Chapter Text
Stiles Graduates early.
It’s not like he needed to stay in Beacon Hills, and turning 18 and jumping on the fastest route out of highschool would get him free of the town sooner than later. After everything that had happened, after the Nogitsune had possessed Stiles and turned his body into a puppet, after he’d killed all those people, stabbed his best friend, then stabbed his best friends girlfriend- well, Alison had lived but a part of Stiles had died.
He went back to school the next week, as though nothing had happened. As though everyone expected him to suddenly be okay and normal whilst the pack flinched away from him and refused to look at him. Whilst Alison was in hospital and the only person to look at him was Scott and even then his gaze was cold, his words devoid of emotion when addressing Stiles. It was almost like he looked through Stiles, actually, and never really saw him.
Just like when Gerard had beaten him senseless, Scott looked at him but never saw him.
It was the final straw, long time coming, a breaking free of the denial Stiles had been in. Derek, Peter, Cora, they all had left pretty quickly, needing to get away from the hellmouth that was Beacon Hills. Stiles was pretty sure that Chris and Allison weren’t far behind them. Stiles overheard Scott bemoaning to Isaac in the locker room after practice that Allison might not be coming back to school, loud enough that it couldn’t have been anything but a dig at Stiles in the next locker aisle over, and he connected the dots from there.
He went home that afternoon, his dads cruiser in the drive, opened the door and dropped his bags on the kitchen floor. His dad looked up from the dining table, a mug of tea in hand, and stood immediately to take his shaking son in arm.
“I need-I need-” Stiles gasped out, clinging to his father after a moment of paralysing anxiety.
“What do you need, tell me Son” His father asked. His father, who had been the only one there for him, who had flinched away from him a little at first after Stiles was freed of the Nogitsune, but then had let his walls of fear and distancing come crumbling down to just be there for Stiles.
“I need to get out of here” He said into his father’s chest, silent tears falling on the Sherriffs uniform.
John’s arms grew tighter around Stiles for moment, as though he could protect him from the world and the ugly pain in Stiles’s heart.
“I think so too” He said eventually, and Stiles could hear the tired ache in his fathers voice, the concern, the protectiveness, the love.
“I… I did some research-“ Stiles smiled at John’s chuckle, when did Stiles not research? “-there’s an online finishing program, I could school from home, graduate early…”
“Whatever you need Stiles, I’ll sign off on it.”
Stiles’s shoulders slumped in relief and he clung to his dad a little harder for a moment before stepping back.
“I-I’m 18, I don’t know where I’ll go but…” He gnawed his lip in stress, eyes darting between his dad’s warm, worried gaze and the house he’d grew up in.
“Why don’t you go get changed kiddo, I’ll get changed too, and we can sit for dinner and do research together hmm? Find somewhere new for you.”
Stiles accepted the olive branch his father was giving him, nodding, and they headed upstairs and to their separate rooms to do just that.
He closed his bedroom door behind him, leaning against it with a deep breath. He gave himself that moment, of piece and quiet, of empty nothing where nothing was expected of him and he couldn’t fuck things up for everyone.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, seeing it was Scott and feeling a fleeting splash of hope in his chest and answering the call quickly. Scott hadn’t called him in ages, maybe this was a sign things could get better between them all-
“Scotty-“ He started, breath caught in his throat.
“Allison and Chris left Beacon hills.” The Alpha cut in, and barrelled over the apology that Stiles had sitting on his tongue, the taste quickly turning bitter and rotting as though he were the one falling to pieces. Maybe he was.
“It’s over, Stiles. I should have done this ages ago. I, Alpha Scott McCall, officially evict you, Stiles Stilinski, from the pack.”
The dial tone immediately followed, followed by a wrenching, full body pain that started in the centre of his chest and vibrated in his skull.
He took a few weak steps forward then fell to his bedroom floor, an agonised scream wrenching from him. He didn’t hear the racing steps of his father, but felt himself be picked up and cradled, heard the panicked pleading of his voice for Stiles to tell him what was happening whilst he seized in his arms.
For several long moments Stiles couldn’t respond, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but scream.
It was a sharp pain, and then it softened just enough as John held him close.
Eventually he could breathe, could stop spasming as the pain settled into a deep ache. The pack bonds that had once been settled in his heart were snapped and frayed, blackened around the edges. He hadn’t even realised they existed till the moment they were broken.
He should have known it was coming, hell he was already planning on leaving, but this has just cemented it. So why the fuck did it hurt so bad.
“Stiles? Son? Come on tell me what was happening, was it the Nogitsune?” John pleaded, and he shook his head vehemently whilst gasping for air.
“N-no- Scott- He kicked me from the pack” His voice was barely a rasp, throat a rough kind of pain from screaming.
“Oh Stiles” John’s tone wasn’t pitying, but it hurt for him, seeming to connect that the pack bonds breaking, being torn from Stiles, was more physical than just the ending of a friendship.
Stiles sniffled, stared up a the ceiling as his dad settled more onto the floor with him.
“After everything I’ve done for him” he rasped bitterly. “I guess I deserve it-“
“No.” John snapped immediately, then softened when Stiles flinched at the harshness, “No Stiles, what happened wasn’t your fault. You’ve done everything to save us time and time again, you’ve put your life on the line in a way you should never have had to. Scott is being a petulant little brat, he always got whingey about not getting his way. That’s not on you Stiles. You didn’t deserve this at all.”
Tears once again filled Stiles’s eyes at his dads declaration, and he could only nod and try to believe it. He still felt so much guilt about the Nogitsune, that it was his own fault he was too weak, that his pack should have killed him when they had the chance.
No. Not his pack. Not anymore. He reminded himself, wincing as the ache in his chest pulsed hard.
“I need to get out of here.” He said instead of the hundreds of things whirling in his mind.
“I know. The original plan still stands, we’ll get you there Stiles,” John assured.
It took a while before he was able to gather his strength to stand and change, feeling weak and agonized and numb all at the same time. His father helped him, like he was a toddler, pulling his shirt over his head for him and then guiding him down the stairs when he was ready.
Stiles appreciated it, barely managing to mumble a thank you, much to his father’s wry smile. He could see the thoughts whirring around his dad’s head, but didn’t have it in him to ask, to question what he was thinking, and possibly even scheming.
Sitting at the dining table, John placed his laptop and a glass of water in front of him. When had he even gotten those? Stiles mentally shrugged and booted up the computer anyway, John talking whilst he made them up something simple, talking about places with good police forces.
“Wait,” Stiles cut in, brain finally catching up to him, “Police forces? Dad you can’t leave Beacon Hills!”
John chuckled, “I’m a fully grown adult, Stiles, I think I can decide if I want to get out of the shithole that has made my boy a miserable shell of what he once was.”
Stiles ducked his head, feeling guilty, thinking of everything he’d put his father through.
“None of that now” a plate of stir fry appeared in front of him with John’s gentle scolding.
“But what about all the open cases?” He asked instead as his dad sat next to him.
‘There’s other officers in Beacon Hills, and I’m sure other cases in other cities that I can work. I won’t be able to follow right away, I’ll need to work on transfers and get this house packed up and sold but you need to get out of here. The sooner the better”
Stiles stared at his father, blinking back a wave of emotion that screamed lovecareprotectfamilybond.
“You- you’re really gonna come with me?” He managed, hand clenching around his fork he didn’t even remember picking up.
The corner of Johns eyes crinkled.
“What, did you think you’d get rid of your old man?” His expression turned serious then. “I wasn’t there for you the way I should have been when Claudia died, you were so young and I drowned myself in the bottom of a bottle. It shouldn’t have happened, and it took me far too long to get out of that. So let me be a father now, let me take care of you. You’re an adult, Stiles, but you’re still my little boy.”
Stiles shoved a mouthful of stirfry in, chewing it to fight back the way his mind wanted to come crashing down around him. Dammit he was so fucking emotional right now.
“Okay” He eventually said, taking a deep shaky breath.
“Okay?”
Stiles nodded. “Okay.”
They ate dinner, the laptop between them as they started to search for somewhere they could live, somewhere not California.
“How about Seattle?” His dad said, pulling up a google search of the city.
“A city?” Stiles was a little hesitant, but his heart yearned and he knew he would probably give in pretty easily.
“There’s some good forests in Washington, you might not remember but before- when you were young, Claudia and I, we took you camping out there a few times. You always seemed to be pretty well… integrated into the nature.”
And that was the elephant in the room wasn’t it? A thing they hadn’t spoken about, that hadn’t been acknowledged, that Stiles felt like he didn’t deserve.
Deaton had mentioned once upon a time about Stiles having a spark, defeating the Nogitsune, being freed seems to have forced it to attention, vibrating in a way that demanded he notice it now that hadn’t been obvious before. Or perhaps now he had learnt to recognise it and he couldn’t truly ignore it. Stiles didn’t just have a Spark, he was a Spark. Initially he hoped it was a good thing, but after Deaton stone walled him and the pack iced him out, he’d shut down any and all thoughts about it. Even now it wobbled weakly in his chest, demanding attention but being kicked down by broken bonds and Stiles refusing to actually acknowledge it.
“Think there’s anyone in seattle that can teach magick?” The idea started sinking in, settling into his bones and every crevice of his brain and heart.
He could have a new life, a new start, learn to harness his Spark, not running after the monster of the week and pandering to Scotts every wish. Hell he could go to a university.
John hummed thoughtfully as Stiled bought his feet up onto his chair so he could hug his knees to his chest, as though to hold himself together.
After a contemplative moment, Stiles bought up a rental agency webpage and put in seattle and the lowest rental budget he could. He already did tutoring kind of stuff online after school once a week, so he had a little money saved, as his dad couldn’t really afford to give him pocketmoney. He’d just have to find a job to work around school once there.
“Do you want somewhere alone or something together?” His dad asked as they looked over houses.
Stiles bit his lip, unsure how to say to his dad that, while he loved him and wanted him nearby, he kind of wanted some space after everything, to not wake him up screaming nightly anymore.
John seemed to pick up on it anyway.
“I think it’d be better for you to try something small just for you for a bit”
Stiles let out the breath of air he didn’t realise he was holding.
“What about you?”
“Well, I have a few friends at a station out in Redmond, near Evans Creek Preserve, I could probably see about getting into the station there. It’s less than a half hour drive from Seattle, we’d be close by, you can come to me every day for dinner if need be.”
They look at each other consideringly, a solid plan slowly starting to come together. Stiles smiles slowly, this could work, this could be it.
“I think I’d like that.”
John ruffled his hair, and they dive into the apartment search for Stiles with renewed energy. There’s a few one bedroom apartments, and a really nice open studio loft that catches stiles’s eye that has a nice view of the the city and bay area. It’s probably in a dodgy part of the city, but he knows he can handle himself, maybe even moreso after the Nogitsune despite how weak he feels and how much weight he’s lost.
“It’s available now, I could- I could contact the agent but I don’t even know if I have enough money for bond” his shoulders slump, remembering the cost of moving.
“Let me worry about that, a housewarming and Christmas present” His dad says, tone warning him against arguing.
“Dad, Christmas is like… ages away” He tries to argue anyway.
John simply raises an eyebrow, and despite his concern for their finances and his dad spending money on him, they both knew they need an out, and fast.
“I’ll contact the agent tomorrow and get things started” John states, clearly triumphant at Stiles’s defeat.
“Okay, yeah” he manages a shaky breath, “This is really happening?”
He didn’t mean for that to come out as a question. He’d blame it on the ache still radiating through his chest.
“This is really happening.” Johns words are firm, and Stiles throws himself into a hug with his dad.
It’s been ages since they’ve been this tactile, not since before Scott was bitten. It feels like coming home, like a soothing balm over an open wound, like a strengthening, shining pack bond.
Like a slow, hopeful healing.