You'd think that with Derek now having Stiles permanently in his house that his life would be loud. And you wouldn't be wrong. Derek's life was definitely louder than it was before. Before Stiles, before Scott was turned and even before Laura died his life was so deafeningly quiet, and he hated that. Quiet meant that he could think, his mind telling him it was his fault, his fault his family died, over and over again like a broken record. Quiet meant that he could remember his family, their faces, their voices; he can remember her, what they did and how she acted when they were together…
Derek hated the quiet.
But that changed with Stiles.
With Stiles Derek treasured the quiet moments. Not because he found Stiles' incessant prattle to be annoying, but because when it was quiet the moments that made him happiest happened. When it was quiet they shared soft touches, embraces, the same breathing space, it was when they whispered secrets and opened up old scars for the other to heal. When it was quiet was when they took their time to relearn the others body with soft kisses and barely there touches, only letting out breathy moans and sighs so as to not disturb the peace.
"What's wrong?" Stiles asked, halting Derek's train of thought.
"Nothing" Derek said with a small smile, rolling to the side to wrap his arms around Stiles and nose at his neck. Breathing in Stiles and his mingled scents, and smiling softly.
"Why are you smiling?" Stiles asked his own smile evident in his voice.
Derek just made a non-committal sound and mumbled an "I love you" into Stiles' neck.
"That's not really an answer, but I love you too" Stiles whispered and tightened his hold on Derek.
After that everything went quiet again.
Derek loved when it was quiet.