A Coward 'Till The End, Lies.

L-i-e-s

XxX

"So, do you think we can trust him?" The Sheriff whispers to Lydia whilst peeling potatoes in his kitchen. The red head shrugs, turns on the tap to wash her hands before she starts to cut up the chicken.
"Stiles trusts him and he didn't lie once earlier, so either he's an amazing liar or what he's saying is the truth." Lydia pauses, tilts her head to one side in concentration before smiling softly.
"Right now Xander isn't our biggest problem. Derek's waking up."
The sheriff grimaces and prays to any god listening that the alpha doesn't break his daughters heart any more than he already has.
“Keep me informed.”

XxX

Derek wakes slowly feeling every inch of his body as he regains control of it. His wolf's the most content it's ever been, curled up in his chest practically humming with happiness.
Derek's first thought is that he's dreaming, and upon opening his bleary hazel eyes, the sight seems to confirm it. There's a comfortable, warm weight against his side, his mate, his...

“Stiles?” his voice is mumbled and confused but it rouses Stiles from her sleep and she finds herself blinking blearily up at one drowsy alpha.
A warm smile stretches at her lips as she closes her eyes, snuggling back into his arms; safe. “Morning Derek.”

Oh shit.

“DEREK!” she shouts sitting up abruptly, her hands instantly flying to her stomach to circle the extremely obvious bump there.
Derek's hazel eyes are wide, bulging, ready to pop out of his head.
“You're...You're?” He looks like he's about to faint but Stiles can't help but notice how much more alive he looks now that he's not y'know, at death's door .

“Stiles you're pregnant.”

No shit Sherlock.

Stiles pushes down the urge to roll her eyes. Now is totally not the time to get snarky with your ex, werewolf, boyfriend whose baby you're carrying without his knowledge, or well, without his knowledge up until now. Shit! Deep breaths Stiles you can do this, in through the mouth and out through the nose, wait, or was it the other way around? Argh crap.

“Uhm, surprise?”
Stiles' almost smacks herself. Really?! Surprise? That's seriously what you're leading with here?

Derek just continues to stare. Eyes verging on crimson as they flicker from Stiles' face to her swollen stomach. She's so screwed!

Stiles takes a deep breath, the deepest breath in the history of deep breaths before diving, head first, into her explanation. (Okay so maybe she whispers a little prayer first, so sue her).

“Before you ask, yes it's yours and yes I'm sure! I didn't want to tell you because I know I'm not your mate and so we shouldn't have, y'know, mated and your first kid, pup, no definitely kid, should be with someone you actually love and not some ADHD human who quite honestly isn't ready for the responsibility that comes with being a mom but I will be and I'm not alone because I have Xander and my dad and Lydia and Scott and Jackson of all people, so I totally get that you don't want me and that you don't want Jarvis. That's not what I'm calling the baby by the way it's just what I've been calling the bump,” Stiles pauses to draw in another lung full of air, ignoring the way Derek's lips move to speak.

“Look, you know I was in love with you, still am in love with you, but I'll get over it and Jarvis is gonna be my whole life because he isn't even born yet and I love him more then I ever thought was possible and yeah I'm crushed that you don't want me but I'm strong and independent and I can totally do this and ohmygodDerekwhatareyou...”

Stiles shuts up as her face is cradled between Derek's hands, their mouths literally a hair's breadth apart and he's smiling. Why the hell is he smiling?

“Can I speak now?” he asks gently, eyes still alpha red but glowing softly. His thumb brushes the length of her cheek back and forth and she can feel her heart going ape shit in her chest. Unable to form words, (and isn't that a first), she simply nods. Derek sighs, in what seems to be, relief and rests his forehead against hers, eyes falling closed.

“Do you know how difficult it was to tell you that you weren't my mate?”

Stiles freezes. Literally fucking freezes, her heart and everything just stops for a split second before resuming at double speed. There's the tiniest flickering of hope in her chest but no, no he can't be saying what she thinks he is. There's no way.

Hazel eyes flutter open and holy shit are they close together and Stiles is unable to do anything but breathe in the air from Derek's lungs.
Realizing that he's expecting an answer, she shakes her head, no. Confusion rolling off of her in waves.

What the?

Derek rumbles deep in his chest and drops his left hand to curl at her hip whilst the right finds her chin, tilts her face so she has no choice but to gaze into his eyes.

“Telling you that we weren't mates... Shit Stiles. Pretending that I, that I didn't love you. That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life.”

Stiles blinks stupefied, her heart battering against her rib cage like it's desperate to escape, to find a home in Derek and yet, the words aren't commuting.

Is he trying to say he loves her? Always has? That she is actually his mate? That the last six months of heart break were for nothing? That all the sleepless nights she spent terrified that he'd find out about Jarvis and flip his shit were, what? A misunderstanding?

Bullshit.

A white hot anger starts to build in her stomach.

“Why?!”

Derek looks startled by the fire in her words, her schooled expression as she full on channels Allison's inner Amazon princess and God, doesn't that feel good.

“I had to keep you safe.” Derek replies as if its the most obvious thing in the world and it clicks then. Derek is literally the most selfless person ever.

Stiles almost screams.

“You are by far the most ridiculous, annoying, clueless, idiotic, condescending, heartbreaking prick I have ever met in my life!”

“What? Stiles I'm...”

“No! NO! My turn to talk!” she pretty much growls, (quite believably too, it certainly puts Scott's first attempt to shame anyway). “When you talk you fuck up our lives so just stop. Stop and listen to me.”

Derek looks like someone's just taken a crowbar to his face but he does what she says, lets go of her so she can vent without tearing his arm off.

“Do you love me?”

Derek goes to speak but Stiles stops him, “Nuhuhuh! No talking just nod or shake your head.”

Derek looks like he's going to protest but instead he just chuckles.

Nod.

Stiles can't help the smile that slips onto her face.

“Did you think I was too young to know what I wanted?”

A slight frown then a nod.

“Did you tell me you didn't love me because you were scared that as an Alpha's mate hunters would want to kill me to get to you?”

Nod.

Stiles is floating. Fifteen freaking feet off the ground.
Always one to push her luck she asks one more.

“Do you want to raise this baby with me, as a family?”

Derek grins, heartstoppingly handsome before nodding enthusiastically.

You could hear Stiles' squeal from space.

“Come here.” he breaths. Stiles goes more than willingly and this, this is the kiss that will go down in history, the notebook be damned!

“I love you more than I can comprehend. The pack has been a total mess without you Stiles, I've been a total mess without you.” Stiles giggles as Derek kisses her nose in the most playful display she's ever seen. “Can I?” he whispers, hazel eyes flickering to her bump. Stiles gasps but nods. She's been wanting this since she found out. Her, Jarvis and Derek, the perfectly imperfect family.

His hand finds hers, their fingers entwine and under the joint touch of it's parents, the baby kicks.

XXXXX

“They've made up?” The sheriff asks pouring the potatoes into the hot fat to make chips, half wanting to know but the other half terrified for his baby girl.
Lydia just grins though, pretty much bouncing on the balls of her feet and John can feel the weight drop off of his shoulders..
“YES!! He wants to be a family!!”
John smiles, “Oh thank god!” and scoops Lydia up into a hug, spinning her around until a thought hits him causing his face to fall.
“What?” Lydia asks, noticing his sudden change in demeanour.
The sheriff sighs and rubs the back of his neck in the exact same way Stiles does when she's nervous.

“Xander.”

“Oh shit.”

XXXXX

The area around Stiles' family home is mostly forest, with a few houses scattered in between. It's under populated and better yet; quiet.
Its getting dark out with no moon to light the sky and Xander's suddenly very pleased that he accepted John's hoodie, drags it a little tighter to his body, curling his hands up in the sleeves, and if it smells slightly light Stiles' perfume well, that's just a bonus.

The crisp fresh air is clearing his head just like he thought it would, making things seem simpler... What was that? Xander spins round, lightning fast surveying his surroundings.

Nothing.

But then;

A twig snapping to his left.

Feet shuffling three feet behind him.

Glinting eyes in the bushes straight ahead.

Xander growls, his teeth elongating into fangs, his eyes glowing apple green.

The arrow's quicker though, embeds itself in the fleshy bit between his ribs. Xander loses control of his body almost instantly, hitting the floor like a tonne of bricks, his eyes skyward.

Kanima poison.

A smooth whistle fills the air sending shivers down his spine.

“My,my, my. Alexander Tannin , fancy seeing you here.”

Xander's vision swims dangerously as a familiar face leans over him, grinning manically.

If he had control of his body he would throw up.

'Tick tock tick tock'

“Dad?”

Nathaniel Tannin smirks down at his son with venom in his eyes, the unhinged stare of a true Tannin hunter.

“Long time no see boy.”

Xander doesn't even have time to flinch before the heel of his dad's boot is connecting with his head and everything goes black.