It Is the Night

A Piece of History (Teen Wolf drabble)

A/N: Inspired after remembering the definition of the word ‘beacon’.

“So…”

Derek’s head rolled to the side. He had given up on constantly telling Stiles to shut up nearly an hour ago. He stopped growling at him roughly half an hour ago. He could tell his glare had lost its potency to weariness when Stiles’ mouth hesitated in snapping shut.

‘Fuck my life…’ he thought as he watched Stiles play with the hem of his sleeve before drawing in a breath to attempt speaking once more.

“Why is the concept of staying quiet while hidden so hard for you to grasp?” Derek preemptively interrupted, glad that being around the kid for so long hadn’t drained the snap out of his voice. Yet.

For a long moment, Stiles stared, his expression clearly wondering if this was some kind of trick question to make him talk, never mind that he had been trying to strike up conversation for the past two hours.

“Have I ever told you about how I might have been misdiagnosed with ADHD once and when I do bother taking my Adderall, it works in odd ways?”

Derek snorted. “Misdiagnosed? Seems pretty accurate, if you ask me.”

“No, see, I have this theory,” Stiles began, looking far too happy at having the implied permission to speak. “Where kids these days are a product of too much information given to them too fast, and as a natural result, we get restless sitting in a class that hasn’t updated its teaching methods since the 1970’s. And—”

“Shut up, Stiles.”

The order was obeyed with a slump of the shoulders.

Somewhere in the distance, leaves crunched and scattered. A twig snapped.

“Can I ask you a question?” Stiles whispered.

Derek made no attempts to lower his voice. “No.”

The stare Stiles gave him this time around wasn’t exactly defiant, but as he licked his lips, Derek knew he had lost the battle. Stiles was going to ask anyways.

“What brought you back? I mean, I know what brought you back, but what made you decide to stay here in Beacon Hills? Not that I mean to imply that I understand your motivations and stuff, but you’d think after all your business had ended here, you would have gone back to New York. At least to get away from all the memories.” Stiles’ eyes were no longer meeting Derek’s. “I don’t know how you can…there really isn’t anything keeping you here. Well, there is now, but what about before all that? Didn’t you have a pack or family or something back east?”

Derek did belong to a pack back in New York. But he knew he wouldn’t be welcomed back, seeing as how his sister, the alpha female, was gone and in her place would be her brother, an alpha male. His return would be seen as a challenge, and while it would probably be both safer and easier to go back to New York, considering the situation going on here, Derek still remained.

“My grandfather…” Derek paused to swallow, his throat suddenly feeling dry. “There was this old saying in my family, about how a true Hale would always hear the calling of Beacon Hills. My grandfather said it was because we’re tied to the land, that it’s in our blood to be here. My cousins and I never really believed him, especially when we all started feeling restless once we hit puberty, but now…” He locked his gaze with Stiles, to ensure he understood. “I think I understand now.”

Stiles’ mouth opened, but for once, there was no question or snarky comment forthcoming. Instead, he whispered a small, “oh,” and nodded and between the both of them, that was enough.

THE END.

A/N: I’ve got this whole headcanon on the history of the Hale family now…