Blurry » Sterek

Chapter 21

"No offense, but could you, ya know, be human again?" Stiles requests sheepishly, "I mean, we have Scott all chained up now..."

"Sorry," Derek mutters, turning his face away slightly to shift back. They sit in silence, listening to Scott tug and pull relentlessly on his restraints, screaming and yelling things at the two. Stiles winces at the words, knowing it's the full moon doing all the talking, but it's still hard to hear.

"You can wait this out in my room," Derek eventually suggests. Stiles doesn't respond but follows close behind Derek, refusing to look at Scott as they pass by. They have him chained to a cement pillar, knowing that will hold him.

Derek leaves him alone for awhile, but the yelling becomes too much for him as well and he joins Stiles in the bedroom with two glasses of water in hand.

And then comes that deafening silence between them again.

They're not even facing each other, rather sitting back to back on Dereks bed. Stiles fidgets with his hands, feeling more awkward with Scott's occasional shout directed at them.

"Why are your eyes a different color than Scott's? Is it a genetic thing?" Stiles asks as calmly as he can, but he knows the questions come rushing out in an attempt to break the awkward silence between them. "No," Derek deadpans, irritated even though he expected Stiles to talk sooner or later. "Is it because you were born a werewolf?"

"No."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No," Derek says through pressed teeth, "So stop. Asking." Even though Derek can't see him, Stiles nods a couple of times, frowning at the werewolf's tone. He wants to make everything right, but pushing him is only going to prolong that process.

Derek is torn between his two battling emotions. He knows it's not fair to Stiles, and Derek knows that he still cares about Stiles. But anytime he lets himself feel just for a moment, to allow his guard to slip and wonder what this could be, the memory of Stiles rejecting him floods to the surface of his mind and all walls come crashing back up as a defense.

A couple of hours pass before Scott gives up on his repetitive threats, a wave of silence washing over the loft. Stiles sighs in relief, eyes closing to relax. Only a few minutes later and the teenager is sound asleep.

Derek waits until he's sure Stiles won't wake up, then grabs a spare blanket to cover Stiles with, since he's laying on top of the bedding. The room is pitch black with the blinds closed, so Derek flicks to his blue eyes to see. His mind doesn't throw itself into defense mode while Stiles is asleep, so the werewolf just frowns down at him sadly. The wolf in him says to lay down with Stiles, be comforted by the contact and warmth of Stiles, but the conscious human in him knows that's a bad idea. So Derek watches the peaceful boy and listens to his even breathing from a distance most of the night.

—

Stiles wakes up in an unfamiliar bedroom, almost panicking until he remembers last nights events. He glances down at the blanket covering him and faintly smiles before getting up and searching for Derek and Scott.

He rounds into the living room, where Derek is crouched and uncuffing Scott, who rubs his sore wrists. His best friends eyes quickly lock on Stiles'.

"Stiles, I'm sorry about—"

"I know. It's okay," Stiles assures with a small smile. "I didn't mean any of it."

"I know," he says again. Yeah, hearing Scott spew out his worst insecurities and fears on repeat hurt, but he knows it was the full moon. Scott is like a brother to Stiles, and it'll take a lot more than that to scare him away. Scott sighs but nods.

They head for the door, but Stiles glances back over his shoulder to Derek, who has his hands buried deep into his pockets. The human nods appreciatively, earning a small one back.