Work Text:
“How bad is it?” Stiles asked, putting on a brave face. Despite the half-quirked smile, Scott could smell the fear emanating off of his friend in tidal waves.
It was even worse that Scott couldn’t give him any good news.
“Stiles, I…” Scott’s voice trailed off as the tears began to choke off his breath.
“That bad, huh,” Stiles replied, the smile remaining for a moment more before Stiles completely broke down. Scott didn’t even ask before closing the two-pace gap between himself and the hospital bed and grabbing Stiles in the tightest hug they both could stand. Stiles didn’t deserve to be sobbing in a hospital gown, trembling in Scott’s arms at the idea that “like mother, like son” was applicable to him in the worst way possible. Nobody deserved that. Least of all Stiles.
Scott tried to take Stiles’s pain away, but there was nothing tangible for him to bear.
“Where’s my dad?” Stiles practically begged.
“He’s talking to the doctors,” Scott said as they finally separated from the much-needed hug. “They weren’t supposed to let anybody into your room, actually, but I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be.” The undertones of Scott’s hazel eyes glinted red in the fluorescent lighting. “I thought it would be best if you heard the news from a friend.”
Stiles deflated at the news about his dad, so close yet so far.
Scott continued, if only to fill the silence. “There’s… Stiles, you have options.”
“Yeah?” Stiles tilted his head, defiant even in pain. “My brain’s kinda broken, I dunno if you heard. There’s not much to be done about it except for me to cling onto what little mental strength I can until my mind gives out and I- and I-”
Stiles pressed the heels of his hands deep into his eyes for a solid fifteen seconds, taking shuddering breaths as he attempted to compose himself.
“I don’t feel so good,” Stiles settled on as a poor way to describe the emotions fluttering through his system like a swarm of butterflies. Scott could hear Stiles’s heartbeat without even focusing that hard on it. It wasn’t like a jackhammer, it was like the whole construction site had taken up residence in his best friend’s chest.
“I can’t even begin to imagine,” Scott said, because it was true. “But I just want to… I want to lay it all out, right now. I want you to know what I’ve been thinking, so you can make your own choice. So you can do whatever you think would be best for you and your own health.”
“Scott, you’re not making any sense, and that’s coming from the sanest person in the room right now,” Stiles said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Scott huffed in mild self-frustration, trying to figure out how to phrase his suggestion without risking Beacon Hills’s biggest secret. He sat down on the hospital bed to Stiles’s right, his fingertips brushing the side of Stiles’s hospital gown as he habitually rubbed his hand along the bedsheets. “I know you’ve already been adopted as Pack Mom, but we could make it more official if you run out of other options.”
Stiles’s eyes widened like the full moon with the realization. “You don’t seriously mean-”
“Go through the examinations first, do the science as much as you can stand it.”
Stiles snickered despite himself when Scott said do the science .
“But if nothing works, if you really start to feel like you’re slipping… just know that it’s always going to be an option for you. And I don’t care who the hell else I have to cut out of my life in order to ensure that you stay in it. You’re my best friend, Stiles. We’ve always said ride-or-die, and I damn well meant it every time.”
“You would ruin your lovely chaos wolf pack for little old me?” Stiles asked, even as a true smile crossed his lips for the first time in weeks, even as happy tears finally brimmed in his eyes instead of sad ones.
Scott looked Stiles directly in the eyes when he spoke, so Stiles would be able to see the truth in his words. “There wouldn’t even be a wolf pack without you, Stiles. You hold all of us together, as friends, as family.”
“I- I need to think about this,” Stiles backtracked. “As amazing as that sounds, it sounds like… a safety net, I suppose? I’m gonna, uh, do the science first. Like you said. I’m not saying no, at least, I don’t think I am, I just-”
“Stiles, I get it. It’s a lot for me to be throwing on you so suddenly. But I just wanted you to know that I’m not leaving you alone. Not now, not ever.”
Stiles initiated the second hug, leaning over and burying his face in Scott’s shoulder. “Thank you.”