Work Text:
Long day, has been a long day, has been a long day Stiles thinks as he slumps against the kitchen island at the Hale house.
With the AP English and History exams he had prior that day, coupled with a long lacrosse practice, he is exhausted and cranky and wants to just take a nap right against the cool dark granite his forehead is pressing against.
The calm silence is unusual, but the teen welcomes it with a blissful smile. He thought too soon.
The trio of Body, Isaac, and Erica clamber into the kitchen in a frenzy of yelling and hitting as they stumble through the archway. Stiles is even pretty sure he just saw Erica bite the Golden pups hand in attempts to get to the cabinet first. Isaac’s yelp as he cradles his hand to his chest is proof enough for him.
Stiles watches on, wearily though and keeps his distance as to not get a pair of canines in any part of his body that gets too near. Erica uses Boyd’s shoulder for leverage and pushes herself up to kneel on the counter - Stiles has the urge to scold her because you just don’t do that but keeps silent- and reaches to a high cabinet, cheering with success as she opens it and grabs a box and hops down.
The teen is about to go back to laying his head back down when he hears Isaac whine like a kicked puppy. Looking curiously as the trio he can see they’re all frowning, or more like pouting, as Erica upends the clearly empty box of autumn colored Rice Crispy treats.
“It’s empty,” Isaac pouts in disbelief, bending and ducking his head to actually look into the empty box Erica is still holding, to see if maybe they got stuck in the bottom. Erica slams the box down onto his head, frowning even more when it only bounces off his curls.
Stiles suddenly gets a bad feeling when three sets of eyes turn on him. He then has three pouty werepups crowding in his space, nearly making him tumble off of his stood.
They all look serious, and pouty, and determined. Stiles does not like where this is going. Not in the slightest.
“We need you_” Isaac starts.
“To take us to the store_” Boyd actually interjects.
“We need our afterschool snack.” Erica finishes, all but glaring at him to defy her reasoning. Stiles gapes at them like a fish, wondering when they all reverted to oversized kindergarteners who needed their afterschool snack. Though okay, Isaac has always sort of had certain innocence about him, but that’s completely beside the point.
He clears his throat and sits up straighter on the stool, holding his hands up to make them give him a little breathing room that doesn’t smell like puppy breath. “Can’t you just… I don’t know… have something else for your snack?”
Erica literally snarls at him.
Body looks offended.
Isaac, oh sweet baby Jesus on toast, Isaac looks like he’s been kicked and actually starts to cry. Erica snarls again, baring her fangs, and pulls the Golden Pup into a hug and Boyd levels a glare at him. Sties gulps and tries to makes himself remember that running would only ensure a chase. Running bad. Very bad. Bad legs, don’t run.
“It’s what Isaac chose for us to have,” Erica says looking more pouty and hurt as she speaks again, still holding Isaac. “It might not mea shit to you but it means a lot to us to have one normal thing.”
Stiles knows he looks lost, because he is completely lost at this. The female beta huffs and narrows her eyes at him.
“Afterschool snack. It something we do together, we can pretend we’re a normal family and afterschool snack is something normal that kids do with their families,” The edge has left her voice, but she sounds pained now. “The youngest gets to choose what they have and everything is good.”
Stiles feels like a heel.
It wasn’t just food and hungry teenagers. It was something they did to bond as a family. He opens his mouth to apologize or say something, anything, but his words fail him.
Isaac untangles himself from Erica’s grip, his eyes red rimmed but no tears have started to fall. The curly haired teen tugs on Erica’s hand and then Boyd’s before nodding towards the back door.
The older teens give Stiles a menacing glare but follow Isaac’s retreating form.
Stiles lets out a flustered and runs a hand through his buzzed hair. He feels like an absolute douche for not just getting his keys and going to the store. He chews on his lower lip and is about to say screw it, making a grab for his keys to go, but then his eyes land on a blue box above the refrigerator and he smiles like the Cheshire Cat. Oh he has an idea.
When Derek walks into the Kitchen, Stiles tries to ignore the embarrassed flush that rises up his neck. Not only from being caught, but from how his eyes catch the shirtless just showered Alpha in nothing but low slung sweatpants. The one that show the chiseled V of Derek’s hips and make him want to abandon the sticky mess he’s working with.
“What, are you doing?” Derek asks slowly as he comes to stand next to Stiles, looking over his shoulder with curiosity. Stiles reflexively leans back against his chest and a strong pair of hands come to rest against his hips. Oh what even is his life, thank you Jesus, amen.
Stiles licks his lip, mouth suddenly dry and shrugs. “I’m making rice crispy treats,” He says casually as his sticky marshmallow fingers squeeze red and yellow food coloring into the gooey mixture in a large mixing bowl in front of him. He then starts to mix it together with his hands, pausing briefly when Dre’s chin rests against his shoulder.
“They ran out again didn’t they,” It’s more of a statement then a question but Stiles nods. “Why didn’t you just go out and buy them more like a normal person?”
Stiles huffs and softly elbows the alpha in the ribs. The alpha moves away and allows Stiles to gather up the bowl and move to a large cookie sheet on the other counter where Stiles starts dishing it out onto and begins flattening out the still warm, now orange, mixture with his hands.
“I was going to,” The teen starts quietly. “But I saw your cereal and then it made me think of my mom and how she would make these for me after school when she was still alive and she would always say things tasted better when they were homemade because they were made with love and it’s obvious these pups need love and I want to show them they’re loved and maybe they’ll actually be able to tell I love them if I make these for them like my mom did for me_”
Stiles stops talking abruptly when Derek’s arms circle around him from behind and he sucks in a deep burning breath, not realizing he’d stopped breathing during his little rant. He sags back into the touch and just lets himself be held, not caring that his hands are covered in orange sticky tasty goop.
They stand there together in comfortable silence until the treats are completely cool. Derek moves away for a moment and rifles through a drawer then produces what looks to Stiles like a leaf shaped cookie cutter. He raises his eyebrows and Derek actually blushes.
“It was my mom’s,” The alpha supplies as he lays it in Stiles hands. “It somehow managed through the fire and it’s usable and maybe you could use it, if you want to or_” He trails off as Stiles leans in and presses their lips together to silence him.
They’re both smiling when the teen steps away and begins to cut out leaf shapes in the sheet of rice crispy treat.
Stiles is sitting at the kitchen island again, his Chemistry book open and worksheet spread out around it as he scribbles notes into his notebook, when the trio finally come back into the house. All three of them look like they have been wrestling and playing hard. Isaac and Erica both have leaves in their hair and all three are covered in dirt from head to toe. Stiles looks up from his homework on Ionic bonds to see they’re all still pouting.
Until they see the large plate of orange, leaf shaped, rice crispy treats in the middle of the kitchen island.
“Are those_” Boyd starts.
“Did you_” Erica gapes.
Isaac is completely silent as he circles around until he’s standing right in front of Stiles. They’re both quiet, in a stand-off of silence; you can hear a pin drop without superhuman werewolf hearing kind of silence. Then the teen has his arms full of the Golden pup that has him in bear, erm wolf, hug.
“Thank you, Mom,” Isaac mumbles and Stiles feels his chest swell at the sentiment and hugs the younger teen tighter.
The moment is perfect until they hear smacking and the both of them look over to see Erica munching away and Boyd mid-bite.
“Hey no fair!” Isaac shouts as he literally launches himself over the island at the two of them. They barely have time to glance at each other, eyes wide, before they’re being tackled to the ground.
Stiles sighs and plucks one of the treats from the plate for himself and then another, holding it up as he watches the brawl.
Derek plucks the treat from his fingers and downs half in one bite.
“Shouldn’t you_”
“Mhmm…”
“Want me to_”
“Yep.”
Stiles grins as he takes the half left of Derek’s treat to hold for him as the Alpha huffs and proceeds to try and break up the puppy fight happening on the kitchen floor.
Though when he makes sure they’re all distracted he stuffs the half in his mouth and watches on in amusement and can’t help but then how much he loves his oddball little family.
And smiles when he realizes that they love him too.