What Would You Do Without Me? // Teen Wolf

I Wish The Summer Was Longer

The evening was in full swing when there was another knock at the door, signalling the arrival of the Hales. Stiles untangled his legs from Isaac's, using Boyd's broad shoulders to push himself to his feet so he could open the door for the older men. He smiled at Derek warmly and nodded to Peter, stepping aside to allow them inside. Peter gently nudged Stiles as he passed through to the kitchen and Stiles kicked out, making contact with Peter's shin. The werewolf simply shook his head as he continued on his path and Stiles rolled his eyes, turning back to face Derek.
"Any success with Cora?" Stiles asked, noticing Derek's sun kissed complexion.
"No, she wants to stay where she is and we won't force her to come home." He replied with a sigh and Stiles gently squeezed his shoulder in his attempt at a comforting gesture. Normally, he was good with people but he had never quite been sure what to do with himself when it came to Derek. Erica would call that a crush but Stiles called it 'Derek is just difficult and that makes everything involving him difficult'. Derek half smiled, an appreciation for the comforting gesture and Stiles used his hand, still on his shoulder, to guide the Were into the living room. He was much less tense when the topic was clearly over. Scott lifted Kira into his lap so that Derek could sit on the couch so sit he did, resting his elbow on the arm of the sofa. Stiles settled back in his position on the floor and Isaac was immediately almost on top of him again, Stiles grunted and attempted to push him away but was very unsuccessful, only making him, Allison and Boyd laugh.

When Isaac had first joined the pack, he wasn't physical in any way unless it was to fight. He wasn't withdrawn with Derek, Erica or Boyd but he definitely was with everyone else. He grew more comfortable with the pack as a whole as things shifted and changed, his relationships with everyone developing well despite all the trouble they faced but he still wasn't the touch-y feels-ey type. Stiles made an effort with Isaac where others didn't, recognising the side effects of his abuse and always taking care to watch for them, checking in when he thought the werewolf may need it. That made him an exception to the affection rule. It happened slowly, with soft nudges or Isaac reaching out to grab Stiles to gain his attention and so it had taken a long while to get to where they were now. Now, Isaac bordered on too affectionate, though Stiles refused to admit that he secretly enjoyed it, only with him and Allison. Finally, Stiles caved and he rested his head on Isaac's shoulder, turning to face Boyd once again to return to the conversation he'd been previously having with him and Erica.

The night continued with no further interruptions, the pack just content to be together and the house was practically humming with it. Noah returned downstairs to collect some snacks for himself and Melissa and caught Stiles in the kitchen, he made the observation to his son and Stiles could only be glad that he wasn't the only one that felt it. After so much hardship and near losses, they deserved this. Noah agreed, it was only then that Stiles realised he'd admitted it out loud and he only realised that he was teary about it when Noah wiped a lone tear from his cheek. Thankfully, his father made no comment and instead just took the things he'd grabbed back upstairs.

Stiles regarded his living room for a moment, letting his eyes wander over his guests before his face fell in a frown. They were supposed to be having a party, not a get together tinged with sadness. While he'd noticed the way there was an undercurrent of contentment through the house, like the Stilinski home was an oasis away from all they'd been through, something was off. Of course, they'd be separating for the first time, losing some of their key players, three of Beacon Hills' greatest defenders - everyone was worried. He'd known the party would be bittersweet, but this was wrong. Stiles wasn't having it, not at his party.

He shook his head and grabbed the TV remote, flicking through the channels until he came to one of the radio station channels then turned up the volume.
"Right, get off your sad asses. This is a party, not a fucking wake." He got a few chuckles and Kira was only too happy to stand, then pulled Scott behind her to begin the dancing. Once Kira was up and dancing, Lori convinced Brett to join her in goofing around, not truly dancing and Erica followed suit. The usual suspects didn't move, Derek and Peter remained solidly where they stood and Theo moved to sit where Erica had previously been so he was out of the way of the dancing. Stiles took that opportunity to move the coffee table to make the living room floor into a dance floor, turning quickly to smirk at Theo who only rolled his eyes in response. It wasn't much but it did help lift the cloud that was almost looming over the room.