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Stiles has been keeping his nose clean since traveling to Mexico to rescue Scott. He doesn’t want to cause his dad any more grief, and things have been pretty calm.
Well, calm-ish, considering they’re going into their senior year, and Stiles has no idea what he wants to do with his life, and they’re living in a town that’s apparently a beacon for supernatural activity.
And wow, even in Stiles’ head, that’s a run-on sentence. Also, no pun on beacon, because if some asshole named the town “Beacon Hills” because it’s a literal beacon, Stiles sincerely wishes they’re in hell.
The last day of school dawns, and Stiles is feeling pretty good about his junior year. His SAT scores are good, his grades are good, and he’s feeling vaguely hopeful about putting his past behind him.
Stiles wants to forget about the nogitsune, about Kate-the-werejaguar, about the Benefactor, and nearly dying and everything else.
Stiles wants a normal summer. To that end, he’s got a job lined up at the sheriff’s station as a general dogsbody, and he plans on playing video games with Scott and probably Liam.
That’s it, that’s all he wants, but Stiles’ life is such that he’s never going to get it.
At least he makes it through his last day of school, complete with yearbook signing and insincere “hope you have a great summers” from various randos he barely knows.
But that’s all normal, and Stiles doesn’t think anything of it. In fact, he’s riding the high of a successful end of the school year and a bright future, and a week off before he starts his job at the station.
He gets to keep his fantasy of a trouble-free summer right up until he pulls into his doorway and sees Derek sitting on the front porch.
Stiles tumbles out of his Jeep and points at Derek. “Okay, no, you do not get to do this! It’s the last day of school, and I should be allowed at least 24 hours to wallow.”
Derek’s lips curve with amusement, but there’s still an underlying seriousness to his expression. “Well, I could let you wallow and come back tomorrow, but we have a problem.”
“I refuse to believe in problems,” Stiles says stubbornly. “No, no problems that can’t wait for a day or two.”
Derek sighs audibly. “What if I told you that I talked to you yesterday when I got back into town?”
“I would say that you’re a crazy person, because this is the first time I’ve seen you since Mexico,” Stiles says immediately.
Derek raises an eyebrow. “And yet, I ran into you at the local coffee shop, you flailed a lot, and then ran away.”
Stiles narrows his eyes. “So, what made you think it wasn’t me?”
Derek shrugs. “You smelled different, and the way you reacted just now. You were excited to see me.”
Okay, so, yes, Stiles had been kind of excited to see Derek in one piece. It’s been months, he and Malia are just good friends these days, and he’s been harboring a very unhealthy crush on Derek Hale for an embarrassingly long time.
“I plead the Fifth,” Stiles immediately says.
Derek rolls his eyes. “What are we going to do about the situation?”
“You didn’t get an evil vibe from him?” Stiles asks. “I mean, it’s not like the nogitsune is back, right? I haven’t lost any time or anything, and things have been normal. I’ve been normal. Ish. As much as I usually am. You know, ever. Never mind.”
Derek definitely looks amused now. “He didn’t strike me as evil. He was just as much of a klutz as you are. The nogitsune was more controlled. He wasn’t. You aren’t.”
Stiles lets out a breath. “Okay, good to know.”
“I just wanted to check on you, make sure you weren’t deliberately avoiding me for some reason,” Derek says, sounding almost diffident.
Stiles sighs. “Well, we should probably get to the bottom of this. You’d better come inside.”
“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your wallowing,” Derek replies, laughter in his eyes.
Stiles rolls his eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Come in and tell me what you’ve been up to. You’ve been gone a while.”
“Just traveling,” Derek says, but he follows Stiles inside the house. “You know, exploring my inner wolf. That sort of thing.”
“Can you still do the thing?” Stiles asks.
Derek smirks. “You mean, can I do the full shift? That’s not something you forget how to do, you know.”
“But I don’t know!” Stiles protests. “I mean, I didn’t even know that was a possibility! Could Scott do it?”
Derek hesitates. “I don’t know. I always thought that only born wolves could do it. I thought I was probably defective for not being able to transform until now.”
Stiles gives him a sharp look. “Maybe you just weren’t ready before?”
Derek inclines his head, his expression almost grateful. “You know, if you’re not too busy wallowing, we could find your double.”
Stiles smirks. “I knew you missed me.”
Derek rolls his eyes, but he replies, “No more than you missed me.”
Stiles can feel the heat rise to his face, and he clears his throat, not wanting to admit just how much he’s missed Derek. “Just let me grab a snack first. You hungry?”
“I could eat,” Derek agrees.
Stiles makes a couple of turkey sandwiches and hands Derek one. “So, how are we going to find this doppelganger of mine?”
Derek has his mouth full, and he taps the side of his nose.
“Won’t you get mixed up between me and him?” Stiles asks around his own mouthful of food.
Derek swallows pointedly before he answers. “It’s slightly different. Not a lot different, but enough.”
Stiles raises his eyebrows but can’t choose from among the half dozen smartass remarks that go through his head. “Well, I guess we can get moving then,” he says and stuffs the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.
Derek, in retaliation, takes small bites until he’s licking mayo off his finger. That sight makes Stiles flush all over again. He really needs to get his libido under control.
Thankfully, either Derek doesn’t notice, or he pretends not to notice. “Let’s go,” he says.
He and Derek never cross paths anymore, even before Derek had gone on walkabout. It’s not like the first year or so of insanity, when he saw Derek nearly every week. It’s kind of nice to have Derek all to himself right now.
“So, seriously, what have you been up to?” Stiles asks.
“Traveling, mostly,” Derek replies, sounding more cheerful than Stiles expects. “Seeing the world, the usual.”
Stiles snorts. “Other than the usual doom and gloom?”
“I feel a lot freer than I have in years,” Derek admits. “How’s Liam?”
Stiles shrugs. He’s not quite as invested in the baby wolf as Scott is, and now that Stiles and Malia are just friends, Stiles doesn’t see much of Scott outside of school. He’s not sure that’s going to change much, since he and Scott will be working full time this summer to save up for college.
One more year to go, and Stiles still has no idea what he’s going to do with the rest of his life.
“He’s got a lot of anger in him,” Derek observes.
Stiles snort. “You think? Oddly enough, I think that trip to Mexico helped. Scott thinks he’s found a higher purpose now, and he’s putting all that anger into being the best werewolf he can be.”
“You don’t approve?” Derek asks.
Stiles holds up his hands. “Are you kidding? Embrace the pain, find your best inner wolf, whatever it takes.”
“I would have thought you’d be spending time with Malia,” Derek says.
Stiles sighs. “Malia needed a pack more than she needed a boyfriend. Dad and I were pack, but she’s adjusting, and we thought it might be good to take a break.”
“She said she didn’t need you anymore,” Derek says bluntly.
Stiles grimaces. “That’s what I like about you, dude. You don’t pull your punches.”
“I didn’t mean…” Derek stops. “I mean, you’ve seen my love life.”
“Can we not talk about this?” Stiles asks plaintively. He’s a big enough person to not hold past relationships against someone he’s interested in but not involved with. He’s not a big enough person to completely stomp out the jealousy he feels when he thinks about all the women Derek has dated.
Derek shrugs. “Dropping it.” He pauses. “This way.”
Stiles had actually been working hard to stay off the bench, so when Derek takes off running, he does a fairly decent job of keeping up.
Granted, he’s still winded when Derek bolts into a clearing, tackling the dark-haired man he sees there from behind. Stiles skids to a halt, putting his hands on his knees as he breathes heavily.
When Derek hauls the other man up by his shirt collar, Stiles blinks rapidly. It’s not that he hadn’t believed Derek, but seeing someone with his face is still disconcerting, especially when he’s not looking in the mirror.
“Oh, hey, hi,” the other!Stiles says with an awkward wave. “I was kind of hoping I’d fix this before we ran into each other.”
And yeah, Stiles totally understands what Derek means about other!Stiles being just as awkward as he is.
Derek gives him a shake. “What does that mean?”
Other!Stiles yelps. “It just means that I knew it would be freaky! I’d be freaked!”
“I am freaked!” Stiles yells back, and then stops, and they just stare at each other.
Other!Stiles snorts with laughter. “Sorry.”
“What happened?” Derek demands, not letting go of other!Stiles.
He winces. “Oh, well, you know, that’s kind of a funny story—”
Derek shakes him again.
“We were in a fight, and I covered for everybody else and used my trapdoor,” other!Stiles says. “I wanted to be somewhere safe, but apparently I didn’t adequately specify when.”
Stiles frowns, and suddenly realizes that other!Stiles’ hair is a little longer than what his is right now, and he’s got some stubble. He’s wearing one of Stiles’ shirts, the one he’d bought online a couple of weeks ago, but it’s faded now, and Stiles thinks there might be a little blood on the collar.
“How bad is it?” Stiles demands.
Other!Stiles raises his hands. “No worse than it ever is. It was just, you know, a wannabe-badass gang of werewolves looking to take over Beacon Hills’ ley lines. I got the rest of them out of a tight spot and activated my trapdoor. I didn’t expect this.”
Derek glances at Stiles, who shrugs. “Sounds like a problem for Deaton,” Derek says evenly.
Stiles is totally willing to dump this problem on Deaton’s doorstep, especially since he knows nothing about magic—although this might be a sign that he really needs to start learning the dark arts.
“Yeah, I could see Deaton,” other!Stiles says, visibly brightening. “If anybody knows how to fix this, it’s probably him, or the books he keeps hidden.”
Stiles frowns. “What books?”
Other!Stiles winces. “The ones you’re probably not supposed to know about yet.” He sighs. “I really hope I haven’t fucked up my timeline. This is why I didn’t want to see anybody.”
“Maybe it will be a change for the better?” Stiles suggests.
Other!Stiles shrugs. “Well, nothing I can do about it now. Let’s go see Deaton.”
Derek releases other!Stiles and sighs. “Let’s get moving.”
Other!Stiles leads the way, with Stiles and Derek following behind. “Okay, this is even weirder than usual, right?” Stiles asks.
Derek snorts. “You think? I’m not sure what I’m going to do with two of you.”
“Let’s hope that you won’t have to deal with two of us for very long,” Stiles replies. “The world isn’t big enough for the both of us.”
Derek looks more amused than annoyed, which Stiles regards as progress. “Are you going to call Scott?”
Other!Stiles glances over his shoulder. “Better not. Scotty is just going to flip out, and the time travel thing is contentious.”
“Contentious, how?” Stiles asks.
Other!Stiles raises his eyebrows, walking backwards to give Stiles a look. “You know better than to ask.”
And really, Stiles does, because he’s had this conversation with Scott before, about time travel and how it might work, and if you can change the future, and if you should, and it’s never entirely pleasant.
Scott always votes for playing it safe, and Stiles always things about things he could do to fix things. Like, if he could make his mom go the doctor earlier, or if he’d been able to warn the Hales about Kate and the fire. Stiles has a list of things that could have gone a lot better, if only he could meddle a bit. Scott tends to focus on all the way fixing things could go wrong.
So, yeah, telling Scott about any of this is probably out.
Derek shoots him a questioning look, and Stiles shrugs, unwilling to attempt to explain over five years of really nerdy debates on time travel.
Other!Stiles smirks and turns around.
Stiles suddenly wants to ask how far in the future he came from, and what he’s doing with his life, if he’s going to college, or taking a break, or what he’s majoring in.
He might not have a clue where his life is going, but it’s enough to know that he’s still trying to keep Beacon Hills safe.
Sometimes, it’s about the journey. Even if Stiles is dying of curiosity.
They manage to avoid everybody else on the way to Derek’s car, which is good. Stiles really doesn’t want someone calling his dad with reports of a Stiles double running around town. The parking lot in front of the vet’s office is empty—and Stiles is really grateful that Scott isn’t starting back at work until Monday.
Deaton comes out from the back, wiping his hands on a towel, and says, “Mr. Stilinski. I didn’t—hm.” He stops when he sees both Stiles and other!Stiles, and then he fixes other!Stiles with a disapproving glare. “I can only assume that instead of picturing a location clearly in your mind, you thought conceptually.”
Other!Stiles grimaces. “Maybe? I don’t know! I was in the middle of an emergency!”
“Then clearly, I should begin your training earlier,” Deaton replies, his voice as dry as the desert. “Because it should be second nature before you attempt a spell of that nature.”
Other!Stiles sighs. “I’ve practiced, but—”
“But you need to practice more,” Deaton says. “That’s neither here nor there. We need to get you back when you belong.”
Stiles demands, “You know?”
“It’s rather obvious,” Deaton replies, as cryptic as usual. “I’ll need your help when the time comes, but for now, you and Derek can have a seat.”
Deaton disappears into the back of the clinic with other!Stiles in tow, and Stiles plops down in a chair, sprawling out. Derek takes the seat next to him, but leans forward, forearms on his knees.
“I really want to know what Deaton has in those books,” Stiles says.
Derek smiles. “Sounds like you’ll be finding out sooner, rather than later.”
“What’s with you?” Stiles asks.
Derek won’t meet his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what’s with you?” Stiles repeats. “You didn’t have to do any of this, and you’ve been a lot nicer than usual.”
“Not that nice,” Derek objects.
Stiles shrugs. “Nice to me.”
“Maybe I missed you.”
Stiles swallows hard. “Seriously?”
“I said maybe.”
“I missed you too,” Stiles says, unwilling to let the moment pass by.
Derek smiles. “Yeah?”
And now they’re probably acting like a couple of saps, but it’s nice. Stiles has always had a bit of a crush on Derek, but had dismissed his feelings as being a masochistic enterprise, kind of like his crush on the unobtainable Lydia.
It’s a little strange to know that Lydia is one of his best friends, and that old animosity between him and Derek has dissipated, leaving a pleasant buzz of anticipation in its wake.
Stiles chances a look at Derek, and he’s smiling softly. Definite progress.
Deaton emerges from the back of the clinic. “Stiles? I’m going to need your help.” Stiles clambers to his feet, and Derek follows. “Not you,” Deaton says to Derek. “We don’t need the company.”
Derek sits back down. “Good luck,” he says softly.
Stiles follows Deaton back to find other!Stiles sitting in the center of a chalked circle. “Hey,” other!Stiles says weakly, and Stiles suspects that his doppelganger got read the riot act.
“I’ll need your help to send him back to his own time,” Deaton says.
“Can I have a word with him first?” other!Stiles asks.
Deaton gives him a hard look. “I’ll just go grab those supplies.”
When they’re alone, other!Stiles says, “Look, I probably shouldn’t say anything, and Scott will kill me if he ever finds out I tried to change the timeline, but you should know that Derek’s been interested in you for a while. I have no idea what will happen if you try hitting that now, instead of in a few years, but there are a couple of terrible girlfriends and a really awful boyfriend in there while we try to avoid it. Save yourselves the pain and plant one on him.”
Stiles grins. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” other!Stiles insists. “You should know by now that time can be short. Don’t waste any.”
Stiles frowns. “You know something I don’t?”
“A lot of things,” other!Stiles replies. “But maybe I’m changing things enough that I don’t know anything. Maybe it ends in blood and tears, maybe it’s happily ever after, but isn’t it worth a shot?”
Stiles doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah, it is.”
Deaton comes back in. “Very well, Stiles, stand here.” He points to a spot directly in front of other!Stiles. “And then repeat after me.”
Stiles does so, echoing Deaton’s words. “Time is a line and the line has been broken. Restore it to what it was before.” He repeats it three times, and then Deaton throws some herb mixture on other!Stiles, and he disappears.
It’s rather anti-climactic.
“That’s it?” Stiles objects.
Deaton smiles. “When magic goes against the natural order, it also works very hard to make things right.”
“Wow, that’s not cryptic at all,” Stiles grumbles.
“Come back tomorrow at 7, after the clinic is closed,” Deaton replies. “We’ll begin your apprenticeship then.”
Stiles blinks. “Um, okay?”
“Get out of here,” Deaton orders.
“Absolutely,” Stiles agrees, leaving before Deaton can change his mind.
He’s going to learn magic. His summer just got 100% more interesting.
Derek’s still there, although he looks incredibly uncomfortable. “So, magic, huh?”
Stiles blinks. “How much of that did you hear?”
Derek taps his right ear.
“All of it?”
Derek shrugs.
Stiles raises his eyebrows. “So?”
Derek smirks. “That would be up to you. But I promise that I won’t hurt you, whatever you decide.”
That’s reason enough to try, and they’re nearly the same height, so Stiles wraps a hand around the back of Derek’s neck and pulls him in for a kiss. Derek’s kiss feels hesitant and uncertain, but Stiles is nothing if pushy, and he opens his mouth and deepens it.
Derek responds after a moment, and Stiles’ brain whites out, leaving no thought but the feeling of Derek’s lips, and his own arousal.
“Take it somewhere else, gentlemen,” Deaton says placidly.
Stiles pulls back and grins. “Where do you want to take this?”
Derek smiles. “It’s a nice day. Maybe we should just go for a walk.”
“Enjoy the peace and quiet?” Stiles asks. “Not like it’s going to last long around here.”
“I’m on board,” Derek says, and then they walk out of the vet clinic, and Stiles really has no idea how his life changed so drastically in the space of an afternoon.
Then again, this is Beacon Hills.
“You know, it’s about dinner time,” Stiles says. “What do you say we get something to eat?”
Carpe diem, and all that.