Disclaimer: I most certainly don't own any wolves – just a red hoodie...

Stupid Is...

follow-up to "Not Stupid"

It's been two months since Stiles made his deal with Derek to let Scott into his pack, two months since Stiles unwittingly got himself into the pack – as the Alpha's bitch.

It's not been without its advantages. Scott's gotten so much better at controlling himself, and when the Alpha pack rolled into town Derek had made sure Stiles and his dad were protected.

Also, he's learned he really likes sex. Orgasms are always good, have always been, but he finds he enjoys them even more when he's not alone.

The disadvantages though... He is alone, and thanks to the pack's interference he's staying that way. Being first line, and a winner, in the last game of the season increased his popularity enough for quite a few offers for dates – until different members of the pack all made it known he was off-limits.

The same goes for non-pack friends.

That leaves him the same as he's always been (except with more bruises and a sore ass) really: with only Scott for company, as none of the others respect him enough to be friends, and to be honest Scott isn't the best friend these days. Still, it's what he has and he's good at making the best of what he's got.

And then he doesn't even have Scott any longer.

Melissa McCall gets a job offer, a good one, in San Diego and doesn't hesitate to accept. Her reasoning is sound: Scott needs a change of scenery.

It still sucks for Stiles though.

Things move much too quickly. One day he gets the news, the next he finds out that Derek has negotiated for Scott to join a local pack, and a week and a half later he watches the McCalls drive away. It is, Stiles thinks while suppressing unwanted tears, the last piece of his childhood, his innocence, disappearing.

He figures that means he's out of the pack, and he looks forward to it. There's no reason for him to stay on without Scott, no reason for him to placate (whore himself out to) Derek any longer. He's wrong.

As he fights to get his breathing under control after the third – and hopefully last – round he thinks about his situation.

He'd never meant to offer Derek sex in exchange for Scott's acceptance, and he'd definitely never meant for it to be a permanent solution. And, again, he'd never meant for that arrangement to keep up after Scott's departure. That Derek seems to think differently had blindsided him, and now Stiles doesn't know what to do. He hadn't actually said any of this, of course, just as he hadn't said no – and won't, not now at least.

Not because he wants this, but because he's more than a little scared.

The Alpha doesn't take refusal well.

Seriously, he doesn't. Stiles has seen the evidence of this too many times and doesn't want to again, not when it's his ass on the line. (And wow, that's not even figuratively speaking any longer.)

As he dresses and leaves he thinks about just letting things continue, to just go with the flow until Derek tires of him. The problem with that... Well, there are several.

For one there's the possibility that he won't, that he's too comfortable like this, with a piece of ass (and yeah, Stiles is not deluding himself into thinking Derek sees him as more than that) pretty much on speed dial, and Stiles has almost two more years before he can leave for college.

Then there's all the lying he'll have to do, most importantly to his dad. The same kind of lying that has been wrecking their relationship, and that he'd hoped would disappear at the same time as the McCall tail lights.

Next there's the fact that apparently his "status" – and isn't that a joke? – as Alpha's bitch means he can't spend time with anyone outside the pack – and it's not like anyone in it wants him around, not really. Sure, Derek wants him to do research, and show up and get fucked, but he doesn't want Stiles around. Or even, you know, being Stiles. He just wants information and a hole to put his dick in.

And finally...finally there's the fact that he's 17, and he's never been on a real date (and no, taking a blackmailed Lydia to the formal didn't count) or been kissed outside of stupid party games (and not even that since he was 13) or you know, anything at all. All he's ever been is fucked. Repeatedly.

He wants dates. He wants kisses. He wants an actual boyfriend, or a girlfriend, and one day he'd really like to get – and not just give, no, perform, because "give" is such a misleading word for what he does with Derek – a blow job.

He want so many things he'll never have as long as Derek is in the picture, and he's not so sure he's willing to wait an additional (almost) two years for even the possibility of those things.

A week after Scott's departure Stiles finds himself in his bathroom, trying to clean up and not look at the multitude of bruises littering his hips and arms, or the bite marks covering his shoulders and lower neck. He's partially successful. He's also fed up.

Lacrosse practice is in full swing, and Stiles is more isolated than ever. With Scott and Jackson gone Danny's captaining the team. Once Stiles would have thought of that as an improvement, but with Danny being a wolf, being in Derek's pack...

Danny won't even talk to him now.

He, Isaac and Boyd are completely avoiding Stiles while at the same time managing to keep everyone else away from him – a feat he'd consider impressive under different circumstances – and it's not feeling that great.

A cute – not Lydia or Derek quality, just plain normal cute – girl approached him in the library yesterday, asking about the book he was reading. He doesn't think she meant anything by it, besides wanting to know if it was worth reading, but that doesn't change the fact that he ended up paying for it.

Because apparently? Not only could Derek smell her on him later, but Isaac had seen them and reported to the Alpha. Because that's his life now.

Derek doesn't just deal badly with rejection. He's also super possessive, and likes to mark his territory. The violent fucking he'd subjected Stiles to had been about just that – proving ownership.

It's not even October yet. Stiles can't take another 20 months (or so) of this, and it's looking very unlikely that Derek will let him go. In fact, he's beginning to fear that maybe Derek won't let him go ever. And he can't live that life.

So he chooses door number three. He talks to his dad.

It's a talk filled with half truths. He doesn't mention sex or werewolves, choosing instead to focus on how lonely he is without Scott and how no one else in school is willing to deal with him. He even uses his (probable) bisexuality, explaining that there's a guy, only he's not sure he wants there to be one (or this one) and that he's pushing for more than Stiles is willing to give.

In the end it's the fact that Stiles is obviously desperate and not trying (or even wanting) to relocate to San Diego and Scott that does it. Stiles falls asleep exhausted in body and mind, yet full of happiness. His dad promised to look into alternatives. There's a light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel.

His dad works fast. He sits them down the next evening to outline the options. In the end, it'll all come down to what Stiles wants and the first question is if he wants to leave on his own or for them to go together. There's really only one answer to that question.

There's a new job, one his dad managed to score through contacts, and a new town. A new state even. If it's what Stiles wants they can wrap things up and be gone by the end of the month. Three more weeks.

It's like a dream. The thought of leaving Beacon Hills and its furry problem behind makes him lightheaded with relief. It's not until his dad shakes him that he realizes he actually fainted from it.

That settles it.

They don't tell anyone. Stiles doesn't ask his dad not to, not really, but his anxiety is so obvious you can almost touch it – could most likely taste it if you were a werewolf – as is his relief when his dad suggests they keep quiet. His dad talks to his most trusted deputy, the man who'll most likely end up taking over as sheriff, about taking some time off but that's it. No one will know until it's too late to stop them.

It's reckless and maybe even more than a little irresponsible, planning to leave school and work and home at a moments notice, but Stiles doesn't care. He's happy for the first time in months. He's getting his relationship with his dad back on track. He's about to be free. That's all that matters.

There's no way he can hide how happy he is, how light he feels, but he's gotten good at misdirection. When Derek asks – growls, really – Stiles just says it's because things are getting better with his dad. It passes. Why shouldn't it? After all, it's true.

Oh, Derek suspects it's probably more, but he doesn't push. Stiles has stopped trying to make friends – or even contact – outside of the pack, and he's more pliant than ever when Derek calls on him for sex. He's pretty sure Derek's drawn his own conclusions from this, that the whole pack has (Isaac's comment about Stiles finally accepting his place pretty much confirms it) and as false as those conclusions are they also protect Stiles' new secret.

Let Derek, hell, let everyone think Stiles is okay with being the Alpha's bitch. He's on a countdown to freedom.

The day they leave (he deliberately doesn't label it "escape", not even in his own head) Stiles gets out of bed at four in the morning and packs like the devil's after him until it's time for school. He only goes to his first class though, before meeting up with his dad in the school office to officially withdraw from Beacon Hills' High and get his transcript. The timing is well calculated, meant to get them to the next town before any of the pack can realize that he's gone and tell Derek.

It must work, because no one comes after them. That, or Derek doesn't actually care – and wouldn't that be a joke?

He still votes for as few stops as possible, and his dad agrees just like that. They trade off, driving through the night, without stopping for longer than 15 minuter – anything and everything to decrease the possibility of the pack or the Alpha catching up to them. That doesn't mean he'll be able to properly breathe again until they've reached their destination.

He distracts himself, and his dad, by think and talking about their new home. Stiles being Stiles means that he's done his research as thoroughly as possible. There are limits to what he can access, legally and from a distance, but he's gone over almost five years worth of online news without finding any evidence of suspicious deaths and animal attacks. Maybe he can finally go back to living a normal life.

It's a testament to the horror of the past year that he longs for this.

When they arrive at their new home without incidents the next day Stiles relaxes. Not fully, no, because anything could still happen. (Probably will, because.)

But. He's out of Beacon Hills. He's free of the pack and its Alpha. He has a shot at finishing high school without being bruised more days than not, without having "almost being murdered" as a practically scheduled occurrence and without being used.

He's trading one small town for another, sure, but he doesn't need big. He doesn't need exciting. He just needs a break from all the supernatural crap.

Port Angeles just might be it.