And In Return...

Mend With A Friend

Stiles sat on the edge of Scott's bed in wait for him to arrive home. It'd take a long time to find him, hunting down a werewolf with no experience couldn't be easy. Better to use patience, hoping with everything he had that Scott would forgive him.

Before long, the guilt-stricken teens friend walked through his bedroom door, a cautious tick in his eyes of which was understandable. Scott obviously sensed another being was in his home and that wasn't a good sign these days.

"Hey." Stiles greeted, standing immediately. Scott didn't reply, he simply eyed his friend up and down, wondering the purpose of his visit. It was obvious, Stiles thought, but decided to explain anyway, "Look Scott, I didn't wanna lie to you but I- I just knew this would work and we we weren't sure about-"

"You think I'm mad because you lied?" Scott asked, gentle eyes remaining the same.

"Well, yeah." the human boy answered quietly.

"Stiles- I don't care about that." Scott shook his head, "I care about my best friend and I don't think loaning him to some creep that's a complete stranger to us was a great move."

"He's actually not." Stiles slipped out, looking down ashamedly.

Scott's head tilted to the side, curiosity in his eyeline, "Not what?"

"Derek's not creepy, he's just a regular guy." Stiles shrugged tensely, "And he's not a stranger, at least not anymore."

His friend scoffed, "Then what is he?"

Stiles exhaled, looking indecisively into Scott's eyes, "I don't know."

The teenage wolf raised his eyebrow, "So what, are you saying you like him now?"

"No." he immediately denied, "I just know more about him."

"Yeah right," the young beta retorted, "like you two just sat around and talked."

"It wasn't that bad." Stiles mumbled.

"He manipulated you into having sex with him!" Scott's voice raised, "I'd say that's pretty bad."

"It was my decision, Scott!" Stiles replied, voice normal but stern, "Derek didn't do anything."

"Why are you defending him?" questioned his bewildered friend.

"I'm not." Stiles shook his head, "I'm just saying he didn't try to get me to do anything I didn't want to."

"Oh, so you wanted to make the deal?" Scott asked smartly.

"Of course not!" Stiles answered, decibels finally increasing.

Scott's voice lowered, tiredly replying, "Then why did you disappear yesterday and then I find you at his house today? I was scared out of my mind that the alpha took you or something. Your dad called me and I told him you were at my house studying but I had no clue where you were!"

"I know, I'm so sorry." Stiles said but knew it wouldn't help a thing.

Scott shook his head, "I'm just glad you're okay." He pressed his lips together, feeling even more guilty when looking into his wolf friends 'puppy-dog' eyes, "I can tell it bothers you when I say something about Derek but I just don't get it."

"There's nothing to get." Stiles lied, "It's just that he had a thousand chances to hurt me or to use me and he didn't."

"But you kept going." Scott stated, seeming genuinely confused, "I mean I'm guessing this was more than a one night thing."

"I went over four times." Stiles nodded discreetly, hoping his friend wouldn't think any different of him, "And I only did because that was my end."

"What did you promise him?" Scott inquired, worry tracing his face, "I mean did he want you to do anything else?"

Knowing both he and Derek wanted more than those four nights, Stiles said, "No, just until you learned how to control the shift."

Scott nodded, believing this whole thing was his fault. Then he squinted, looking to his human friend in confusion, "Wait, it only took me four days to learn control. Why were you there today?"

Stiles sucked in a breath, realizing he slipped. Guess Derek's not the only one who fucked up today, "That was just- I left something there." Scott furrowed his eyebrows, knowing that was the most obvious lie his best friend had ever told, which was saying something. Stiles sighed in failure, "I thought he was leaving town so, given what happened in the last few days, I just wanted to say goodbye."

Disturbed, Scott's lips crinkled, "Is that how you two always say goodbye?"

Kind of, Stiles thought to himself, knowing that lately he wouldn't leave Derek's presence without some sort of sexual proposition. Instead he told Scott, "No, when I went over I found him knocked unconscious on the floor by the alpha. He's not my favorite person but I didn't want him to die so I just stayed. One thing led to another and the next afternoon is when you showed up."

Still extremely uncomfortable with the situation, Scott nodded in understanding, "Okay, I- wait the next afternoon? You mean all that happened yesterday and you spent the night there?" Stiles opened his mouth to say something but came up blank. How could he get out of this one? "Ya know on second thought," Scott pressed his lips together, hands waving Stiles off, "it's really none of my business."

Stiles swallowed, awkwardly looking at a wall to the right of him. At least Scott didn't ask for details, that would've been far more difficult to explain while pulling off the 'nothing more than business' facade. The boy cleared his throat, "So, you're not mad?"

Scott shrugged tiredly, "I'm not surprised that you made the deal with Derek. I'd go to the same lengths for you. I just don't trust him and I'm worried. I don't know if you wanted to do all the things you did with him, the ones that I don't need to know about, or if he talked you into it. Still, I- I just want you to be careful and do something for yourself. I got you into all this and if you wanna keep hooking up with Derek then that's up to you."

Stiles gave a thankful smirk, reminded that Scott was his best friend for a reason. Even when going through the bite, Scott never left him. He never professed to be better or stronger but plain and equal. When having such a pure heart, Stiles sometimes wondered why Scott wasn't his own anchor.