threeisapattern | starter for threeterparker

When he moved to NYC, Stiles figured that things would be - well, not less weird exactly, he's seen the news reports about the giant lizards stuff and the guy made of electricity and the whole Spider-Man thing, but less weird around him specifically. Because here, he's just a guy going into Criminal Justice (and also somehow kind of dating a very cute nerd photographer, can't forget that), not one of the few people who knows what a magnet Beacon Hills is for the supernatural and how insanely close they keep coming to destruction.

Apparently, that was too much to hope for because here Stiles is, sitting in class and taking notes like the good student he'd like to convince his GPA he is, when the entire room gets an alert that everyone needs to evacuate right the fuck now because there's a giant lizard in the building. Which Stiles is absolutely, totally, 100% planning to do except someone shows him blurry photos of the giant lizard and there's reports of people in the creature's path struck down with paralysis and, well. Yeah. It really is like high school all over again.

So instead of running out of the building like it's on fire like a good, sensible average human, Stiles finds himself shouldering his backpack with the emergency stash of mountain ash he's kept in it for the past several years and heading towards the screaming without much plan except the knowledge that he's probably the only person who knows what this thing is and how to contain it.

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"Not really? I mean, I was lying to you about the existence of the supernatural and like, how big that is in my life. I mean, I was going to tell you eventually cause not to be presumptuous but if you ever wanted to see me with my shirt off then there were gonna be some hard-to-answer questions."

That's a normal, not-concerning thing to say, right? "Were you... ever thinking of telling me at some point?"

Peter's eyebrows raise in concern. "You know you can't say something like that and expect me to let it go, right?"

But fine. He'll answer Stiles' question first, even if he does feel a little guilty about what the answer is going to be.

"Actually... I hadn't really been planning to." He takes a deep breath, shaking his head and looking down at his hands again, still holding the mask. "Whenever I told the people I cared about in the past... It didn't go well for them."

"I, uh. I've got this scar on my shoulder, from a wendigo bite. The way it looks, it's kind of hard to explain within the bounds of... the natural world."

Seeing as how there's not a ton of creatures your average human could get bitten by that have a perfectly circular teeth formation.

As for Peter's answer, that's... well. Not great. He'd kind of been hoping that Peter was planning to tell him at some point down the line because that is a huge thing to keep secret in perpetuity, but he guesses he still can't be super mad about it because he was pretty much planning to keep the supernatural from his dad for as long as possible until his hand was forced.

He sighs. "Okay, not gonna lie, that's not... great. What's happened before?"

He wants to ask more about this scar, but figures it's probably better to get his own answers out of the way first. Plus, he realizes that he isn't coming off in the best light here, and pressuring Stiles to share new parts of his body is crossing a line that he doesn't want to cross right now.

"I told you about Gwen, right? My old girlfriend." Even now, after all this time, it's hard to talk about her, but he presses on because he owes Stiles this explanation. "She was the first person I told. Her, ah. Her dad was the chief of police, and he was very much anti-Spider-Man. He came around eventually, but... He died helping me, and the last thing he asked from me was to keep Gwen out of it, because he knew how dangerous it is, living the life that I do. I tried to honor his wishes, but... Gwen hated me for turning her away. And so I just... gave in, because I loved her and I didn't want to keep this part of my life from her."

He swallows hard, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"But all that did was get her killed, too. Killed by my best friend, who I also couldn't save."

He scrubs a hand over his face and finally turns to look at Stiles again, a pleading look in his eyes.

"I know that 'I was lying to you to try to protect you' is the worst excuse, but... I just don't want anyone else I love to get hurt."

......Has he used the L-word with Stiles yet? Welp. It's out there now.

God, that was a lot. Okay. Stiles needs a second, because on top of everything else, Peter just dropped the love word, and there's just way too much to process. He ends up going quiet for a moment, looking down at his hands and counting fingers til he gets to ten because even though he doesn't genuinely think this is a dream, it's still kind of soothing to do. Reassuring.

"I refused to tell my dad about the supernatural for the longest time," he says eventually, his voice soft. "I was terrified of losing him, after my mom died. And I thought if he didn't know, then he could be kept away from it. But it didn't really work, because dangerous stuff existed whether he knew about it or not and I guess he was always going to get caught up in it eventually." He looks back up at Peter, his eyes just... tired. He tries not to think about or talk about this stuff too much, especially since he moved, but it's kind of obvious right now in his face that there's a lot of trauma weighing on him. "So I guess I get that. I don't like it, and I don't think it really works, but... I guess I get it."

Peter nods, completely understanding the way Stiles must feel. He's tried to keep May out of it all for the same reasons, because she's lost enough and he couldn't bear to cause her any more pain. But Stiles is right. The dangerous stuff exists whether or not someone knows about it.

"I'm sorry," is all he can say, looking back down at his hands again. "I know that saying 'I'm sorry' only amounts for so much, but... For whatever it's worth, I am."

"Yeah."

For all that Stiles can get energetic to the point of being annoying, there's certain topics of conversation that tend to drain him and leave him feeling empty. This is one of them, he guesses, and he might need a moment to recharge, so he goes quiet for now. He can't remember whose turn it is to ask a question, anyway.

starter for threeterparker

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