Waking up early hasn't been easy for a week now, they sent me on a break. All of my colleagues told me it's not healthy that I'm always working, my boss had the same opinion on this, so here I am, laying in the bed at 11:00AM. I think this break-thingy came in the right time because now I could concentrate on Derek completely.
We live together, so I am with him every day: I wake up next to him every morning and I sleep next to him every night – when they call me in to work. But this day is different. This one is going to be a perfect one. This is our fifth anniversary.
I didn't want to plan everything in advance, I thought we should just go with the tide and do whatever we want to feel good.
I turn on my side, blinking is still a bit hard in this 'early hour', but I can tell he's still sleeping. I'm listening to his breathing for some minutes and I admire every bit of his body with a wide smile. His shape, his hair, the triskelion tattooed on his back, I love everything that belongs to him and makes Derek… well, Derek.
He changes his position, making his back more visible. I'm caressing his tattoo with slight and calm movements, my fingers are circulating on the triskelion. Alpha. Beta. Omega. If you think about it, it's not only about werewolves. Humans can be put in the same categories as well.
Alphas are those people who have a special kind of charisma, which makes others think they're the best.
Betas are those ordinary people, who like being in 'packs', hanging out in school or with friends.
Omegas… Well, they are the loneliest. There's no one near them, no friends, no family, everyone seems to forget about them easily.
The spirals on Derek's back look the same in length and shape, which means the cycle is able to change. Alphas can turn to Omegas but Omegas can turn into Alphas as well. This is nothing else but the laws of nature. The strongest one will always win.
A lot of memories are starting to come to the surface by staring at this masterpiece (no, I'm not talking about Derek's back, however, I could). I'm happy that everything turned out great after high school. The supernatural activities seemed to lower a bit, but most importantly Derek and I finally realized that we like each other and we talked about it. It was hell of a long ride, but we're finally here. Sleeping together, living together, being together, feeling like nothing and no one could ever separate us.
Well, everything's good, but not ordinary. There are times when Derek forgets about keeping control and he turns into a wolf while taking a bath, during dinner or sleep, scaring the living shit out of me. I still didn't get used to a freaking wolf living with me. However, he likes to use his abilities every time he can, so if something serious happens (we never know), he could fight.
My fingers are moving upwards slowly, from his back, over his neck, into his black hair. I still find his coal-black hair mesmerizing, and I love to play with it. I know he likes it too. How? Well, he may have bitten off my hands already if he didn't like it.
He starts to groan.
"Mmmm…" I take my hand off his head carefully, he turns his body entirely so now he's facing me. "Good morning."
A wide smile appears on his face, full of warmth.
"Hey", I answer. "How did you sleep?"
"Cozy bed, soft pillows, the man I have loved for more than five years and I will love forever right next to me." His smile disappears, his expression is now the usual one. "I think it's an easy guess."
"Wow." I laugh softly. "It seems like sourwolf is back. Hey! Everyone escape while you can!"
Derek puts his right hand on his forehead. "I'm just sleepy." His yawn is the proof that he is, indeed, sleepy as hell. "You idiot." He starts smiling again.
I hop up from the bed.
"I thought we could make something for breakfast together. What do you think about fish?"
The grimace on his face expresses his displeasure.
"That thing stinks." His grimace becomes more noticeable.
"Look at that!" I begin. "A picky werewolf. Raw bunnies and other animals are not a problem, but you have a thing on fishes? What even."
"Firstly: try to bear the smell of those water-monsters with a refined sense of smell. Secondly: I didn't eat…" It seems like he's thinking about the second part of his answer right now. "I didn't eat that much raw animals."
"Ew!" Now I'm the one whose grimace shows disgust. "And I was kissing those lips for years, ugh."
"Oh, shut up, Stiles!"
"Make me." I answer without thinking about it. He stands up from the bed as well, steps right in front of me and pulls me to his body by my hips. His kiss is soft, sweet, and seems like it's full of love. I don't really want it to end, but I know it has to. As he pulls back, I can feel his warm, strong arms as he hugs me.
"I don't care about what are we doing until I can be with you. But for the love of God, please don't make me eat fish."
I take a deep breath. He knows he can always buy me with a smile or a hug, now I've got both, how could I go against him?
"Okay." A smirk appears on my face. "Then we're having rabbit."
He steps away from me. "You're impossible."
"I know. Impossible is my third name."
He folds his arms. "I thought that's Stiles."
"Nickname, dude." I wink at him as I step closer to his perfect body. Oh, not now, Stiles. "I was sure about the fact you already know it after being with me for, you know, like, five years or so?!" Now I pretend to be sad so my play seems authentic. "Poor guy… You lived a lie until this moment."
He sighs and rolls his eyes as an answer.
"Oh and yea…" I begin, again. "If we're talking about smells… I think you should go and bathe."
"Well…" Derek says, his arms still folded. "I wasn't going to mention it, but you should take a shower too."
We decided that we should do something very simple, so we're making spaghetti. I'm the one who's responsible for the Bolognese sauce, Derek makes sure that the pasta is perfect. It's not hard to make and we'll have a lot of time for everything else on this special day.
"Mmmm." I feel warm hands wrapping around my abdomen. "I love that smell."
"Well, yea, at least it's not fish. I knew you would like spaghetti."
His hands are moving upwards, now his fingers are caressing my chest. "I was talking about you." A shiver runs up and down in my body. Man, he can make me feel like a teenager, even after all this time of being together.
Night. It's here, and nothing bad has happened on this day. It was indeed a perfect day. We didn't have to plan it out, everything came out perfectly. We were having fun on the beach. However, I was a bit jealous because everyone was staring at Derek's perfect body and I was planning on putting up a neck collar saying "WARNING: Hot content. Stay away. In case you're reading this, Stiles is coming after you." We were swimming together, playing in the water like children, forgetting about everything else but ourselves. After that we came home, and now here we are, laying next to each other. Neither of us have been talking for minutes, but I think it's perfect this way. We understand each other even if we're not speaking with words. Silence is a good way for communication too, after all.
"Stiles…" Derek turns on his side, he starts to run circles with his fingers on my upper body. "I was thinking… if it's not too late… or you're not that tired…"
"Just say it, Derek." My voice is softer than I expected.
"So uhm… I was thinking we should go out on a dinner. You know, in case you're hungry or something. I reserved a place yesterday, just to make sure."
Oh hell yea, I'm hungry as hell. It was a long day and I haven't really eaten anything else but the spaghetti and ice cream on the beach.
"Yes, of course, let's go." I nod. "It's not that late anyway, and I'm not tired at all." I'm tired as hell, but I don't want to ruin anything. If he'd like to go out of dinner instead of ordering a pizza, then it's fine by me.
"This place if beautiful!" I say. We've never been here, but it seems like something we can't really afford. It's an expensive place, only the rich can afford to eat here. "How'd you manage to get a table in a place like this?"
"Oh, Stiles…" He smirks. "Don't question my abilities."
I look at him with my head tilted a bit on the right.
"You scared someone, right?"
"I may or may not have scared someone who had this table before us." He nods.
"You're impossible." I laugh.
A waiter comes in our way. "Mr. Hale", his hand is pointing at an empty table.
Derek pulls out the chair for me when we arrive at our place, it's a gesture that's not a big thing but it shows how much he's caring about me and most importantly that there's a gentleman deep (maybe very deep) under that tough sour wolf appearance.
I have to say that he's even hotter in this suit. I don't know how it's possible for him to be hotter than he usually is, but… he is now.
He orders a bottle of the place's finest wine and lots of expensive food what tastes great, but I'm worried about how we're going to pay for all of this. Okay, it's our fifth anniversary, but can we really afford it?
"Mmmm, mm, hmm."
"Stiles", Derek says. "Can you stop having sex with the food? I'm kind of getting jealous."
I can feel my head turning red, I put down the fork.
"Sorry." Oh and yea, I really had to speak with food in my mouth. I'm the perfect guy for a restaurant like this.
"All my life I've been searching for someone who likes me." Derek starts to talk again. "First I thought I found love with Paige and everything seemed perfect, but…" His voice weakens. "And then I got in a relationship… well, I wouldn't say it was a relationship… with Kate. That wasn't a good choice either."
"Oh, Derek…" My heart aches for this big guy and I can't even think of how much pain he had to experience when he was a teenager.
"Let me talk now, please." He says. I nod softly. "Then came Jennifer or Julia or whatever her name is. These girls, all of them, they weren't the right fit. I was thinking that maybe something's wrong with me, that I deserve to lose the people who I really care about. I thought that I can't be happy and I don't deserve happiness because I've done so much bad. But now, in this very moment I'm nothing more but happy. You showed me a new perspective in this cruel world. You showed me that there are people who really worth to save. You showed me that loving someone is not making you weak, but stronger than ever."
Tears are gathering in my eyes, but I can't cry. At least not in front of these people. I don't know why Derek is saying all of this, but it feels really good and bad at the same time. I feel bad because I don't want to see him suffer and I feel good because he says I'm the one who's holding him together. I want to tell him that he doesn't have to go through this, he doesn't have to say all of this, but he told me to remain silent until he's done. Me, being silent. It's a bit hard.
"At first I thought I hate you, for like, I don't know, two or three years, but then I had to find out that I care about you. I wanted to make sure you're safe. I wanted you to be happy with Malia, even if it felt bad for me."
He stands up, "But then I found out you're not happy with her. So I had to take my chance."
Derek slowly walks in front of me, I start to shake, I kind of start to know where this is going. I take a deep breath. "I knew I had to be with you. I want to be with you. If someone would've said that I'm going to fall for you this hard some years ago, I would've sent them away with a groan, or I may have threatened them that I'm going to rip their throats out with my teeth." I laugh. Yes, that's kind of what he does. "Anyway… I found out soon that I can't live without you. Even if we fight, I want to make sure you're okay. I can't imagine what I'd do if you would disappear from my life. I knew this for a long time but after this day I'm sure I want to be with you until the day I die. So Stiles…"
"Yes?" I ask. Derek kneels down in front of me. I take another deep breath.
"What about you? Would you like to bond your life and soul together with mine?" He reaches into his pocket, he pulls out a black object from it. Derek opens the little box.
"Stiles, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" I shout, forgetting about the people who are staring at us.
Derek stands up and leans in to kiss me. I don't know how long it lasts for, I'm completely lost in his passion and love. There's no space or time, just the two of us.
"I love you." Derek says.
My heart starts to race wild. I have heard these words a lot of time from him, but this time it's special. This time it's perfect.
"I love you too, happy wolf."