Fox Tails and Nursing Majors (Sterek AU)

Chapter Seven

Derek is staring at the ceiling of his bedroom with his head on Stiles’ stomach as the hybrid reads to himself. Derek had discovered that although Stiles had trouble pronouncing words, he could read them just fine. When he asked Isaac about it, his best friend told that the professor was an asshole but he still wanted them to know how to read. Sometimes Derek has the urge to ask Stiles about the man that created him, but he doesn’t. 
Stiles is holding his book with one hand while he uses the other one to run his fingers though Derek’s hair, making tiny noises every so often when he reads. Derek is slowly closing his eyes due to the peacefulness and the quiet of the room. He is finally done with finals and he has a month off before he starts his next to the last semester. Stiles’ tail slaps him in the face, and Derek feels Stiles’ soft stomach shake in laughter. Derek nips at his tail playfully, and Stiles giggles in delight. 
“Derek? Stiles?” Scott calls, and he slams the door behind him. Stiles tuts softly before going back to his book, and Derek smiles at him. 
“Back here!” Derek calls, and he hears Scott’s heavy footsteps making their way towards his room. Scott appears, and his hair is wet as though the snow had melted in it. Scott pounces on the bed, careful not to hurt Stiles’ tail, and he drapes his body over Derek’s lap. 
“Scott, did you seriously make me carry all of these presents by myself? Where the hell are you?” Isaac huffs from the living room, and Scott playfully shushes Derek. Derek rolls his eyes, and Stiles goes back to reading. Derek manages to roll over so that his chin his resting on Stiles’ stomach, and Stiles looks at him curiously from over his book. They all hear Park yip at Isaac, and Isaac growls back at him for he had little patience for the little thing. 
Isaac wonders around the apartment until he finds them, and he creeps into the room. “Are you all having a party without me?” He asks, with a playful pout before climbing on the bed. Isaac drapes himself over Scott, and Derek groans at the heavy weight of both of them on him. 
“Yes, you weren’t invited.” Derek kids. 
“Derek!” Stiles says, chastising Derek for being rude. Derek gives his boyfriend a playfully smile, and Stiles rolls his eyes before kissing Derek’s forehead. Derek chuckles at the thoughtful gesture, and Stiles puts his bookmark in his book. “I am going to feed Park.” Stiles announces, and Derek rolls off his stomach to crush Scott under his weight. 
Stiles frees himself from the pile of bodies, and goes into the kitchen to get some of the chicken Derek had thawing for the little animal not the he deserved any of Stiles’ patience brand of love in Derek’s opinion. 
Derek pokes Scott in his side in few times to get his little brother to simultaneously laugh and yell at him before he follows Stiles into the kitchen. Stiles was cutting up the chicken while Park sat patiently on the counter watching him with pouting eyes. Derek had tried to keep Park off of the counters, but Stiles had continuously spoiled the little fiend. Derek snuck up behind Stiles to wrap his arm around Stiles’ waist before pressing a kiss to the side of Stiles’ head. “I love you.” Derek whispers, and Stiles blushes red. 
“I love Derek too.” Stiles says, and Derek sighs happiness. “Cannot wait for Christmas.” Stiles says, jumping on his toes some in excitement. Derek chuckles softly before he reaches up to straighten Stiles’ beanie. Stiles normally didn’t like beanie’s because they annoy his ears, but his fox ears have been getting too cold lately. Stiles finishes cutting up the chicken, and he passes it to Park before kissing the fox between its ears. 
“You’re so thoughtful.” Derek tells him, and Stiles smiles at him while he pets Park. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but doesn’t before the doorbell rings and distracts him. “I’ll get it.” Derek says, and Stiles nods his head while he stuffs his tail into his pants. Derek walks towards the door when he sees that Stiles has hidden his tail. He opens the door a crack to reveal two pretty young woman that look slightly older than him, one has red hair and the other has brown hair, and he smiles pleasantly at them. “Can I help you ladies?” Derek asks, and the red head licks her lips before she speaks. 
“Yes, I’m looking for a Derek Hale.” She says, and Derek frowns some. 
“I’m Derek Hale.” Derek says, carefully. Her eyes light up, and the brown haired girl pushes her forward. “What can I do for you?” Derek asks, and the red head take a deep breath. 
“My name is Lydia Martin, this is my wife Allison. I hoping to talk to you about Isaac Lahey and Stiles Stilinski.” Lydia says, and Derek feels his insides run cold. 
“I don’t who you’re taking about.” Derek lies, and he begins to close the door. Lydia puts her hand on the door to try and stop him. 
“Please, I know what they are and I’m not here to take them away or out them. I just need to give them something.” Lydia pleads, and Derek bites his lip. 
“Derek, who is at the door?” Isaac asks, and Derek waves him over. Isaac gives him a concerned look, and Derek tell the stranger to give him a second. 
“There’s two woman outside who say they need to speak to you and Stiles.” Derek whispers. Isaac raises his eyebrow, and looks out of the peep hole. “She said she knows that you two are different.” Derek whispers, and Isaac bites his lip. 
“Let’s see what she has to say.” Isaac says, and Derek nods his head. Scott walks into the living room with Stiles on his heels, and he gives his brother a questioning look. Derek sighs before he opens the door again, and Lydia is nervously shifting her weight from side to side while her wife tries to tell her to calm down. 
“Please come in.” Derek says, and he stands to the side to let the two women into his apartment. 
“Thank you.” Allison says, and she and Lydia sit down on the couch. Derek nervously looks at them, and Stiles watches them curiously from where he was hiding behind Derek. Derek didn’t really want them speaking to Stiles, but they seemed harmless enough. 
“How did you find me and why?” Derek asks, just getting to the point. Park walks into the living room to glare at the strangers in his room, and he stands in between Stiles’ legs to stare at them. Allison looks at him in surprise, and Lydia gives it a small smile as if she finds it amusing instead of strange. 
“My grandfather is the man that created them.” Lydia admits, and Derek gapes at her. “Before you have me stoned please know that I had never met the man nor had any knowledge of them until a few weeks ago.” Lydia says, and Derek takes a seat in the chair. Scott and Isaac have sat down on the loveseat, and Stiles sinks to the floor beside Derek while Park crawls into his lap. 
“That doesn’t answer my questions.” Derek says, and Lydia sighs loudly. 
“I was looking though the attic in my mother’s house some weeks ago, and I came across some files that my grandfather had left in the house before he and my mother had a falling out.” Lydia explains, and Derek nods his head for her to continue. “I found out that he had been experimenting on humans, I went looking for him. What I found was an abandon house, and police telling me he was dead.” Lydia says, and Derek nods his head. “I found out that you were the one that reported that you found his body, and I just assumed that you knew where I could find Stiles or Isaac.” Lydia explains. 
“We just want to apologize for everything you went through.” Allison says, intertwining her fingers in her wife’s hand. Lydia gives her a sweet smile, and Allison returns it. Derek bites his lips, and he looks down at Stiles. Stiles is staring at Lydia while she talks, and his face is blank. Derek rubs his hand in his hair, and Stiles looks up at him. Derek smiles down at him, and Stiles smiles back at him. 
“So what do you want from Stiles and I?” Isaac asks, and Lydia reaches into her bag to pull out two envelopes, and she hands one to Isaac while reaching out the other one towards Stiles. Isaac rips open the envelope before he gasps, and pushes it back towards Lydia. “I can’t take that.” Isaac says, and Stiles frowns while he opens his. He stares at it confused before he hands it up to Derek with a confused look. 
Derek takes the envelope out of his hand, and he opens it see that it is a check. Derek’s eyes widened at the amount, and he stares at Lydia. “Why would you want to give them so much money?” Derek asks, and Lydia shrugs her shoulders. 
“My grandfather left it to me, and I don’t need it. Allison is a lawyer, and I’m a researcher with Caltech so we don’t need the money. It’s the least we could do.” Lydia says, and Derek stares at her. 
“You mean after your grandfather kidnapped them as children, and experimented on them. Not the mention the fact he abused both of them for years, and you just expected to just throw money at the problem until you stop feeling guilty.” Scott says, and Derek stares at his brother in surprise.  Scott is red in the face, and his fingers are digging what looks to be painfully into Isaac’s thigh. 
“I didn’t mean it like that I was just trying to help.” Lydia says, and Scott scoffs bitterly at her. “I was trying to save them until I realized that they had already escaped. This is not my sin.” Lydia says, and Scott just stares angrily at her. 
“I think it would be best if everyone calmed down.” Derek says, and he looks down at Stiles. Stiles hasn’t said anything to anyone, and Derek pulls gently on his collar to get his attention. Stiles looks at him, and Derek pats his lap. Stiles stands to get comfortable in his lap, and Derek holds him close. 
“I just want to help.” Lydia says, and Derek nods his head. He understand where Lydia is coming from, he understands that she wanted to prove that she wasn’t like her grandfather but he isn’t sure if she is doing the right thing. “I think you could do great things with this money.” Lydia says. 
“Can it give me back the thirteen years your grandfather stole from me? Or the eighteen from Stiles?” Isaac says, and Lydia flinches. She stands abruptly with Allison close behind her, and Allison gives her a sympathetic look. 
“This was a bad idea, I’m sorry.” Lydia says, and she rushes towards the door. Derek was just going to watch her leave, but Stiles hops off his lap. 
“Wait!” Stiles says, and Lydia stops and she reaches her hand out to stop Allison. 
“Yes?” Lydia asks, uneasily. Stiles sighs before he untangles his tail from his pants, and Lydia gasps softly. 
“It is not your fault what happened.” Stiles says, and Lydia gapes at him. Stiles steps forward and he gently places his arms around her to hug her, and she sniffles some when she hugs him back. Derek catches her mumble a thank you in Stiles’ ear, and he doesn’t have the heart to tell her that Stiles cannot hear from his human ears. 
Lydia and Allison give Isaac a sad look, Scott an apologetic look, and Derek a careful one. Allison pats Stiles on the back gently before she leaves, and when Stiles shuts the door behind them no one says anything for a while. 
**** 
Isaac and Scott decided to go home about an hour after Lydia and Allison leave, and they promise to stop by tomorrow before they go to Scott and Derek’s mother’s for their annual Christmas Eve party. Scott hugs Derek extra tight before he leaves before he does the same to Stiles, and Stiles must know that something is wrong because he rubs his face on Scott’s cheek. Isaac does the same to Stiles, and they stare at each other for a second as if talking without saying anything, and Stiles bites Isaac’s jaw as he leaves. 
Stiles goes to lay on the couch while he stares at the tree, and Park stands on his hind legs on reach to lick Stiles’ cheek. Stiles pets him softly, and Derek makes him some hot chocolate before he goes to sit down beside the couch to rub Stiles’ back while he sets the cup down on the coffee table. “Hey, baby.” Derek says, softly and Stiles looks at him. Derek notices that Stiles’ tail is shifting side to side, and he slumps his head against Stiles’ side. “What are thinking about?” Derek asks, and Stiles turns on his side. Derek lays on the couch to trap Stiles in between himself and the back of the couch. 
“What Lydia gave me was money.” Stiles says, and Derek nods his head. “I do not understand.” Stiles says, and Derek kisses his lips softly. 
“What don’t you understand?” Derek asks, and Stiles wrinkles his forehead in confusion. Derek runs his hand across Stiles’ side, and Stiles rumbles at the sensation before he realizes that Derek asked him something. 
“Why? Do I need money? I know Derek has used it, but I have not.” Stiles says, and Derek chuckles remembering the time that Stiles had gone with him to the store and he hadn’t understand the concept of money. 
“Well, you could use the money for something.” Derek says, and Stiles scoots closer to Derek. 
“Like what?” Stiles asks, and Derek pauses to think. 
“Hmm, you could hire a tutor so that you could get an education. Or maybe you could get an apartment?” Derek says, and Stiles gasps before he clutches Derek’s shirt for dear life. 
“But Derek said I could stay with him, and Derek loves me.” Stiles rambles, and Derek mental curses himself before he puts his hands on Stiles’ to try to calm him down. 
“That isn’t what I meant, cub. I just meant that it was something you could think of spending it on.” Derek explains, and Stiles calms down some. Derek rubs his nose against Stiles’, and the fox hybrid giggles while Park jumps on the couch to walk over Derek to snuggle with Stiles. “Why must you always ruin the moment, Park?” Derek asks, and Stiles giggles. 
“A tutor would be nice. I would like to be smarter like my Derek.” Stiles says, and Derek smiles brightly. 
“Well, there is a lot of other things you could do with it.” Derek says, and Stiles nuzzles his head into Derek’s collarbone. 
“I just want a tutor, Derek can have the rest.” Stiles says, absently and Derek freezes. 
“Baby, that is very thoughtful but that is too much money for you to give to me.” Derek tells him, and Stiles frowns. 
“But I heard Derek telling Isaac that about not having enough money for books?” Stiles says, and Derek sighs. He should have known that Stiles would have been listening, and he really under estimates Stiles ability to understand things.  
“Stiles, I cannot take that money from you.” Derek says, firmly. Stiles opens his mouth as if he wants to protest, but Derek kisses him to distract him. Stiles squeaks in surprise before he kisses back, and his cheeks turn pink. 
“Derek is trying to distract me.” Stiles accuses, and Derek laughs. The pair stay in silence the only noise that can be heard is the sound of the Christmas music on the television playing at a low volume, and Park’s deep breathing as he curls deeper into Stiles’ side. “Christmas Eve is tomorrow.” Stiles says, looking at the tree. 
“That it is, baby cub.” Derek says, and Stiles smiles at him. “Mom is coming tomorrow so we can make Christmas cookies.” Derek says, and Stiles nods. At Thanksgiving, Derek’s mother had fallen instantly in love with her son’s boyfriend. Derek had never brought anyone home before, even when he was in high school, so she knew that Stiles was special. 
“I like Derek’s mom.” Stiles says, and Derek grins at him. Stiles lays his head down on the couch to watch the fake fire on the television crackles and burn, and Derek laughs loudly when Stiles’ stomach growls loudly. “I think I am hungry.” Stiles says, shyly. 
Derek turns to stand up, and Stiles looks conflicted at Park who is fast asleep on his side. Derek leans down to pick up Park in his arms, and Stiles gives him a grateful look. “Do not like waking him up.” Stiles says, and Derek shakes his head. 
“He is so spoiled.” Derek comments, and the little fox gives him a bored look before slapping his tail in Derek’s face. “Oh, you’re just mad because I squirted you in face with water for almost breaking the tree.” Derek tells him, and Park hops out of his arms. 
Derek picks up the envelope that Lydia left and he puts it in a safe spot before he goes into the kitchen to see Stiles making himself a sandwich. Derek yawns loudly before going to make himself something to eat, and Stiles swishes his tail back and forth while Derek can see his ears twitching under his beanie. 
Derek watches as Stiles places his dirty dishes in the sink, and he gives Derek a grin before goes to take a shower. Derek finds himself unable to stop smiling while he gets up to head to bed, and when Stiles sneaks into the bed when he is finished, Derek drags him closer to his body. Stiles nuzzles his head under Derek’s chin while he rumbles happily, and Derek falls asleep dreaming of fox tails and Stiles’ laughter. 
That is until loud scratching at their door wakes them up, and he has to leave the nice, warm bed to let Park in to cuddle with them.