Little Chinese Doll

Derek stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep.

He rebuilt the house. Used his trust fund and the insurance to fix it up. He moved on, but didn’t want to forget. The house, his home, even if it gave him comfort, knowing that his pack were all safe and sound under his roof, in their den, also gave him cruel memories, memories that he’d burned deep in his mind, something that would tell him that he’d never let it happen again and that it was time to make new memories in this house. It was their home now. 

‘Was he cute?’ he rememered Laura asking. In this very same room, where she was asleep in her own bed on the other side. 

Was the answer a yes? 

He could feel the frustration Stiles was feeling at the moment. Maybe it was why he couldn’t sleep. Stiles was teaching Isaac and Scott in the study, while everybody else was downstairs in the living room catching up on their shows. 

“Goddamnit, Scott!” groaned Stiles. “We’ve gone over this a thousand times! The pomegranate tree represents their friendship that died! Jesus, Scott, you’re never gonna pass this exam! It’s just a friggin’ book report!” 

Derek read that same book for a book report in high school. The Kite Runner. Some things never change. Like Stiles. He was still the talkative boy he met all those years ago in the woods. 

He took a deep breath. With Stiles talking like that about two rooms away? It was going to be a long night.