Monster. (Sterek)

Part 29: My Vow To You.

*****

That night Stiles and Derek lay curled up in Stiles' bed, talking quietly about everything. It was grounding, normal, okay. In many ways, Stiles felt it to be perfect. Beautiful – as cliche as that sounded, even to him – but he needed this, they both did.

Calling it a hard few months would've been a bigger understatement than calling Scott a bit of a bother. So, Stiles cherished the quiet moments. Having Derek next to him didn't get rid of all the bad, just made it easier to cope. It was moments like these that reminded him that one day the bad days would be overshadowed by the good.

He knew, realistically, that he would always have bad days but everyone did. And that was okay, because he wasn't alone, not anymore, and neither was Derek.

Though the nightmare of everything – from his mother's death to Scott being bitten, and everything after – would never truly leave, staining his heart and his thoughts, they would fade, with time. With patience. With Derek and The Pack. They would help each other through everything, the good and the bad. He loved them for that, for everything.

He made a promise to himself: no matter what happened with Scott over the next few weeks, months, years, he wouldn't let him ruin The Pack. Not like he had before. Even if none of them had noticed at the time... And if it meant saying goodbye to him once and for all, then, well, he would deal with that if it came to it. He hoped it didn't.

~~~~~

Derek looked down at the young man now sleeping on his chest, holding onto him tightly as if afraid he'd disappear, and smiled. He was exceedingly lucky, he knew that. Just like he knew that if it weren't for Stiles he would still be lost, drifting in the vast expanse of sea that was his mind. Stiles allowed him to unlock his lips; talk freely. To feel happy.

One day, he, Stiles, and The Pack would all be okay again. They would be able to have as normal a life as a supernatural could. They would mend and heal each other, as they had been doing since they first met.

This was what hope felt like, Derek realised with a start. Real hope.

Stiles was so strong, he astounded Derek every day with his persistence to continue fighting, to continue to love, despite how often the world pushed him down. Stiles may be the human in a Pack of wolves, but he was beyond that in ways Derek didn't quite understand.

He didn't let what happened to him define him, not like Derek had, but he never made Derek feel lesser for their different ways of coping. Maybe it was too soon, maybe not, but he loved Stiles for that, and for everything.

Derek made his own promise: he would never let Stiles fight alone again.

+++++

"Scott, you're home?" Melissa asked, voice cracking halfway through her son's name. Of course, Stiles had told her that he was going to talk to Scott, try and bring him home to her and she had been incredibly surprised, though she now felt she shouldn't have been. She had almost asked to come with them, except if Scott had refused right to her face, she... Well, she wasn't entirely sure what she would've done, but it would've ruined her more than watching Scott drive away.

Maybe it was an act of cowardice, maybe it was simply one of self-preservation, she didn't know and, right now, she didn't care because Scott was standing at her door, bags behind him like he planned on staying, and dried tears on his cheeks. What he had done didn't matter, nothing mattered. Not right now. Because her boy was home, and he had been crying.

She pulled him into a hug, a long string of "you're home, you're home, god, you're finally home" fell from her lips. Scott held her back just as tightly, he had lost track of the days, had no idea how long it had been since he'd last seen his mom but he had missed her.