fadingspark | It was supposed to be a victory day

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It was supposed to be a victory day

It was a closed courtroom that had the final hearing on the Stilinski-Grayson divorce. The evidence against the Grayson family as a whole was damning from the photographs of the attempted kidnapping, the assault charges, the history of abuse... it wasn't hard for the judge to grant the divorce.

It was the terms that shocked Stiles the most: Permanent No Contact order of Protection for him and Dina against the Graysons and any family member or agent on their behalf. Any contact moving forward for Stiles or Dina would be done through the Law Office of Samuel Winchester. Suzanna's parental rights over Claudia Marie were terminated, no visitation by anyone in the family or agents acting on their behalf, and Stiles was given sole custody of his daughter with an order to change her birth certificate to remove the Grayson part of her name and Suzanna from her records.

And then the big one: in order to protect the Stilinski family, alimony and child support would be established as a single lump-sum payment based on the financials of the Grayson family and taking into consideration the medical needs Stiles would continue to face both physical and emotionally at present and in the future, and to support Dina for all her present and future medical and educational needs.

Two Million Dollars. Half kept in trust for Dina until her 18th birthday or graduation from high school, whichever came first. The other half in account for Stiles to use as he deemed necessary to provide for his family. Plus all of Sam's legal fees were paid by the Grayson's.

And that was that. Stiles stood, partially in shock as the team of lawyers left with Suzanna and her father, and then he just turned and hugged Sam tightly. The taller man smiled at Malia, nodding at a job well done, and hugged his client back. "You did it, Stiles. You got your daughter the safety you wanted for her. Now it's time for you both to build a better life."

A plumbing issue had kept Stiles from moving into Allison's father's place right away, so he was still at the Hale house. Things had gotten a bit easier with the anger finally out in the air. But after a long day at court, Stiles was ready to join his daughter for naptime before dinner.

John hadn't wanted to worry Stiles, but the Grayson brothers had made bail and weren't in custody any longer. He warned Talia, but with the protective orders in place, putting a detail on the house wasn't possible without a real threat in the air.

No one realized that out in the desert, deals had been made between the family patriarch and another patriarch - Gerard Argent. Knowing that the Hales were protecting the granddaughter of his good friend, it was easy to help equip the two sons with a chip on their shoulder with the right weapons, and a team of hand picked hunters, to help them give one last message that no one could walk away from the Grayson family and expect to win.

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"Most of the day." he pulls out his cell phone and looks at the time. "It's a little after three in the morning."

She groans softly, letting her head fall back against the headboard. She still wasn't quite on California time yet. This is just going to make it worse. Then the rest of the day catches up with her and her eyes widen.

"Is everyone okay? The hunters, what happened?"

"Yeah, everyone's okay. Well, everyone on our side." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Peter also got shot with the wolfsbane bullets, but he's fine and sleeping it off too. And the other side... victims of animal attacks."

Being Nadia, Derek, and the two that Peter had actually taken down as a wolf.

She exhales slowly relief sagging through her. She doesn't really care so much about the hunters, even if she probably should. But her family is safe - he's safe - and that's the part that matters.

"Good." She looks up at him, eyes earnest, if nothing else. "Lydia seemed upset when you left, I wasn't sure ... " If she was ever going to see him again. There's a flicker of a smile as he seems to be fine, looking at her without being completely angry with her, but she knows that that doesn't necessarily mean things are better. " ... I didn't expect you to be here."

She get a small half smirk. "Yeah, it's been a long day. But we're all safe. And I think if your mom and Nadia have their way, I think it's going to stay that way for everyone."

He sat on the edge of the bed, folding his hands into his lap. "I didn't mean to upset any of you. I just had to help. I think after everything at court... I just got tired of hiding behind everyone."

Cora nods a bit at that. She can understand needing to do something, because she has those moments of helplessness with Lydia, when she's lost in the thrall of something and all she can do is hang on for the ride. She doesn't know how much longer Lydia will still be Lydia, but she'll do what she can to try and keep her.

"I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay, too."

He shifted a bit closer, reaching out on his own to take her hand in his. "Cora, I'm sorry I yelled at you and treated you like that the other day. I would have hated myself if those were the last words we ever exchanged."

Her hand curls around his on instinct, looking down to them together. It feels like the first time he's actually touched her in so long and she can't help but feel her breath catch, ever so slightly.

"It's okay, Stiles. I deserved a lot of it."

"You did," he stated. "But I didn't have to say it the way I did to you. I was hurt, and the last few years, my sarcasm was my only defense when I'm hurting. You didn't deserve to have that side of me aimed at you."

She nods a bit, taking the apology for what it is, and moving her hands so that both of them are covering his. She doesn't look up at him right away, trying to figure out exactly how to say what this is the right way so that she doesn't screw this up again.

"I never ... you were always enough, Stiles. I wasn't enough. It was always you, it was always going to be you."

He looked up at her, remembering that Talia had told him to ask about her this time. She talked about Tyler, and he had to make her talk about her. He used to be able to do this.

Licking his lips, he shifted on the bed to face her more, his other hands coming on top of hers. "You told me about Tyler. About everything with him. Tell me about you. I've missed so many years of you because of this, I need to know."

Talking about her is always harder, but she can try. Talking to him about her has always been easier to boot. She takes a deep breath, fingers tracing the edge of his hand until she knows where exactly to start.

"When we were together, I panicked. I didn't get what you were doing then, I wasn't ready for your plan. I wanted it, but I wasn't ready for it. So I just saw you making plans for us as you giving up things that I wanted you to have, and I didn't want to swallow you. I didn't want us to be all you were because I loved who you were, and I didn't want you to resent me for it later, and it sounds so stupid now, but I was so convinced that I was doing the right thing."

It wasn't. Obviously. She gets that now and he doesn't need to tell her again.

"It wasn't until I got to Boston that I really started to realize how badly I screwed up, and there were so many times that I wanted to just pick up the phone and call you but I felt like I owed it to you to do this in person, but by the time I called to RSPV to Scott's wedding you were already with someone else and I panicked, again, and she was pregnant and ... I thought letting you go was the right thing. Which I'm starting to realize is just a sign that someone should smack some sense into me."

Because clearly when it comes to him she doesn't have any. She runs her fingers over the back of his hand again, holding on to that connection to him as long as he'll let her.

"After we got back to Boston, Lydia got bitten by that alpha, and most of my focus got split between school and her, and whatever times Tyler needed me to play buffer with his dad, it made it really easy to not think about anything else. There was never anyone else, I just ... didn't really see the point. I only really wanted to be with one person."

"It's definitely a sign that we both need to listen to Malia a lot more," he said, shaking his head in amusement, then squeezed her hand.

He thought a moment, then licked his lips. "You know, when this all... you know, started going downhill. She um... one of the things she always said was that it was my fault. Our marriage didn't work because I didn't try hard enough. I didn't love her enough." He took a deep breath, looking at their hands.

"It was the only thing she was right about between us - I didn't love her enough. I couldn't. Because I was still in love with you." He paused, then corrected himself. "Am. I still am in love with you."

She finally draws her eyes up from their hands to him, and for a moment she just stares at him. She knows that there should be words here. She should respond to that and say something but her words aren't working. She could use the excuse that she's injured and in pain but honestly not even that is an excuse.

It's just all she can think about doing, all she wanted to do for years, and she reaches forward, one hand coming to brush against the side of his face and she's kissing him. She probably shouldn't, but she's pretty much done doing the right thing when it comes to Stiles.

There's a sharp intake of breath at her touch, but he doesn't draw away, he just watches her inch closer until their lips are touching. He isn't sure what to do for just a moment, having been so long since someone had shown him this kind of affection. But it's Cora - his Cora - and he extends that bit of trust back to her and returns the kiss hesitantly.

She takes it slow, not pushing him any further than he wants to. She doesn't let her hands wander, doesn't get over eager, just kisses him, soaking in that feeling of him on the other side.

She holds the kiss until she absolutely has to breathe. She doesn't want to break the spell between them, but she knows she can't hold it forever. She pulls back, letting her thumb brush against his cheek for a moment, before her eyes open and she looks at him.

"I love you, Stiles."

"I love you too, Cora." He says it quickly, his cheek pressed against her hand as his brown eyes look into hers. His breath is shaky, but his heartbeat is steady. "I never once stopped loving you."

"I'm sorry," she whispers softly. Not for taking the break because she's sure she needed it, but the way she did it. For the things that resulted because of it. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Shh, it's okay." He pulled her to him, his arms wrapping around her tightly to just hold her against his chest. "I know you are. It's okay, Cora." He pressed his cheek against hers, not shying away from the affection. "It's okay... I'm home. I'm home and here and I'm not leaving you again."

She closes her eyes, sinking into his hold. It almost feels too good to be true, the fact that he's here, with her, and he's giving her another chance to do this right.

"Same here," she says, burrowing her nose into his shoulder and exhaling slowly. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

His arms tightened around her. "I can't promise much right now. I'm all messed up still, and there's going to be days you're not going to want to be anywhere near me."

"I can handle it." She picks up her head a bit, so that she's looking him in the eye more. "My turn to take care of you."

He chuckled, giving her a small smile. "Well, if it makes any difference, I'm apparently a millionaire now too. I can afford the medical care."

"Well. Welcome to the club." She gives him a small smile, before tugging on his hand gently. "But we can talk about it tomorrow. You look like you could use some sleep."

"Yeah, I probably should. Dina'll be awake in a few hours and I go back on Daddy duty." He shifted to move with her, letting himself extend a bit of trust that right now she was only going to lay next to him and cuddle. They had done that for a long time before anything else happened between them.

He could do this. It wasn't that long ago they had done this all the time. But still, there was a bit of nerves there. Kissing in a confessional moment was one thing but this...

No, he could do it. He nodded to himself, and let Cora guide him.

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