Stiles sat in his room, typing furiously at his computer, trying his best to produce some kind of useful information about the Kanima. It was so frustrating; he couldn't find anything they didn't already know. So far, they knew that the Kanima was Jackson, that he had some sort of master controlling him, and that the Kanima had a problem with water. Stiles had concluded that the Kanima and its master had some kind of emotional bond, and that its master must also be afraid of water. He vividly remembered what had happened in the pool, treading water for what seemed like a lifetime, holding onto a paralyzed Derek.
He sighed; every time he thought of Derek he was overwhelmed with a sense of longing that he couldn't begin to describe, or even understand. He would try to fight it, knowing deep down that it was a hopeless cause. He would squeeze his eyes shut, force himself to think of something else. Lydia had become more of a distraction than a crush at this point, but could it be possible that she was just a distraction all along? He was a teenager, his sexuality was still so confusing. But he told himself it didn't matter, there were too many things going on to debate on topics of love and sexuality.
He exhaled deeply, frustrated, resting his head in his hands. His eyelids were so heavy and threatening to close and send him into a deep sleep, so he put his head down on the computer desk. He yawned and allowed his eyes to close, telling himself that in a few minutes he would change into pajamas and actually get into bed. Before he knew it, he was sleeping lightly, taking deep calming breaths. There was a sudden, loud rapping at his window and he snapped awake, falling out of his chair and hitting his head on the floor. He kneeled, rubbing his head as the tapping on the window continued incessantly. "Scott, chill out, I'm coming!" But as he stood and turned, he was greeted by not Scott, but Derek.
Both his stomach and heart jumped and then plummeted, his face flushing slightly pink. Derek gave him an annoyed look and pointed at the window. Stiles snapped out of whatever trance he was in and clumsily opened the window. Derek climbed in, leaving it open behind him. Stiles crossed to the head of his bed, fidgeting with the pillows and pretending he hadn't been sleeping. "So, what brings you here? Did you find out something about the Kanima? What about the murders, did you find any connections? Oh wait, I'm the one who usually does all of that. Um... C'mon Derek I hate guessing games just tell me why you're here! Is someone hurt? Lydia, Allison, SCOTT?!" Derek grasped Stiles' shoulder firmly and he flinched.
"You need to relax Stiles, everything's fine. What the hell are you even doing?" Stiles opened his mouth, expecting something witty to come out, but instead he closed it again and shrugged. "Just, uh, just making my bed!" Derek raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You were sleeping before, and before that you were on your computer. Making the bed doesn't seem like a very 'Stiles' thing to do." Stiles looked at him cryptically. "Dude, how long were you watching me?!" Derek blushed slightly, shrugging. "15...20 minutes?" Stiles scoffed. "Alright, so why exactly are you here?"
Derek frowned. "I'm actually not sure. I went out to get some air and I just kind of...came here..." Stiles nodded. "Uh huh... Maybe there's something that you subconsciously wanna talk about or something, and your wolf senses brought you here!" Derek furrowed his forehead in concentration then relaxed his face. "Actually there was something, I wanted to thank you for keeping me alive in the pool." Stiles tried to play it cool and pretend it was nothing. "Pssh, that? That was... that was nothing! I-" but he was interrupted. "No seriously, thanks." Stiles was thoroughly confused. Derek Hale, thanking him. "No seriously, don't worry about it!" Stiles countered. "Derek, you've saved my life so many times, it doesn't even really balance it out." Derek smirked and nodded, and Stiles was reminded of when Derek saved him from Isaac in the Sheriff's office, when he turned to Stiles and said so smugly, "I'm the alpha."
Stiles scratched the back of his head. "So... That's it?" Derek shrugged. "Unless you have something to tell me." Stiles felt his pulse increase, wincing internally when he realized that Derek could hear that. "W-what are you talking about? I don't have anything to tell you, what would make you think that?" Derek rolled his eyes. "You're making it obvious, that's what!" Was he... Was Derek smiling? Not smirking, not being smug, but actually smiling? It was adorable, and Stiles had to take a deep breath. "Well if it's so obvious, why don't YOU tell ME then?" Stiles said, feeling slightly triumphant. As much as he liked Derek, he didn't want to actually have to say it. He was hoping that some sort of connection would communicate his feelings to Derek without having to say them aloud.
Derek cleared his throat. "Well, it's the kind of thing that I have to be certain of. Otherwise it could be extremely awkward." Stiles sat down on his bed, not saying anything. "Well? Anything?" Stiles looked at Derek then looked away. "Alright, see you then!" He started to climb back out the window, and Stiles groaned as he realized what he was about to do. "...wait." Derek turned right back around, almost as if he had expected Stiles to stop him. He smile victoriously. "Something the matter?" Stiles glared at him. "Don't make this hard for me, asshole." Derek chuckled. Stiles took a deep breath and said in one breath, "I've been questioning my sexuality but I never really figured anything out because I was always so busy helping you and Scott and the pack and everything, so I've been confused for so long. And then with all of that stuff that happened in the pool and the way you saved my life and are so loyal to your pack and deep down such a good person, I just can't help but like you. And not just kinda like you, I mean REALLY like you, even though it's highly probable that you don't feel the same way. Although why would you keep pressing the issue if you weren't also interested in-" but he was interrupted by Derek's lips crashing against his, his stubble like gentle sandpaper on Stiles' cheeks, the taste and the shape of his lips, the way his arms entwined around Stiles' waist and pulled him in closely, threatening to never let go.
After a few seconds Stiles had to pull away, catching his breath from his previous monster sentence. He took a couple of deep breaths and Derek leaned his forehead against Stiles'. Stiles nestled his head into Derek's shoulder, and Derek started to... purr? He wasn't even half-cat, he was a freaking wolf! "Derek, are you...purring?" He felt Derek's ears get hot. "Yeah, just a werewolf thing I guess? It's never really happened to me before." Stiles laughed sleepily. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and groaned. "Shit, that's my dad! Hide somewhere!" Derek quickly opened the closet and stepped in. Derek was still technically a criminal in his dad's eyes, even though he had been lifted of al charges. Sheriff Stilinski knocked on the door and Stiles shouted, "COME IN!" as he frantically searched for something to make him look busy. Unfortunately when his dad entered, he was just standing and facing the door.
"Hey Dad, I was just... inspecting my carpeting!" His dad gave him a funny look, wise enough not to ask. He made a beeline for Stiles' closet, holding a pair of his socks that Stiles had left downstairs. Stiles' breath caught as his father opened the closet and tossed the socks in, not even looking, and closed it. He let out a sigh of relief. "Stop leaving your socks in my living room, got it?" Stiles laughed nervously and gave his dad an awkward thumbs up. "Yeah dad, got it!" He shook his head as he exited the room, closing the door.
The closet swung open and Derek emerged, looking unamused. One sock was in his hair and the other hung on his shoulder. Stiles laughed and took them off, throwing them into a pile on the floor of his closet with the rest. Derek sat down on the edge of Stiles' bed, and Stiles sat down next to him. "So, what now?" Derek shrugged. "I should probably go now, before your dad starts to think something's up?" Stiles grimaced and nodded, not wanting him to leave yet. Derek squeezed his hand as he stood up and crossed to the window. Stiles followed and pressed another short kiss onto Derek's lips. "See you later, I guess." Derek nodded and muttered a "yeah", and then he was gone. Stiles closed the window and slumped down, sighing. Now he couldn't sleep. About 15 minutes later his phone buzzed, and he looked at the text he got from Scott. 'Is Derek alright? He's acting kinda funny, he just told me that it was ok for me to date Allison...' Stiles smiled and texted back, 'Come over tomorrow, I'd rather explain it to you in person!' Scott just replied with a question mark, but Stiles ignored it, falling asleep to Derek's scent on his clothes.