Choices Choices
All Our Firsts – Halloween
Author's Note: Sorry I didn't get this posted a heck of a lot sooner, I haven't been very good keeping up on FFNET, I do have an account on Archiveofourown under the same name 'Akinasky' where the upkeep is a little easier. I will work on that! Thanks for your patience.
Derek was sick of Halloween before it even began. Halloween had once been one of his favorite holidays, loved to dress as a werewolf so he could hide in plain sight. They didn't really do the whole trick or treating thing because people were still wary of their family despite the fact that the town didn't know the truth. Derek snuck out with his friends more than once, pretended to be someone else's kid when he was younger so he could go. He always wore a mask to keep people from knowing it was Derek Hale under the guise.
Then there was other years that he stayed home and played games with his siblings, they played hide and seek, and they tried on as many costumes as they could in one go. So despite the werewolf of it all, he liked Halloween.
That was before he started dating a nutjob. Then asked the same nutjob to marry him. Stiles was obsessed about what they were going as for Halloween. He'd been parading them around costume shops, looking online and making a general nuisance of himself. And Derek had news and he didn't really want to worry about Halloween.
He wanted to talk about something other than going as any number of couples; Beauty and the Beast, Adam and Eve, Anna Karenina and Vronsky or even the minions which seemed to be everywhere in the last year and a half.
Stiles had shoved his computer in front of Derek with any number of superheroes, from the X-Men, the Marvel or the DC universe. They should go as this for that reason or that for this reason. He knew what this was about though.
Stiles had not been dressed as a couple for any previous Halloween and Derek understood that there was a part of Stiles that needed that level of normal and nerdy to really know they were in this for the long haul despite the years they'd been together before they were together. Derek hadn't proposed lightly, either time but this obsession was getting to be a bit much to deal with.
Finally Derek had just told Stiles to order the costumes and they could go dancing with the gang, he didn't really know what to expect. He didn't really care, Derek just didn't want to talk about it anymore and now he was exhausted and he needed to tell Stiles that their plans for him staying on campus had changed so even though they were home for the 'holiday' weekend before Halloween, he wasn't going back with Stiles on Monday. Undoubtedly Stiles was getting ready for their Halloween adventure and Derek hated the idea of ruining that for his fiancé but he needed to do this and it just happened to solidify the same weekend as Halloween.
He took a deep breath to fortify himself and walked up to his door of the loft, listening as Stiles scrambled around inside, listening to something on the television that Derek didn't regret putting in his apartment, well sometimes anyway. When they were cuddling, he loved the television, when Stiles was binging on some new television show and ignoring Derek, he didn't really love it at all.
Compromise, the foundation of relationships, and one he hadn't really experienced ever and up till this point he hadn't dealt with it until they were living together on and off campus.
Finally Derek slid the door open along the track and walked in, "Hey love I have a couple of choices. I know, I shouldn't have gotten so carried away but I didn't really know for sure what you would like so I have them all here."
"Stiles," Derek said and something about his tone had the human skidding to a halt and looking at him. Stiles frowned and crossed his arms.
His scent was angry, though his face was more confused, "What's this? We didn't decide anything about policemen, or what is that? A cadet's uniform? Looks real."
Then he was off again and Derek gulped before he spoke, "It's not a costume. I wanted to tell you but I was accepted today to work on the Beacon Hills force. I'm going to be training with your dad and the other deputies."
Stiles was still moving stuff around during most of the explanation and he waved Derek off a little then paused and turned back again, crossing his arms and now he did smell angry, the scent threatened to choke Derek even in the open space of the loft.
"Surprise!" Derek winced, wondering when he'd lost the emotional high ground of this half-assed conversation. He'd already been annoyed coming in here because he'd been wanting to tell his fiancé about this a week ago but Stiles looking at him like he was hurt and fuming was killing the annoyance and just making him feel guilty.
He wrapped his arms around his chest, trying to look tough even though all he felt was vulnerable under Stiles's gaze.
"You didn't say anything to me about this! You're a cop! Wait, you're staying here in Beacon Hills. You're not going to go back and forth with me to Berkley?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise like a week and a half ago but you were on the Halloween kick. I thought I had more time before he called. I wanted you to see what I was doing for myself so we could have a future. I want to be able to go back and forth with you but your father called and asked me to start my training in the field. He needs the help in the station."
Stiles was panting heavily, Derek walked across the space concerned about the beginning of a panic attack that he could see. Stiles turned away, waving his hands around, "My dad knew about this, you both knew and you kept it from me."
"Not to hurt you Stiles, please look at me?" he asked but Stiles just shook his head and walked over to the stairs and stumbled up them in his haste.
"The costumes are there, please pick one and I'll wear the other one but leave me alone for a little while. And no werewolf hearing! I deserve to have privacy too," he said the last as he slammed the door on the attic upstairs. Derek rolled his eyes and looked at the costumes laid out with all the fixings, Derek didn't want to know how much of Stiles's very little expendable income on this but he saw the Beast costume with the mask which he didn't really like because he felt like he was suffocating with a mask on. The other suit was a male version of the Belle dress and he knew that because he'd watched the cartoon and the new live action with Stiles more than once when they were going to sleep.
There was the Flash and Green Arrow and Derek smiled, they'd watched those shows together and had argued more viciously about the fact that both couples from the shows didn't work at all and the only people with chemistry was Oliver and Barry. Stiles had slideshows and evidence to back up his theory and Derek couldn't argue with him so he had asked a hundred and one questions, much to Stiles's pleasure.
The third set of costumes was two suits, with dark Aviator glasses, which could have been a number of things. It didn't seem like something Stiles would pick, more like Stiles was thinking that Derek was going to back out if he didn't get a 'dull' option.
He took a deep breath and looked upstairs, he could hear Stiles talking on the phone but he ignored the desire to listen in on the conversation, the tone that he could hear sounded a lot more like sad than angry which probably meant he was probably talking to Scott about his fiancé troubles as opposed to bitching out his dad.
Derek walked over to the bedroom and grabbed some clothes to change into, running his fingers over Stiles's socks and boxer shorts in his drawers. He loved that they did their laundry together and their clothes were close so Stiles had started smelling like him more and more. It was going to change because they weren't going to be together in the other apartment at Berkley and Derek should have thought this one through. He just figured that Stiles would be stoked and try to rip off Derek's uniform or ask to borrow handcuffs for sexual shenanigans but he didn't really take the distance into consideration.
"Idiot," he muttered as he yanked the belt off and the shirt, then the pants. He dragged on some sweats and one of his comfy long sleeved shirts before he moved out to the living room and sat down to wait out Stiles. They were supposed to be meeting Scott and the others in a couple hours and he'd been hoping for naked necking on the couch but his shortsighted idiocy took that off the table.
They didn't fight very much and it was usually because Derek was so serious and Stiles didn't know how to stop being a sarcastic idiot most of the time. They shouldn't work on the surface but they did and at least Stiles didn't throw the ring back at his head on the way out.
There was that.
Derek stayed where he was, not listening to what Stiles was saying until the mumble of words got to hard not to listen to when he shouted, "Come on man!"
Then whoever was on the other side of the connection spoke again and Stiles calmed down. It was another couple minutes until the phone call ended and the door of the attic opened and Stiles came back down only to stop and stare at the back of Derek's head. The werewolf just stayed where he was at while Stiles walked around the couch and flopped down next to Derek. He stiffened and waited for whatever was coming while Stiles grabbed his arm and put it over his shoulder. Derek sighed and rubbed his thumb up and down on Stiles's upper arm in comfort while the human got comfortable.
"It's been brought to my attention that I could be overreacting because I don't like the idea of going back and forth without you and because of that I didn't actually say anything about this amazing thing you did for yourself."
"No," Derek muttered, "I was an idiot and I shouldn't have kept in from you. Maybe I should just turn it down until you are more used to the back and forth with Berkley."
Stiles shook his head, turning into Derek's body, "No, I agree with them. You just following behind me while I figure out my life is wrong. It's the epitome of codependency and I hate that shit. I want you to have a life, a good life with me, if that means that we spend a little time away from each other then so be it. I'm happy for you and I was a selfish idiot."
Derek leaned in and pressed his head to Stiles's forehead, "I didn't have good timing. I was really annoyed about the Halloween thing and maybe I was being passive aggressive so you wouldn't have a choice but to talk about something else."
Stiles smiled, "Maybe?"
"Definitely being passive aggressive which is a different tact for me honestly," Derek said with a shrug.
"You could have just threatened to rip my throat out with your teeth," Stiles smirked as he leaned in and nipped at Derek's chin gently.
Derek gripped the back of Stiles's head and pulled him back to bare the human's throat, pressing his teeth to the skin there. Stiles moaned and pressed into Derek's mouth, the werewolf immediately turned the nip into a kiss, laving the skin for a moment before he worried the skin between his teeth. Stiles moaned, he grabbed at the back of Derek's neck with one hand and the other gripped the front of his sweater.
Derek pressed another kiss to Stiles's throat and whispered into his skin, "I would never hurt you on purpose. It kills me that I hurt you." He pressed another kiss to the pale expanse of skin in front of him.
"I know, because you're my Sappywolf," Derek groaned at the newest take on an old nickname and Stiles chuckled for a second before he sobered and whispered, "I love you Der."
"Love you too Stiles," he whispered as he dragged the human into his lap and continued to neck on the couch for another couple of minutes.
Stiles pulled back and asked, "Did you pick a costume."
Derek smirked, "What are the suits for?" he asked instead.
Stiles deflated a little, "FBI agents, X-Files, Men in Black, Wedding Crashers, 007 Agents. Anything really."
"Well I think you should save those for some other boring night of the year, like date night or something. Which did you want to go as, Beauty and the Beast or Flash and Green Arrow?"
Stiles bounced in his lap, reminding them both of where they were sitting and how close they were to naked necking after all. Derek pressed Stiles down, trying to deter more movement, which would lead to some rather embarrassing circumstances.
"I wanna go as Flash and Green Arrow, not the most popular ship but beloved by those who believe in them. Kind of like us," Stiles said with a grin.
Derek nodded, "Then that's what we're going to do."
"But first, I think we have enough time for naked necking!" Stiles exclaimed and jumped out of his lap and headed towards the back where the bed was. Derek rolled his eyes and followed his beloved.
They were an hour late to the party to which Stiles grabbed Derek around the neck and pressed a kiss to Derek's lips, "Worth it." They endured the pinched noses from the werewolf friends and comments about the honeymoon being after the wedding but everyone calmed down after their entrance and Stiles danced around while Derek watched him with fond eyes.
"Happy Halloween Stiles," Derek said, thinking that maybe just maybe couple's costumes weren't as annoying as he thought they were.
"Happy Halloween Deputy Hale."
To which the room exclaimed, "What?"