What Would You Do Without Me? // Teen Wolf

Home and Family

He got home without a hitch after that, saying goodbye to both Derek and Peter with a hug was new, or he guessed it was old, but it was nice. He slept well that night, and in his dreams more memories returned to him. Stiles figured it would take longest for him to get his memories back because he would've had the most taken from him. His dreams showed him images of playing at the park, his mom making whole movies for them with her magic, her and his dad tucking Jackson and Stiles into bed together for sleepovers, Melissa cooking for the four of them after little league. They'd had this perfect life together.

When he woke, Stiles had work to do before his lunch meeting with Lydia, and this time he'd invited Scott too. They had things to talk about, and he could help with explaining things to Lydia. He made breakfast for himself, just a slice of toast, and then got on with his classes. The work was pretty easy, nothing that ever took long, in fact the thing that took longest was making sure he had actually watched his pre-recorded lectures. They were driving him insane. He exclusively watched them at double speed.

Once all of that was done, it felt like a sigh of relief. College and feeding himself were chores, and now he got to sit with his friends and explain to Lydia everything that she had missed the day before. He didn't doubt that Kira would be there too, since she was visiting Scott. At least Stiles was fairly sure that Scott had mentioned that. It was all a little messy in his head, like he was disoriented in his own mind because it was suddenly fuller than before. He'd completed a quest and unlocked more of the map. He laughed airily at his own thoughts as he loaded up zoom to be able to call Scott and Lydia.

Lydia was already waiting in the meeting room, eating some ramen as she read until she heard the tone of Stiles joining. She looked up with a smile and set her book aside, focusing more on her computer. Stiles assured her that he had food, and that he'd explain once Scott was with them, since he'd missed some of the explanation of what was happening too because he was away from home. When Scott joined, he was joined by Kira, but she was in the back cooking.
"Don't tell me he's downgraded you to housewife already?" Stiles asked, him and Lydia laughing as Scott spluttered, trying to protest but unable to find his words.
"He's banned from the kitchen. He tried to cook pasta without water, never mind without salt." Kira replied, only making Scott turn red and splutter harder, while their laughter grew only louder. Stiles had to open his window to cool down from how warm he'd become.

"Okay. So something happened yesterday, explain." Lydia finally said when they'd calmed down, and it prompted Kira to come sit beside Scott to hear the explanation.
"Before that, we gotta go back a little." Stiles took a deep breath and dove into the story. Everyone had slightly different pieces of the puzzle, so he started at the start. He told them about the letters from his mom, the letters for the others. He told them about him gathering the pack together, and Scott voiced his acknowledgement. He told them about the emotional fallout, about the letter written for Talia that he still hasn't read, about the new details he has on the Hales and his past with them, alongside the past all four boys had with them.

Kira let out a low whistle as she stood to return to the kitchen, finishing her preparation of her and Scott's lunch, while Lydia ran over the details in her mind.
"I was dreaming about it last night. I woke up confused but I guess that was all real, huh?" Scott said, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
"So she just.. Took it all away from you. Why?" Lydia asked with furrowed brows, looking down at her hands, her face looking distinctly like it did when she was trying to understand a puzzle.
"To.. protect me, I guess. I don't know why, or what from. I guess everything we've experienced." Her guess was as good as his, he hoped her letters would explain more, but he could feel that it wasn't time to read one yet.

"So what's your plan?" Kira asked, getting everyone back on track as she returned to sit beside Scott, a plate set in front of each of them. Something with rice that Stiles didn't recognise. Cool.
"To continue as normal. I want to.. focus more on Jackson and Theo, Peter too. Keep them on the inside of the pack. But I have bigger fish to try than this." And at that Lydia looked at him with narrowed eyes, lips pursed.
"Bigger fish to fry than your whole life being turned upside down?"
"Arabella. She told me for a reason. That is the bigger fish. My connection with the Nemeton is changing and I need to understand why." And while Lydia still looked surprised, she seemed pleasantly so.
"That reminds me, I spoke to one of my professors, he's contacting a friend about some books he thinks might be useful for us." Kira told them with a smile, brushing some hair behind her ear, spoon halfway to her mouth.
"You're a saint. He doesn't deserve you, you know." Stiles said, making everyone laugh again, even Scott. They all heard him agree, Stiles and Lydia pretended they didn't. It was sweet, but vaguely private.

"Okay, I need to talk to my dad and he gets home soon so I gotta go. But I'll keep you all posted." Stiles said, roughly half an hour later, having accidentally glanced at the time and realised he was supposed to be cooking already. Eating is a chore, but Stiles loves cooking for other people, and cooking for his dad is a priority. He grinned and gave a thumbs up as he left the meeting room, then skidded out of his bedroom door and down the stairs to the kitchen to start preparation.

Stiles wasn't finished cooking when Noah got home like he'd planned on, but he was close enough that he could ask his dad to help out with drinks and taking things to the table. Immediately, his dad was suspicious, because as much as Stiles did like cooking it was rarely ready when he got home (or close to it), he usually had to remind his son about food. Altogether, it was just a little suspicious.
"What is it?" Noah asked, opening the fridge to get out a can of coke for Stiles and some juice for himself, because of course he's not allowed to drink pop.
"Just bolognese. The Quorn stuff, cause you hate that least. But it's mom's sauce." Stiles explained as he drained the pasta water, grabbing a plate with his free hand, subconsciously supporting the hand carrying the heavy pot with his magic to avoid dropping anything (that was something that had happened altogether too many times).

Once everything was set, and Stiles and Noah were both sat enjoying their food, Noah levelled a hard gaze at his son, tired of dancing around whatever was going on.
"What have you done?" Noah asked, setting down his fork in favour of just resting his hand on the table, and taking away any threat of violence.
"Well, you actually know everything I've done for once cause it totally wasn't me it was mom."
"I'm still not sure I entirely understand what's happening there." Noah admitted as he took his fork back in hand, content to eat his food and listen - his son was perfectly capable of talking at him.

Stiles explained everything, going into detail about the memories returned to them, making sure to highlight the parts he didn't understand himself or where he needed to just keep living until it was time for more letters. He knew he needed to return to Arabella, and so he told his father that too, wanting to ensure he had everything that he needed to, that he knew as much as Stiles did.
"So you don't know why she did it?"
"She was it was to protect us, I guess she meant after she died. I just don't know what we needed to be protected from. What the Hales couldn't have protected us from, because if we'd been around maybe we could've stopped Kate." It wasn't a thought that he had dared voice to Peter and Derek, but it was one he could say safely to his father. Him and Derek had been friends, maybe he would've been told about Kate, and Stiles definitely would've told his father. He couldn't keep secrets when he was that young. They could've stopped the fire.
"Kid, come here." Noah stood and opened his arms, letting Stiles follow and fall into his arms, holding each other tight. Noah made sure to assure Stiles that there was likely nothing they could've done, some things are meant to happen no matter what, but he couldn't help thinking about it himself. Stiles had been in the pack, so had Claudia, but it had never been the same for Noah. However, the idea that Claudia could've indirectly killed her friends made his heart ache, because they'd been his friends too.

They finished their meals, moving on from the more upsetting topics, instead talking about Stiles' future plans, what he wanted to look at in the library next, ideas for how to include Theo and Jackson properly in family events, and Stiles realised he should talk to the pack members that had left Beacon Hills about what the holiday plans were. They moved to sit on the sofa and watch TV together, some sort of shitty cop show that they enjoyed making fun of and pulling apart, and Stiles resolved to call Scott tomorrow about the holidays. It could wait. He needed this time with his dad.