.

What hurt more than the bruises was the look on the sheriff's face when he saw them. It was like all he wanted was to make him feel better even though he knew he couldn't.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Stiles said. "Really, it'll be sore for a few days and then I'll be fine. Seriously, everyone needs to stop worrying so much about me."

"One day you'll understand how much a father worries about his son," the sheriff said with a quick look up at Derek. "Well, you know, maybe."

There was a moment of awkward silence where they all seemed to look away, except Isaac who seemed to be amused by the whole thing and just tried to hide the smile on his face.

"Either way," Scott said, breaking the silence. "I have no idea how we'd even start to figure out who was behind this."

They discussed a few possibilities, from possible allies of Cassie and Cal's to the idea that Kyle could have had a hand in it, even throwing around the idea that this was actually a political attack like the news channels suggested. Strangely enough that seemed to be the most far-fetched option of them all.

Stiles hadn't realised how tired he was until they were walking back to the hotel, the full impact of everything hitting him all at once.

Derek helped him back to the hotel room and let him sleep while he went down to the bar with the sheriff for a drink. Isaac made a joke about how weird it was that he could already drink with his son's boyfriend, earning blank stares from the both of them and an elbow in the ribs from Scott.

By the time Stiles woke up Derek was in bed beside him with a book he'd picked up in the hotel gift shop which he immediately put on the bedside table so he could wrap his arms around him.

"How long was I out?" he asked groggily, wincing as his quick move to scoot down resulted in a harsh bump to his chest.

"All afternoon," Derek said with a kiss to his forehead.

"You should have woken me," he said with no intention to get up.

"I was... bonding with your father," he said and Stiles chuckled.

"You were buying him the good scotch and letting him talk your ear off about those old cases you mean."

"He also told me about how you and Scott used to play alien invasion in the backyard and that you once pushed him out of a treehouse," he said with an amused smile.

"Okay, once, once that happened and I never actually pushed him, he fell," he said. "Don't get my dad liquored up. He can't keep quiet."

"I think that's your guilty conscience talking."

Stiles sighed, reaching out to slip his fingers between Derek's.

"That seems like such a long time ago," he said. "Like one minute Scott's falling out of treehouses and losing his inhaler every other day and the next he's..."

"Making friends who don't push him out of treehouses?" Derek teased.

"He fell, and if he could have stuck to that story my dad might not have taken the damn thing down."

Derek kissed his head again and Stiles felt his chest bouncing as he laughed.

"Seriously though, everything is so different now," he said. "I mean... never mind."

"What?" Derek hummed.

"Just... thinking really," he said.

"Stiles, what?"

"What would have happened if... if Kate never set that fire?" he felt Derek tense up a little beside him. "Sorry, I'm just thinking out loud."

There was a moment of quiet before Stiles felt Derek relax again.

"Keep talking," he said. "It's okay."

"I just... I mean think about it," he said. "You and Laura never would have left, Peter might actually have been kind of human, Scott wouldn't have been bitten... you would never have become alpha, Isaac and Erica, Boyd, Jackson, none of them would have been turned... you and me would never have..."

"You don't know that," Derek said.

"Everything would be different," he said. "What if you'd had a normal life, you know, werewolf thing aside. You would have gone to college or gone travelling, and don't try and make me feel better, we probably never would have met so even the trigger thing wouldn't matter."

"Stiles, you don't know―"

"No I know, I'm just saying everything would be different," he said. "You'd be different, maybe I would be too."

"Well, it happened," Derek said.

"I know, I'm just saying," he sighed. "What if?"

"What if," Derek murmured back.

~~~

A/N: Please let me know what you think! Thanks so much for reading!