“Look, Scott, the whole soul mate thing is total bullshit. Destiny or whatever puts some random mark on you and some other people and, bam, that’s the person you should spend your life with? Hard pass. What about free will, man?” Stiles is ranting and flailing so he doesn’t notice the dude he bumps into. Not until he feels is soul mark flare and he realizes that, shit, he just found his soul mate during a rant about how soul mates are bullshit....
Stiles grabbed onto college as a way to get out of the supernatural. He loved Scott and the pack. He did. He didn’t love the constant danger. When it all had started, it seemed like an adventure. Sort of. It obviously had gotten real very quickly. He’d thrown himself into it because he needed to be there for Scott. Because it was the right thing to do. He’d spent his last years of high school fighting....
It’s only been a few weeks since the nogitsune was given its eviction notice when Stiles shows up at Derek’s door clutching his pillow. Stiles knocks. It’s the first time he’s ever knocked when he knew Derek was home. To Derek, this is, perhaps, one of the biggest signs of how deeply the possession has impacted Stiles. In the past, Stiles never once hesitated to barge in, regardless of how Derek felt about it....
“Get out.” Stiles didn’t know what to make of Derek’s tone. He’d normally take an opening like that as an invitation to banter but… there was something flat and cold about Derek’s tone. For the first time in a really long time, Stiles felt a touch of fear. “Hey… sourwo–” “Got out. Now.” Derek growled, his red alpha eyes almost like lasers. Stiles felt his heart start to race because he was pretty sure he’d never been more afraid of Derek than he was in this moment....
Friday When he’d been growing up, Stiles had imagined all sorts of exciting futures. He’d be a cop, like his dad, and be a hero. Or he’d be a scientist who discovered the cure for cancer. Instead… He worked as a data entry clerk. For a tiny wage. But he had benefits, at least. He spent day after day stuffed into a cubicle interacting with almost no one. His life was sad and lonely....
Stiles was a ghost. Or invisible. Or something. No one could see or hear him. He couldn’t interact with the world. The problem was that he didn’t understand how he’d arrived at his current non-corporeal—or was it intangible?—state. It was odd. Not to mention somewhat distressing. He could remember yesterday. He’s pretty sure he went to bed but can’t quite remember. Stiles also doesn’t remember waking up—he’s not dreaming, he totally counted his fingers....
Stiles stops. He stops because Derek Hale is walking down the street in his direction. He has a moment to hate the world just a little because Derek is improbably hotter than he was the last time Stiles saw him. The last time he saw him was twelve or thirteen years ago. Derek has grey hair in his beard. He’s also softer; physique not as cut as before. Stiles might even guess that he doesn’t have abs anymore....
Stiles hates the beach. Hates it. With the fire of a thousand burning suns. Convenient, since burning is about the only thing he does at the beach. He’s all pale skin and freckles! Even with sunscreen, it takes about half an hour for him to start burning. Combined with the fact that he had a sort of bad – okay, awful – experience with water not too long ago, he isn’t thrilled when someone in the pack mentions going to the beach....
Stiles found himself spending a lot of time with Derek. He would say that he didn’t know what changed, except that he did. It wasn’t surprising that he’d constantly seek out the one person able and willing to listen to him talk. It also helped both of them get much better at signing. There was a strange, unintended consequence: Derek was talking more. Turns out that he found it easier to communicate if he didn’t have to speak out loud....
Derek was almost to Beacon Hills when the bond to his alpha snapped. So. Some wolf killed his sister and alpha. Stole her spark. This wasn’t something Derek was willing to accept. It takes Derek a few days too long to situate himself. By the time he’s ready to get started, the police have already found half his sister’s body and the new alpha has bitten some kid. He doesn’t care much about the new beta beyond the fact that he might be a way to track the alpha....