Notes:

Written for the homebrewbingo prompt "coming out of the closet". Thanks go to miya_tenaka and morganoconner for alpha-ing and prompt choice. 3 Mistakes are entirely on me.

This story has also been published on Archive of Our Own.

Points for Creativity - You Tried

It's not like he does this all that often (though now, he's starting to think that he should). In fact, John rarely, if ever, goes into his son's bedroom unannounced, rarer still goes in if Stiles isn't there, and hardly ever opens the door to Stiles's closet.

He's only done so now because he's done laundry today, dried it and everything, and thought he'd be nice and put the shirts where they belong instead of dumping them on Stiles's bed.

"Scott."

"Mr. Stilinski."

John waits, not saying anything until Scott is starting to squirm.

"Uh," Scott says. "I was waiting for Stiles?"

"In his closet?" John asks slowly.

"Yes," Scott replies equally slowly as if he thinks John is laying some kind of trap for him. As if the situation itself weren't strange enough.

"How did you get in?" Because John hasn't heard the door open - has locked it actually - though he wouldn't put it past Stiles to have given Scott a key. He knows for a fact that Stiles's has one for Melissa McCall's house because she told him.

Scott points towards the window.

And, no. No, he doesn't want to know. He doesn't want to know why Scott used the window, and he doesn't want to know why he's hiding in Stiles's closet. (John wants to know a lot of things, but this actually seems harmless compared to whatever Stiles is caught up in, and really, he thinks it might be better for his mental health if he doesn't question Scott too closely about this.)

"We have a door," he says instead and leaves the room.

He'll come to regret this decision.

"Mr. Lahey."

"Sheriff." Isaac Lahey stares at him from between Stiles's shirts.

"You broke into my house," John says because he can't deal with the closet situation right now. "I could arrest you for that."

"Stiles said it was okay."

(John is going to ask his son about this later. Stiles is going to lie through his teeth and say that yes, indeed, he did give Isaac Lahey permission to climb through the window into his room and hide in his closet. John despairs.)

"And you are?"

"Erica. Erica Reyes."

John has to give her points for creativity. She was under the bed.

"Why?" he asks tiredly.

"I forgot something here the other night." She smiles at him, and John tries to ignore the fact that she's dressed in leather and looks like every teenage boy's dream and tries to think of an innocent explanation. No, screw that.

"I hope you used protection."

She smiles at him some more.

Stiles is actually downstairs, watching TV, the next time. He's clearly not expecting John to randomly walk into his room, expecting to find random teenagers in it. John's still grappling with the thought that heis walking into Stiles's room, expecting to find random teenagers - climbing through the window right this moment.

"We do have a door, Mr.-?"

"...Boyd."

"Stiles is downstairs. So is the door."

"I'll try to remember next time."

"Please, do."

"Mr. Hale."

"Sheriff."

John begins to ask what Derek Hale is doing here, in his son's closet, then changes his mind about the phrasing because it doesn't really sound appropriate for the situation. Also, he thinks he knows. "Why am I not shooting you?"

"Dad!"

"No," John growls. "No. You don't get to take that scandalized tone, Stiles. What is Derek Hale doing in your closet?"

"Hiding...from you?"

"Yes, I know he's not looking for dust bunnies. What are you doing here, Derek?"

"We're-" Hale begins, pauses, and John watches his face transform into an expression that is both hilarious and slightly frightening. "We're friends."

It's like it physically hurt him to say this. And that's the only reason, John doesn't think that Derek Hale and Stiles have been...doing what Erica Reyes and Stiles have been doing. Probably. He doesn't even know anymore. There are still Isaac Lahey and Vernon Boyd to consider. John really doesn't know anymore.

"I, um, I thought you might not approve," Stiles throws in, and John shoots him a look that does indeed proclaim, 'no, I do not.' There is also a lot of, 'so how do you figure that?' in it for good measure.

Stiles ducks his head and starts to squirm. So does Derek Hale.

And John...John has a good long mental talk with himself. He considers everything, from every angle. Takes into account how this is Stiles and that Stiles is, well, Stiles.

"I don't approve of the sneaking around," he says finally. "Use the goddamn door."

He turns to leave, but stops before he's out of the room. "And Stiles? The next time, please just come out of the closet like every other kid does."