Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Step by Step, We'll Get There	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: S through Z > Teen Wolf Views: 4674 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf nor profit of it. Jeff Davis owns it.

Chapter List
- 35
- 36
- 37
Author's note: Finally got around to finishing the chapter; sorry for the delay again, guys! Things have been rather hectic here. (Still are a bit to be honest)
Warnings: Bit of drama (apparently they were in the mood for an argument); I think that's mainly it?
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 36
"You need to tell him."
Peter's demand echoed in his ears as he and Cora made their way up to the apartment. To say that the older man hadn't been happy to hear that Stiles felt he was being followed in spite of the wards' presence was probably the understatement of the year. Peter had always come across as someone who didn't get ruffled in the slightest, but by the time Stiles had finished informing him of all the moments he'd felt someone was watching him, ice blue eyes had been filled with an almost unholy fire and there had been more than just a hint of fang when the older shifter had reassured him he would look into it.
He'd also insisted that Stiles would tell Derek what was happening and the fox shifter couldn't say he was looking forward to that. Derek was already worrying enough about him; he didn't dare to contemplate how much more worried the older man would become if he knew Stiles was being followed by someone.
"You'll be okay?" Cora questioned quietly when they reached his floor.
Stiles sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess. Not really looking forward to having this particular conversation, though."
"I know, but keeping this from him won't end well," she warned him. "He definitely won't be happy if he finds out that you kept this a secret from him."
"I just didn't want to make him worry even more." He scowled, patting his pockets for his housekey. "Hell, I'm still not sure whether I'm not imagining this."
"You're imagining for nearly three weeks that you're being followed?" she asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow. She crossed her arms. "I know pregnancy hormones can make someone wacko, but I doubt that's the case here."
"Thanks for the reassurance," he smiled wryly. He secretly thought that his pregnancy hormones making him imagining this shit was infinitely more preferable to actually being followed.
She squeezed his upper left arm gently and rubbed their cheeks together for a couple of seconds. "You'll be fine," she murmured. "Uncle Peter knows what he's doing; he's the best at what he does."
"Yeah," he muttered, staring down at the key in his hand.
The door opened before he could use his key, Derek appearing in the doorway with an absent look on his face and a pencil stuck behind his ear. His eyes cleared up when he spotted both Stiles and Cora.
"Hey, Cora, you coming inside as well?" he greeted her smiling. His smile grew teasing when he added, "Trying to escape from Uncle Peter?"
She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Please, like I would be that lame to have him chase me away." She clucked her tongue and pointed at Stiles. "No, just delivering your mate here, safe and soundly."
"I'm not a package," Stiles said sourly.
"I appreciate the care," Derek told his sister solemnly. "We'll see you tomorrow for family dinner then?"
"Yep, prepare for interrogation about the baby," she warned them good-naturedly. "Mom's especially eager to discuss nurseries with you guys."
"Thanks for the warning," Stiles said dryly.
She winked at them and waved before returning to the elevator. They waited until the elevator door had closed and the number started decreasing, showing she was descending, before Stiles walked into their apartment, kicking off his shoes with a sigh.
"How was your visit with the Nemeton?" Derek asked before his forehead creased slightly in a frown. "And why was Cora with you? You left with Scott, didn't you?"
"Yeah, about that …" Stiles trailed off and took a deep breath, turning around to look at Derek. "I kind of need to talk to you about something. You're done with your work?"
"Yeah, I've finished for today," Derek confirmed; his frown deepening. "I'm not going to like whatever you're going to tell me, huh?"
The smile he plastered on his face was fake as hell, Stiles knew. "Nope, I very much doubt you're going to like this."
Derek briefly rubbed both hands over his face before inclining his head in a resigned nod. "All right, let's go sit down and then you can tell me what I need to know."
They settled down on the couch; Stiles leaning against the arm of it with his legs thrown across Derek's lap. One hand of Derek rested on top of his stomach while the other one rubbed Stiles' left leg.
"What happened?" Derek demanded, barely twitching when their daughter kicked firmly.
"Before I start, I need you to know that I didn't mention this before because I thought I was losing my mind," Stiles said bluntly.
"Okay …" Derek said slowly, regarding him warily. "But you aren't losing your mind?"
"No, but I wish I was in this case," Stiles sighed and crossed his arms. "Since a couple of weeks I sometimes feel like I'm being watched."
That had Derek sitting up straight and completely alert at once. "What?" he asked sharply. "Who's following you?"
"I don't know. I've tried to catch them in the act, but I can never see anyone behaving suspiciously," Stiles groused. "That's why I thought at first that I was losing my mind, just being overly paranoid after everything, you know?"
"What convinced you that you weren't imagining it then?" Derek asked; some gold seeping into his eyes, drowning out some of the blue and green colour in them.
"Honestly, I'm still not sure, but …" Stiles hesitated, wondering whether he should tell him about the Nemeton's odd vision too.
"Stiles," Derek urged; his hand clamping down around Stiles' ankle.
"The Nemeton gave me some weird vision when I touched one of its branches," the pregnant man reluctantly admitted. "It showed me the tree picking up someone with its branches and basically squeezing the life out of it." He grimaced at the memory; he could still hear the echoes of bones crunching, recalled the screams of terror with frightening ease.
"Then when we went back to the car, I felt someone looking at me again and while I couldn't catch anyone actually staring at me, it just … didn't feel right," Stiles went on and swallowed. "So I drove to your family home to talk to Peter about it. And then Cora drove with me back here," he finished lamely.
Hazel coloured eyes darkened further. "What did Uncle Peter say about this? The vision and you being following?"
"He told me the vision showed something that will happen in the future and that me having bonded with the Nemeton means the tree can send me visions a long time before they would actually happen," Stiles replied, still not at ease. "Said he and your mother would keep an eye on the borders in the meantime."
Derek nodded. "And the person following you?"
"Said I should text him whenever I'm going outside so he can observe me from afar and try to catch that person like that," Stiles muttered, not really happy with the idea.
It made him feel guilty about tearing the older man away from his actual work, but Peter had been insistent about it, saying it was just another part of his job. He'd gone on to tell him he probably should consider going out even more than he did before to heighten the chances of catching his stalker red handed.
Stiles didn't think Derek would be happy about him going out even more than usual, though. He already wasn't too keen on Stiles leaving the apartment with anyone else but him nowadays. Stiles still hadn't figured out whether that overprotectiveness was a natural result of him being pregnant or whether Derek was just on edge with all the weird shit which had been happening to them these past couple of months.
"Did someone get through the wards?" Derek asked; his frown so heavy now it cleaved his forehead in two and made his bushy eyebrows look like one lone caterpillar almost.
"We don't know," Stiles said and shrugged uneasily. "Peter suspects it's actually someone in Beacon Hills that's doing all the following, because the wards didn't give off any warning."
Although he wasn't certain how he was supposed to feel when the wards would go haywire; Peter had just assured him he would know if it ever happened, which wasn't really helpful.
"I really don't like this," Derek said darkly and then glowered at him. "Why didn't you say something about this to me sooner?"
"Because I thought I was going crazy, okay?" Stiles said exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air, smacking off the plaid lying across the back of the couch. It landed with a dull thump on the floor. "I thought I was just being a paranoid mess! I'm still not entirely sure whether I'm not imagining all this!"
"Even if you'd just been imagining it, you should have told me about it!" Derek argued; a hint of a growl slipping into his voice.
"What, so that you would grow even more worried and try to stop me from leaving the apartment?" Stiles snorted, swinging his legs off Derek's lap and onto the floor.
"When did I ever try to stop you from leaving our home?" Derek glared at him, balling his hands into fists.
"You don't try to stop me in a physical way, no, but it's hard to ignore those judging eyebrows of yours every time I mention I'm going outside," Stiles shot back annoyed.
"Many apologies for being worried about you and our daughter," Derek said sarcastically; his resting bitch face back in full modus. "I'm so sorry that I just want you to be safe."
"Don't be like that," Stiles growled and stood up, taking several steps away from the couch.
"Don't be like what?" Derek spread out his arms. "Don't be worried about you? Don't be concerned about something happening to you when you're out and I'm not with you? I'm so sorry for being such a horrible human being for wanting to keep you safe!"
"Why are we even arguing about this?" Stiles demanded. "I come back to you safely every time, don't I? Pretty hard not to, considering I'm constantly surrounded by other people now!"
"Other people are with you because it's safer for you now!" Derek snapped. "Or have you forgotten about that bastard who chased you all the way down to the borders? Did it slip your mind that someone actually killed a guy who looked like you?"
"NO, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT THAT!" Stiles shouted back, fangs and claws popping out. "HOW COULD I HAVE WHEN MY JEEP KEEPS SMELLING LIKE BLOOD AND I KEEP SEEING THOSE PICTURES OF THAT GUY DEAD? HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THAT I JUST WANT ALL THIS CRAP TO BE OVER WITH ALREADY? IS IT THAT FUCKING WEIRD THAT I JUST WANT MY NORMAL LIFE BACK?!"
He was panting by the time he finished and he abruptly turned away, hissing when his fangs nicked his lower lip. His daughter was fussing almost violently inside of him, reacting to his anger, and he rubbed both hands over his belly, trying to calm her down. Perhaps that would go easier if he himself calmed down first, but that was hard to accomplish with anger and frustration coursing freely through his body; his skin pricking with heat and his legs trembling with the sheer frustration that filled him.
He just wanted his old, normal life back; the one where he didn't have to constantly look behind his shoulder, where he didn't feel like he was being watched whenever he set foot outside the apartment building. His life where he didn't need to worry about people either wanting to kidnap him or kill him.
A life where the Nemeton didn't give him freaky visions about people being squeezed to death by its branches, where he didn't have to worry about what would happen should he leave the borders of Beacon Hills.
A life where he didn't have to be constantly surrounded by other people, where he could go out on his own if he chose to do that.
What was so difficult to understand about that?
"This isn't going to last forever, Stiles," Derek said quietly and the couch groaned almost inaudibly when he rose up. "Either Uncle Peter or your dad will find out who's behind this and they'll stop him. And everything will go back to normal then."
"Back to normal, right," Stiles laughed exhaustedly. "As normal as I'll ever be with a baby on the way."
A pause behind him. "I thought you wanted to keep the baby; are you regretting it?" Derek asked cautiously.
Suddenly all the anger and frustration was drained out of him, leaving him tired. Shoulders slumping, he cupped his belly carefully, felt their baby girl pushing back against his left thumb.
"I don't regret keeping her, Derek. I'm just so tired of being on my guard constantly," he admitted quietly. "I want all of this to be over already. I just want to concentrate on us, on our baby, on my studies, and that's it. I don't want to keep looking behind my shoulder every time I'm outside. I don't want to keep worrying whether someone's targeting me."
"I know," Derek murmured and stepped up behind him, closing his arms around his waist. "But this won't be forever. Whoever's behind this will be found and he will pay. Until then, just bear with people accompanying you, okay? That won't last forever either, I promise."
"Yeah, okay," Stiles agreed, covering Derek's hands with his own, because what else could he do?
He could only wait and hope that either dad or Peter would find whatever sicko was behind this. Preferably soon before he would really lose his mind.
"When are you going to make a new appointment with the doctor?" Derek questioned, grabbing the bag with Stiles' books before the younger man could make a move for them.
The Omega huffed, but didn't attempt to snatch the bag away. If Derek wanted to haul around massive books for a couple of hours, that was his prerogative.
"I was thinking of calling her tomorrow to ask when she has a slot open," Stiles answered; his left hand resting against the side of his belly.
Derek pushed open the door, sending the bell ringing again, and gestured for the younger man to go first. Stiles wrinkled his nose when they left the comfortable cool bookstore and walked straight into the unforgiving heat beams of the sun. Apparently the sun took summer very seriously this year and seemed intent on roasting them all whenever they set foot outside nowadays.
Plucking his shirt away from his skin, he added, "Dad's thinking of joining us at the next appointment. Said he wanted to see his granddaughter on screen this time instead of just in a picture."
"Mom hasn't thought about asking to join us – yet," Derek said, smirking.
"Given how obsessed she is about our baby, that is a surprise," Stiles commented grinning.
Even though Talia didn't want to admit it, he was around a ninety-five percent certain that she was also in the process of creating a nursery at the Hale Manor.
"Well, it is her first grandchild," Derek smiled, slipping an arm around his waist. "Can't really blame her for being excited about this."
"I'm not; I think it's pretty sweet actually," Stiles reassured him.
A small part of him couldn't help but wonder whether his mom would have been just as enthusiastic about their baby as Talia was being now, but he ruthlessly supressed that train of questions. There was no point in wondering about it when he would never find out the answer anyways. It was more than enough that dad was okay with it.
"When's Lydia coming back?" Derek inquired, as they started walking down the street back to the parking lot.
"In two days normally," Stiles replied, squinting up at the bright blue sky. "Basically threatened me that I would regret it if I even thought about having a baby shower without her input."
"Pretty sure she's going to have to fight with my mom about the honours," Derek remarked dryly. "Or even Erica. She was mentioning something about a baby shower when I talked with her a few days ago."
"I really don't get their obsession with this baby shower thing," Stiles complained. "I'm starting to suspect they're going to throw a party more for their sakes than ours."
"In Erica's case, that's highly likely," Derek snorted.
Stiles opened his mouth to suggest that maybe Erica and Boyd should start on children if she was that excited about baby showers, when the back of his neck started pricking and he stiffened, all too aware what that sensation meant by now.
"Stiles?" Derek murmured, having felt him tensing up.
"I feel like I'm being watched again," Stiles admitted in a voice too low for anyone else to hear.
Derek did, though, and he tensed up almost unnoticeably, his head twitching like he wanted to turn around before he thought better of it. "Did you warn my uncle we'd be going out today?"
"Yeah, I texted him the shops and everything," Stiles confirmed, barely resisting the urge to turn around. It wouldn't do anything good, he knew. If it was anything like all the previous times, he wouldn't be able to catch the creep staring at him anyway. "He said he'd be around."
He hadn't seen the older man anywhere, but he was just going to assume that meant Peter was very good at being undercover – and not that he just wasn't nearby at all. Peter had promised he would look out for him, though, and Stiles didn't think Peter was the type to just promise stuff and not go through with them.
They were almost at the parking lot when the staring sensation ceased as suddenly as it had started. Not even half a minute later, Stiles felt his phone buzzing in his pocket and he hastily retrieved it, opening the message.
'Got him. Meet me at the manor.'
When Stiles showed the message to Derek, the older man raised his eyebrows, remarking rather dubiously, "Guess Uncle Peter really knows what he's doing, hm?"
"Yeah, guess so," Stiles muttered, staring at the text a bit longer before stuffing his phone back into his pocket. "Let's go; I want to know who the hell's behind this."
His heart seemed intent on beating straight out of his chest by the time Derek slowed down to a stop in front of the Hale Manor. Peter's car was already parked underneath the shade of a large tree and Stiles swallowed when they made their way to the front door.
"It's going to be okay," Derek whispered, kissing his left temple. "Uncle Peter wouldn't have told us to meet him here if that person was in any way dangerous."
"I'm not really worried about that," Stiles muttered.
Before Derek could comment on that, the front door swung open, revealing a grim looking Peter. He wore a crisp, light blue shirt and black slacks; looking more like he was ready to leave for a day at the office than like someone who'd skulked around the place, trying to capture a creep in the act of stalking.
"You found the guy?" Stiles immediately demanded; his fingers tightening around Derek's.
"I did, yes," Peter confirmed, waving them inside. "Although calling him a guy would be wrong."
"What? Is it some weird, old creep?" Stiles questioned, slightly horrified. He didn't know which was worse: being stalked by someone around his age or by an old guy.
"No, on the contrary," Peter murmured, walking to the basement of all places. "I think you'll be very surprised once you see him."
Stiles and Derek exchanged a look, the both of them frowning, but following the older man regardless.
His stomach performed several summersaults by the time he finished descending the staircase, Peter in front of him and Derek behind him, and when he turned around in search of the person Peter was obviously keeping here, he couldn't help but stare stumped when his eyes fell on the person in question.
Tied to a chair in the middle of the basement was a boy who couldn't be much older than ten years old, wearing a red baseball cap and dark blue shorts. His knees were chafed red like he'd scraped them across a rough surface, and his face was flushed and slightly tear stained when he looked at them; his bottom lip quivering slightly.
"What is the meaning of this, Uncle Peter?" Derek asked baffled.
Stiles would like to know that as well. What the hell was a kid doing here?
Peter leant back against the wall with his arms crossed; a pensive look on his face. "This is the one who's been stalking Stiles for a while now," he answered. "I told you you'd be surprised."
"Are you sure? He's just a kid!" Stiles protested, waving at the boy. The poor kid looked ready to piss his pants any second now.
"Completely certain. I don't make a habit of taking kids to the basement," Peter retorted sharply. "Kid, why don't you tell them what you told me?"
The boy sniffled; his eyes darting from Peter to Stiles to Derek and back to Peter before he started explaining in a watery voice, "I – I didn't think I was doing anything wrong, honest!"
"Why were you taking pictures of him?" Derek demanded, narrowing his eyes.
The boy swallowed audibly. "Because he told me to do it. He said I'd earn a bit of money if I took pictures of him when I found him outside. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong with it, I swear!"
"Who told you to take pictures of me?" Stiles asked tersely; only vaguely aware of his claws shifting down, replacing human nails.
His heartbeat was loud in his ears as he stared at the boy and the nausea growing had nothing to do with the musty smell clinging to the basement.
"Some guy, I don't know. I met him when I was at my grandma's place a few weeks ago."
"His grandmother's house is close to the borders of this town," Peter murmured silkily.
"Do you know whether this guy is from our town?" Stiles asked, taking a step closer to the boy.
If this guy was from Beacon Hills, that would make it easy for dad to arrest him. At least then one less creep would be haunting him.
The boy shook his head, however, trembling slightly. "N-no, I haven't seen him here before."
"But he did recognise him on a picture, didn't you, Thomas?" Peter said softly, straightening up from his position against the wall.
Thomas jerked his head down in a nod.
"Who?" Derek growled, eyes flashing golden.
In response Peter tapped on the screen of his phone before turning the mobile around to show the picture to both Stiles and Derek.
Bile rose up in Stiles' throat when he saw that the man in the picture was the same one who'd chased him after him back when he'd just finished his last exam.
The same one who was suspected of killing the guy who'd looked like him.
AN2: And the plot thickens ...
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and healthy! Take care!
Cuddles
Melissa
- 35
- 36
- 37
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Step by Step, We'll Get There