Peter was a manipulative bastard, that was a given. Stiles knew that he couldn't be trusted farther than he could throw the werewolf and, despite trying a new workout routine, Stiles couldn't throw him anywhere. Stiles knew that he didn't do anything without there being something in it for him but Peter knew how to play into the insecurities of the people around him while coming out looking completely innocent in the whole thing. Derek was Stiles' biggest insecurities in that Stiles realized that if Derek didn't want to be in their relationship anymore, he would just break things off but he was still worried that Derek was simply going through the motions of being with Stiles because it was preferable to being alone all the time. Stiles couldn't see himself being the catch of a life time for anyone, let alone for the Roman god that was Derek Hale.
"Stiles, you really don't think Derek gives a damn about you, do you? I find it absolutely hilarious that you stick around at all with all the damning evidence all around," Peter cooed from his usual spot on the stairs. Stiles attempted it ignore him and finish the Pre-calculous homework he'd brought with him. College life was a bitch and Peter throwing his usual shit on top of it definitely wasn't helping in the slightest. "Here you are, sitting here with me in Derek's loft sans Derek. And where, might I ask, is Derek on your extended weekend home? Running around with Braeden trying to locate an old, dusty book about witches. Sounds a bit tragic to me, wouldn't you agree?" Stiles grunted in response, trying to focus on the sheet in his lap. Peter stood and descended the stairs loudly announcing his movements.
"Peter, shut up! Since I've got twenty minutes, I'm trying to get some actual work done, so that I can enjoy my time with Derek when he gets back," Stiles snapped, agitation growing in his chest.
"Twenty minutes, huh? You really believed that he'll be back in twenty minutes? That's tragic, really, but if that's what helps you sleep at night, then by all means, keep believing the lies that Derek feeds you," Peter sneered. He sat so close to Stiles on the couch that their knees knocked together when he sank into the cushions. Stiles huffed in frustration as his mind began to work through the horrible scenarios that Peter's words dragged up inside of him. "He's probably at her place right now, tossing and turning in between her sheets while she moans out 'Derek' all night long. He won't be back tonight and you know it because she's more of what he wants and needs in comparison to, well, you. Go home, Stiles, and save yourself the embarrassment of keeping up the charade that is your tragic relationship with Derek. It'll do you both some good for you to not come back around here anymore."
Stiles' shoulder's slumped in defeat as Peter put into words all the things that he'd thought of a hundred times over in his own head. First, Derek had Paige, the girl that would always be the love of his life. She was everything Derek had wanted in a relationship that got cut short because of a failed bite. If it had taken or if she never would have received the bite in the first place, she and Derek would still be together. Stiles would have never been in the picture because the picture was just big enough for Derek and Paige. Then Kate, while a sadistic bitch, was beautiful. They probably wouldn't be together if the fire hadn't happened but the fact that she had curves in all the right places and knew exactly what was doing in and out of the bedroom. She was confident where Stiles was awkward and beautiful where he was gangly. Stiles couldn't compare in contrast to the women in Derek's life. What kind of sadistic joke was this for Derek to play, getting into a romantic relationship with another guy, when he clearly preferred more feminine company? Stiles snapped his notes closed and piled all of his things into his backpack hastily.
"When he gets back, tell him that he's free to do whatever he wants now. He doesn't have to tip toe around me anymore, I'm out of his hair and life now," Stiles managed to ground out. He breathed deeply and evenly to keep the tears that lined his eyes at bay, because while Derek might be willing to break his heart, he would not give Peter the satisfaction of knowing he was absolutely right everything. Giving Derek the satisfaction of winning and having Stiles be the one to break things off rather than he was more than enough to deal with right now.
"Will do, and I hope things will turn around for you. You deserve happiness, too," Peter soothed. Stiles ignored the condescending tone in his voice as he threw open the door with more force than necessary and tore out the warehouse like a bat out of hell. The jeep roared to life on the first try, which Stiles thanked whatever higher power was watching him, and he pulled out just as he saw the Camaro pull up in his rear view mirror. Derek honked his horn twice at Stiles who simply ignored the sound and pulled out without even glancing in his (ex) boyfriend's direction. Derek watched horrified as the Stiles rounded the corner and tilted his gaze up at Peter who watched from the window above him.
"What did you do?" Derek asked, knowing Peter could hear him just fine.
"What you should have done a long time ago. Letting go the extra baggage to make room for new opportunities," Peter replied. He left the window with a smirk gracing his face and leaving Derek confused as hell as to what Peter said to make Stiles smell sour with sadness and betrayal.
o.O.o.O.o
Stiles ignored the texts and phone calls from Derek, determined that he wouldn't be weak willed and break down to the temptation of berating the werewolf. As satisfying as it would be to rip him a new one, Stiles knew that it would be short lives and Derek wouldn't give him another thought ten minutes after the call was finished. Not giving into Derek and his desire to explain away why he stayed in a relationship he didn't want anymore would be the best, for both of them really. Stiles let out a choked sob when his voice mail message tone sounded out and his fingers itched to put in his password so he could hear the message.
"Kiddo?" John asked as he stood in the door way. Stiles turned his face up to look at him, his eyes puffy and red with tears he'd managed to hold off halfway through his drive home. "Please tell me that Derek didn't break up with you."
"I broke up with him. Peter even agreed with everything I'd already been thinking. The one long weekend I've got home, and he's out with Braden looking for some book the entire day. I figured I'd just let him do his thing without having to worry about having to make time for me. She's got all the right parts for him too considering his history of relationships. I figured there was no reason for me to be strung along any more when it was obvious who he really wanted," Stiles explained. He picked up his phone and shut it off quickly as another phone call came through from Derek while John watched on with a sympathetic look on his face. "I just thought I was worth more than some book." John made his way to Stiles' bed and pulled the sobbing mess that was his son into his arms.
"You are worth more than a few phone calls here and there while he does 'his thing' while you are away. You are also worth more than a trip to find a stupid book and if he wants to go searching the country side instead of spending time with you, then I'll shoot him on sight next time I see him. How about that?" John offered while Stiles cried into his chest. John rocked slightly as he tried to sooth Stiles like he did when he was younger. "How about dinner? I'll buy you a double order of the largest curly fries they've got." Stiles hiccupped and nodded against John's shoulder in response. A loud ring pierced the moment as John's cell phone rang out and announced a horribly timed phone call.
"Stillinski!" he barked harshly. His brow furrowed together as he listened intently to the speaker on the other end. "Give me one good reason, Hale. I think you've done enough damage for one night, don't you think. I've got a feeling Stiles' will already be crying himself to sleep tonight because of your behavior already and I'd rather not have him crying his way through dinner, too." Stiles couldn't help but to grin as Sheriff Stilinski took over and berated Derek the way Stiles wanted to so badly. John's eyebrows shot up as Derek said something and an 'oh' formed on his mouth. He nodded to himself and grunted a goodbye before hanging up.
"What was that?" Stiles inquired. John looked torn between something he'd been torn in the conversation and still wanting to comfort a distraught Stiles.
"I think you might want to call Derek. It's important enough that maybe it should be him taking you to dinner rather than me, honestly," John offered vaguely. Stiles scoffed lightly and scowled deeply at John. "Really, Stiles, it might not be all that it seems to be."
"Might not be all it seems to be? It seems to be a lot like what I thought if Peter got right to the heart of the matter. He said the same things I was thinking without me even saying anything about my insecurities," Stiles snapped while anger boiled deep in his chest. "Peter might be a manipulative bastard but why would he want to break up his own nephew's relationship if he didn't have some sort of insight?"
"Jealousy? Desire to have what someone else has?" John offered. "Or maybe just outright spite. You said it yourself, kiddo, Peter is a manipulative bastard."
"I'm going to regret not calling Derek, won't I?" Stiles sighed in defeat.
"Regret won't even begin to cover it. Just call him and work this out. Don't come home until you kiss and make up or one of you is dead," John ordered as he walked out of the bedroom. "Because if you are right and the wool is being pulled over my eyes, I'll gladly take the fall for the murder of the man who broke my own son's heart in a second."
o.O.o.O.o
Derek tapped his foot nervously as he waited for Stiles to show up. If Stiles didn't want to try to work things out, he wouldn't really blame him. He had been kind of shitty considering he'd pulled away the last few weeks but he hoped that it would all be forgiven once Derek had everything ready. Braden had been willing to help him get everything set up but of course Peter had to swoop in at the final hour and wreck everything, because that was what Peter did best after all. Stiles, fortunately, had agreed to meet him in the park where they had their first date after much coaxing he was sure from his father. It might not be at the restaurant that Derek had originally had planned to do this but seemed as good as any place to have a new beginning.
"Derek," Stiles greeted when he approached, almost cautious. His movements were nervous as if he was ready for Derek to tell him that things were really over with for good. Peter was never going to be invited back to Derek's place regardless of how things turned out. Derek was so over his manipulative uncle messing with everyone's head that even he was starting to pick up some pretty bad habits that he knew were going to be a pain to try to break. "Go ahead and state your piece, though this was what I was trying to avoid by not sticking around."
"You mean the piece where I state how much I love you and that I can't imagine being with anyone else for the rest of my life? Or how about how much I love watching you wake up in the mornings after a long night of studying and you've got nowhere to go that day. Because, if you don't ever want to hear me tell you how much I love you again, you'll never see me again. I'll leave right now and it'll be like I never existed because I don't want you to hurt because of me," Derek said. He felt his throat tighten at the idea of never seeing or speaking to Stiles again, but if this had nothing to do with Peter, then be damned with his own feelings, Derek would rip out his own heart to make sure Stiles never saw him again.
"I love you more than you realize. It hurts how much I love you because I can't stand the thought of sleeping alone. I don't want to be away from you but I do it because you need your space and who honestly needs a clingy human attached to their hip when you are a werewolf? You've got Braden now, so I'm sure that you won't be lonely for too long now that I've left the picture," Stiles said, pain rolling off him. It was obvious that he was telling the truth but the stench of sadness permeated the air around him. Whatever this was, it was hurting Stiles just as much as it was hurting Derek.
"I wish you had a werewolf's sense of smell right now. You'd be able to tell how much I want you and how much you saying that cuts me. The reason I've been distant lately has been because of this," Derek offered, pulling out a small box from his back pocket. He approached Stiles slowly while he stared, his eyes uncomprehending of the situation before him. "You father will probably want me to answer a million questions but I couldn't wait. I want to marry you, and I've wanted to for a long time. I was wanting to wait until next year when you get your fancy degree but my wolf demanded that I do this now. If you still want me, which I can smell on you that you do, marry me." Derek pushed the box into Stiles' hand and forced his fingers to fold around it.
"I do want you, more than anything in the world. But what about-?" Stiles started but was cut off by Derek kissing him for all that he was worth.
"She was helping me pick that out. I needed help picking out the right one because I've got no idea what I'm looking at when it comes to rings. I'm sorry if I made it look like anything different and I'm sorry that I let Peter put those horrible thoughts in your head. He is very good at warping other people's thoughts into what he wants them to think. So what do you say?" Derek asked, his eyes wide as he waited for Stiles' answer.
"You aren't even going to get down on one knee and ask me? I feel like I'm being short changed here, to be honest with you," Stiles asked, humor returning to his eyes. Derek dropped to one knee and pulled Stiles' hands into his own while looking up at the amber eyes.
"Stiles Stilinski, will you marry me?" Derek asked again, a hopeful smile spreading across his face. Stiles' leaned forward and brushed his lips against Derek's and returned the smile.
"Yes, you idiot, I will marry you!"