"Goddamnit, Stiles!" Derek snarled, keeping his eyes trained carefully on the gangly teenager who was currently floating up to the ceiling.
"Ohmygodwhatishappening?!" Stiles yelped, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a panicked jumble without regards for spaces.
"I told you to stay back! Pixie magic can't affect werewolves, but it can most definitely affect humans, you idiot!" Derek was snarling as he watched Stiles' backside hit the ceiling of the warehouse 10 feet above Derek.
"Oomph, ow," Stiles exclaimed as his head smacked against his roof, "so she cast a spell on me to make me float?"
"Apparently. I doubt she meant to. It was a young one, she was practicing but you had to come flailing in here. I think you startled her and she messed up whatever spell she was trying to do." Derek explained as he let his head drop down, face buried in his palms as he let out a huff of frustration.
"Aww, poor thing! I didn't mean to. Well how long is this going to last? How do we fix it?" Stiles asked as he wrapped his arms and legs around a metal beam a foot or so from the ceiling, eying the floor warily.
"Luckily, pixie magic is temporary, but there is no quick fix. You have to wait it out." Derek said, amused now as he returned his gaze up to Stiles who was clinging to the beam below him with every ounce of his strength.
"How long?" Stiles repeated pointedly.
"Could be a few hours or a few days. She was young so I doubt her spell will last all that long. No way to know though, especially since you scared them all off." Derek said.
"Days?! Oh my god. Derek, I'm going to be stuck the the ceiling for a few days?!" Stiles said, his voice shooting up an octave.
"Oh relax, We'll weigh you down or tie a string to you or something until it passes. Like a balloon." Derek smiled, a look that was both menacing and mocking at the same time.
"NNNGH! Please just get me down from here!" Stiles said, his voice shaking as his panic intensified.
"Mmm, maybe I'll just leave you up there. You look comfortable." Derek said, smirking viciously up at Stiles who was trembling at this point.
"Please, Derek! Please please please, I'm actually really scared right now. Please." The last word was a whisper and Derek zeroed in on Stiles' expression, seeing tears beginning to brim his eyes.
Derek would never admit that he had a soft spot for Stiles, but seeing the fear written over his features melted Derek's resolve to make fun of the poor boy.
"Alright, alright," Derek said, more gentle now, "You're going to have to let go of the beam for me to pull you back down."
Stiles' eyes went wide, frightened before he sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. Slowly, he unwrapped his legs from the metal below him, then he slowly loosened his grip, his body floating up as he did until he finally let his fingertips release the metal, whimpering as his body immediately rose his back up into the ceiling above him.
"You ready?" Derek asked, bending into a low crouch.
Stiles gave a weak nod and watched Derek intently. In a flash, Derek leapt off of the floor, hands raised above his head and Stiles couldn't help but compare the sight of Derek cutting through the air to a cat leaping in slow motion. The movement was all grace and before Stiles could process anything else, Derek's arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, Derek's head against his shoulder and then they fell back down to the ground fast, Derek dragging Stiles with him. Stiles let out a yelp (a manly sort of yelp of course) and wrapped his arms around Derek's neck as they fell, Derek's feet landing with a thud that jerked Stiles body to a stop.
Stiles' body was still floating from the waist down, angled oddly above Derek who, upon realizing this, raised a hand to Stiles' lower back and pulled him down in front of himself. Stiles tucked his knees in more to make the movement easier and wrapped his legs around Derek's waist as soon as they were close enough. Derek froze, one hand still on Stiles lower back and the other wrapped around his shoulders.
Stiles felt awkward for less than half a second before he simply buried his face in Derek's neck and let out a shaky breath that was half-relief but still half-fear as well. Stiles heard Derek sniffing the air lightly, likely trying to pick up Stiles' emotions. Upon registering the fear that was still present, Derek relaxed, moving to wrap both arms securely around Stiles' waist, helping to hold him down as he began to walk to the exit doors on the side of the warehouse.
When they approached Stiles' jeep, Derek opened the passenger door with one hand and began to gently pull at Stiles bicep with the other.
"Hey," he said softly, "We're at the Jeep. You need to let go now."
Stiles raised his head and Derek moved both hands to Stiles' side, gripping him firmly and Stiles loosened his grip on him.
Derek maneuvered Stiles back into the passenger seat of the Jeep while Stiles ducked his head and kept his limbs out of the way as best he could. Once Stiles' butt was securely down in the seat, Derek moved one hand to Stiles' stomach, bracing him into place while he bucked the seatbelt over him.
Stiles reached up with a sleeve and wiped away the tears that had escaped over his cheeks quickly. He knew that crying was a dumb reaction to fear, but he couldn't help it. He hated that he was afraid of heights, but he was even more upset that Derek had to see him like this. Stiles wasn't exactly forthcoming about his fear of heights and, thankfully, it didn't really seem to come up very often. None of their supernatural battles seemed to end in showdowns on rooftops so most of the pack wasn't even aware that Stiles was acrophobic.
"You're afraid of heights?" Derek guessed easily, taking in the look on Stiles face and the smell of distress pouring off of him.
Stiles just kept his eyes forward and nodded, drawing his knees up under his chin and wrapping his arms around them once Derek had his seatbelt secured. Derek hesitated a moment, wishing that he could somehow comfort him. He placed a hand on Stiles' knee and squeezed reassuringly before ruffling Stiles' hair. He moved to the driver's side, climbing in and starting up the jeep.
The drive home was silent. Derek drove, remaining stoic, while Stiles kept his forehead on his knees.
Once they arrived back at the Stilinski house, Derek noted the Sheriff's absence, thankful that he was working a night shift. At least Derek would have to explain why Stiles was either wrapped around his waist or floating. Either scenario would have ended in a conversation that Derek was certain he didn't want to have.
Derek parked the Jeep in the driveway and hopped out, moving swiftly to open Stiles door. With a puzzled expression, Stiles unfolded his limbs.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked, watching Stiles' expression closely.
"Hmm?" Stiles replied, "Oh, I'm just wondering how exactly you want to do this."
Derek let his expression soften as he placed a hand on Stiles chest, anchoring him to the seat as he reached over and unbuckled his seatbelt. Next, he grabbed his wrist, guiding it up around his neck. Stiles followed easily, moving his other hand to lock behind Derek's neck as Derek slid his hand down to Stiles side, never losing contact with the boy while he adjusted his grip. Like before, Derek placed both hands on Stiles side, gripping firmly while Stiles twisted to wrap his legs around Derek's waist before he allowed himself to be lifted from the safety of his jeep. Stiles held tightly to Derek as he was carried into the house, the fear of slipping and floating away a sharp panic in the center of his chest.
Once Derek had Stiles in the house, safe under the roof, Stiles relaxed a little, sagging against Derek. However, his sag resulting in him floating up further, making his shoulder come up tight beneath Derek's chin. Derek made a surprised choking sound before he slid his hands down Stiles' sides (Stiles did not shiver at this, he swears) and grabbed him by his hips to pull him down.
"Sorry. " Stiles muttered, feeling the blush return to his face.
"Its okay, just hold on tightly until I get to your room." Derek replied, not giving anything away in his voice.
"Then what?" Stiles asked, suddenly realizing that Derek was probably going to just tie a string to Stiles ankle and anchor him to the bedpost, leaving him floating in his room all alone, "Are you just going to tie me to the desk and leave me to fend for myself?"
Stiles meant for the last part to come out sarcastic but the residual adrenaline in his body made his voice quake viciously. The words ended up sounded more worried than teasing.
"Shhh, Stiles. Calm down. I'm not leaving." Derek said soothingly, moving his hands to wrap around Stiles' waist, again, never breaking contact.
Stiles was shocked at the calm, gentle tone of Derek's voice and was even more surprised when he found that his soothing actually worked. He could feel his heart rate begin to back down to a normal pace as he dipped his face down to press against the junction of Derek's neck and shoulder, nodding slightly.
Derek sucked in a breath at the intimate gesture, but otherwise just stroked a hand up and down Stiles' spine in response as he began to take the stairs up to Stiles' room. Once he stepped into the bright space with the door closed securely behind him, Derek realized that he had no idea what to do. He looked around the room for a minute, trying to figure out what would work to hold Stiles down. With an experimental downward tug, it was soon apparent that Stiles was floating up with a lot of force, more than a simple stack of books could hold down. He wasn't even sure that a person could hold Stiles down without great difficulty. It was only thanks to his exceptionally strong werewolf muscles that he was able to do it with such ease.
Stiles lifted his head, glancing at Derek's face and taking in the apprehension there. Derek's eyes were still ghosting around the room as he thought and Stiles let his gaze follow, trying to work some ideas out.
"What if we fill a backpack with books?" Stiles voiced.
"I think that even if it could hold you down, it'd just make your lower half float and you'd be anchored by your shoulders like an upside down turtle." Derek snorted at that image.
"Well what if we tie both of my feet down to something?" Stiles asked, looking around and realizing that he didn't have anything to tie himself to.
"I don't know what could really hold you down. You're floating up with a lot of force, I think you'd lift up the edge of your bed or desk if we tried that. Honestly, its a bit of a struggle for me to hold you down." Derek said grimly.
"Oh," Stiles said. "Will I just have to float up to the ceiling until it passes? What if I fall when it wears off!"
"Shhh, relax," Derek said, moving his hand against the boy's spine again, "I'll keep you held down. I'll stay until it wears off. I really don't think it'll be more than a few hours."
Stiles' gaze returned to Derek's face then, searching for signs of annoyance. When he looked though, all he saw was the earnest, soft expression on Derek's face and Stiles could feel his fear dissipate a little at that. With a nod, Stiles tightened his grip on Derek.
Derek stepped sideways swiftly and gently backed Stiles up into the wall to anchor him. With a whoosh, Stiles' breath left his lungs. This (minus the floating aspect) had been a major theme in all of Stiles' Derek-centric fantasies. Derek actually had Stiles back up into a wall and he couldn't step away, possibly for hours. Stiles had to bite his lip to hold back a groan at that thought. As an added bonus, Derek didn't even have Stiles pinned to the wall out of anger, now it was out of...well, what exactly?
"Why are you helping me?" Stiles asked as Derek placed his forehead against the wall next to Stiles head, carefully slipping one arm and then the other around Stiles neck so he could brace his arms against the boy's shoulders.
Derek hesitated, waiting to answer until Stiles had moved his hands to wrap under Derek's armpits, hands pressed against Derek's shoulders. With a deep breath, Derek answered as honestly as he could.
"I don't know."
Okay, so maybe that wasn't as honest an answer as he could give, but that was as honest an answer as he could give without admitting that he had feelings for the dork.
Stiles waited a moment before nodding, accepting whatever weak excuse for an answer that was and rested his forehead gently on Derek's collarbone.
"Here, try to put your feet down on the ground and I'll stand on your toes." Derek said.
Stiles heaved a silent 'thank you' up to the heavens before he unwrapped his legs from Derek's hips, using all of his muscles to pull them downward to the ground with a grunt of effort. Derek laughed lightly before pressing the toes of his boots over the toes of Stiles' Converse.
"That feels a lot better. I didn't realize my hips were aching until I moved my legs." Stiles laughed, thankful that now he was able to angle his hips away from Derek's.
They stayed like that for what felt like days, but was probably just an hour or so before Derek's arms started to trembled with the effort it was taking to hold Stiles to the ground.
"You okay, big guy?" Stiles asked, panic starting to creep into his mind once more at the though of Derek losing his grip.
"Yeah, just-" Derek adjusted, placing his palms flat on the wall, pressing his body into it while Stiles' shoulders stayed tucked under Derek's forearms, "There, I needed a break."
Derek kept his eyes squeezed shut, focusing on keeping his mind elsewhere because his muscles ached more than he was willing to let on. That, mixed with the overwhelming surge of electricity that pumped through his body at being in such close contact to Stiles for so long was making him feel weak at the knees to begin with.
"This isn't really much of a break, you're still holding me down." Stiles said with an audible gulp at what he was insinuating.
"I'm not letting you go." Derek snapped, more irritable than he meant to be as he opened his eyes and glared directly into Stiles' eyes, which were much closer than Derek had expected.
Stiles' own eyes widened at that, doe-like and large set beneath the fringe of his long, dark lashes. Derek could hear the almost inaudible gasp that Stiles sucked in and suddenly, there was tension like Derek had never felt before. A heavy blanket of desire settled itself over Derek's shoulders and a sharp tingle buzzed through his lips at the thought of Stiles kissing him. He willed his eyes to stay on Stiles' though, he would NOT look at his mouth. His perfectly pink, perfectly bowed mouth… Derek bit his tongue to draw his focus back, continuing to keep his gaze locked on Stiles's, but with a gentler expression this time.
Derek's will to keep his eyes where they were broke though, when Stiles' eyes darted down to Derek's mouth. That wasn't fair, Derek couldn't help himself if Stiles couldn't. He allowed himself a peek, a small glance at Stiles lips, but that's all.
They were perfect as usual, but even more so now. Stiles bottom lip was drawn between his teeth lightly and at the sight, All of Derek's left in a shaky huff and the sound made Stiles release his lower lip, mouth parting slightly in surprise. Quickly, Derek brought his gaze back to Stiles'. The boy was staring at him with wide pupils and lust-darkened eyes and Derek finally let himself draw in a small gasp of air.
Just as Derek's last resolve to resist Stiles was torn away at the smell of desire rolling off of the pale boy, so thick and sure that he could taste it, warm on his tongue, Stiles weight shifted strangely in his arms and it took him a moment to realize that Stiles was no longer floating against his forearms, but resting down on his heels.
"Oh." Stiles breathed, a look of uninhibited disappointment crossing his face, "I'm not floating anymore. I guess you can let go of me now."
Derek smirked, breathing out a small, "what if I don't want to?" before surging forward and capturing Stiles' lips in a long-awaited kiss.
Lets just say that Derek didn't let go of Stiles for many many hours after that.