A/N: A little Christmas present for a friend. I hope you all like it.
Stiles paced back and forth across his bedroom, hands running through his short hair. He let out a frustrated sigh before flopping onto his bed. He was really at a loss. See, he'd already gotten Christmas presents for all of his friends except for Derek, and he had no clue what to get for the older male, even though only a few days remained. What made the task even harder on Stiles was the fact that, after over a year of pining for the werewolf, he finally wanted to act on his feelings. But how does someone tell one of their best friends that they're gay for them? For all Stiles knew, Derek was totally straight and homophobic or something! He really didn't want to lose his friendship with the other man, but Stiles couldn't deal with the internal torment of not telling him, either. So Stiles thought that maybe he could use Christmas to his advantage to reveal his feelings. But how?
With his eyes closed, Stiles mentally searched his memory for anything and everything having to do with Christmas; movies, books, traditions, and even crappy TV specials. His mind raced with images of Santa Claus, reindeer, and wrapped presents waiting to be opened under a decorated tree. He groaned as nothing seemed to jump out at him. He was just about to give up and resign himself to buying a gift card or something for Derek, when out of the blue one word ran before his mind's eye.
Mistletoe.
Stiles' eyes shot open while he simultaneously sat up on his bed. "Oh my god!" he said, getting to his feet and resuming his pacing, though now with more purpose. A plan was forming in his head, causing his face to split into a grin. With his excitement growing he brought a hand up to his mouth so as to chew on his knuckle. "This could work," he muttered to himself. It wouldn't be too hard to pull off, really, it was a pretty basic plan. But regardless, a giddy laugh rumbled out from Stiles' chest.
x-x-x
The next afternoon, Stiles found himself initiating the hardest part of his master plan. He picked up his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and stopped when he reached "sourwolf". He took a deep breath and prayed that Derek wouldn't be able to hear his heart thumping through the phone. He hit the call button and then waited.
On the second ring, Derek's smooth voice called through, "Hey Stiles, what's up?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. Is this a good time I just uhh... wanted to talk?" Stiles heard the words coming out of his mouth, though he felt like he had no control over them. Panic edged its way into his chest as he waited a moment, which felt like an eternity, for Derek to reply to him.
"Yeah don't worry, I wasn't doing anything important. So what's on your mind?"
Stiles could hear the little smirk that often danced on Derek's lips mingled into his voice, and it helped calm his frayed nerves a bit. He coughed in a way that he hoped sounded natural, before taking the plunge. "Well, the thing is, this year on Christmas Eve my dad has to work late, since the station is a little short on staff. Normally, I guess like a family tradition or whatever, he and I would go out to dinner and catch a movie. We've done that since I was a kid, haha. But since he can't this year, I thought that maybe you'd like to hang out or something? We could do something else, I just figured maybe you also didn't want to spend Christmas Eve alone. I mean, yeah I'm sure Peter's around but he's not really a fun guy and all..." Before he continued to babble, Stiles clamped his mouth shut. For a beat all he could hear was the banging of his heart as it tried to break through his rib cage. Then, finally, Derek answered him.
"Sounds like a fun time, I'm down," he said easily.
Restraining the whoop trying to escape his lips, Stiles settled for punching his fist into the air triumphantly. "Awesome! I can pick you up at your place around six?"
Derek hummed into the phone. "I mean, I could drive over to your house. No offense, but your car, well, it sucks."
Stiles' eyes widened. No, his jeep was essential to the plan. He just had to convince Derek without being too suspicious. "What? No way man, my car has never let me down. Okay, there may have been an instance or two, but that's irrelevant. I'll pick you up and prove to you that my car doesn't suck." He hoped he hadn't been too forceful; Derek was a smart guy, able to pick up on anything he felt was odd.
Thankfully though, Derek just chuckled into the phone. "Fine, fine, whatever Stiles. You can pick me up at six, but if your car breaks down on us, you'll never hear the end of it from me, got it?"
"Got it!" Stiles sang into the receiver.
"Good. Now, I actually have to get going. See you later. Bye," Derek said quickly.
Stiles said, "Bye," even though he already knew that the other had hung up. He tossed his phone onto his bed and then just stood in the middle of his room for a minute. Once he fully processed everything that had just happened, he finally let out the yell of excitement that had been building in him. "Yes! Part One: success." He did a little celebratory dance, before finally composing himself once again. Now he had to get ready for Part Two.
x-x-x
Christmas Eve rolled around much too fast for Stiles' liking. But once it did, it seemed to take forever for it to be time for him to head over to Derek's place. All afternoon he tried on different outfits, trying to look nice but also casual. Once he'd found the right clothes; dark jeans, a fitted black t-shirt, and a red and green plaid button down shirt, left unbuttoned, he spent the next hour pacing, going over what he would say, and exactly how the plan would pan out.
After the longest afternoon of his life, Stiles finally got into his jeep and made the short drive over to Derek's apartment building. He made his way up to the loft and knocked on the door. Stiles had already worked out what it was he wanted to say, but he forgot how to even breathe when the door opened.
Derek stood before him, wearing black slacks and a button downed shirt in a rich purple color that complimented his tan skin gorgeously. He raised one of his thick eyebrows at Stiles, seemingly waiting for him to say something. When a few moments passed by silently, Derek cleared his throat and greeted, "Hey. You ready to go?"
Stiles blinked a few times, his long lashes fluttering, before he came back to his sense. "Oh, yeah, of course!" he said quickly, before offering a nervous laugh.
"Alright then," Derek said. He nodded once and then stepped out of his apartment, locking the door behind him. He followed Stiles as they exited the building and made their way to the bright blue car. After both men got settled into the worn seats, Derek broke the silence by asking, "So where exactly are we going?"
For the first time all day, a smile made it's way to Stiles' lips. "Okay, so get this. I was looking online to see what places would be open on Christmas Eve, ya know, and the old drive-in movie place is having a special showing of 'It's a Wonderful Life' tonight! I haven't been to that place in years, but Dad and I used to go there all the time." Stiles was bouncing slightly in the driver's seat as he spoke.
Derek jutted out his strong jaw a bit as he nodded amiably. "My family never went there, even though I used to ask all the time if we could. My mom didn't want to risk having a family of werewolves, some of us too young to have full control yet, out and about that late at night," Derek admitted to the younger man.
"Oh man! Well I think it's about time you finally got to go, huh?" Stiles wiggled his brows at Derek. He beamed at the other for a moment before finally starting the car. Though he didn't mind sitting in his parked car talking to Derek for hours, he had bigger plans for them.
So off they went. The two kept up the conversation as they made their way to the drive-in, which was about a thirty minute ride away. They were making good time, when all of a sudden the car started to make a high pitched whining noise. Stiles hit the flat of his palm against the dash, though it only seemed to make the sound even louder. He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Not tonight, not tonight," he pleaded quietly to his beloved jeep.
"I knew this would happen," Derek said in an I-told-you-so voice.
But Stiles wasn't going to throw in the towel just yet. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, his jaw set in place. The whining continued as the pair made it a couple more miles down the road, before a wisp of smoke became noticeable from underneath the hood. "For the love of God!" Stiles spat as he finally relented and pulled over onto the side of the road. Grumbling under his breath, he got out of the old car, slamming his door shut, and took a peek under the hood.
Derek casually strolled out of the jeep and up next to Stiles. He leaned against the bumper and peered into the smoking abyss that was the inner workings of Stiles' car. "So what's the prognosis, Doc?" he asked mockingly.
"Well," Stiles said as he heaved a large sigh, "I don't know, but I'm thinking that it needs more than just duct tape this time." He wiped his hand across his forehead, smearing some grease onto his brow. He let out another sigh before sinking to the ground in front of his car. Sitting cross legged, he banged his head lightly against the front bumper as he stared at the empty road sprawling in front of them.
Derek crouched down to Stiles' level and offered his hand, "Come on, it's not the end of the world. We've faced much worse than a broken down car. Can't you just call Scott or someone to come pick us up?"
Stiles pouted up at Derek for a moment after he'd finished talking. Finally he resigned himself to his fate and took the offered hand. He was pulled up with ease, and once he was standing upright again he answered, "Yeah, I guess we should call someone for help."
The two got back into the car, where Stiles had left his phone. He called Scott, but only got his answering machine. "Great," he muttered while sending a text to him instead. "I bet everyone else is busy, it is Christmas Eve, after all."
"Oh well, looks like we'll be waiting here for a while then," Derek said with a shrug.
Stiles whined in irritation.
Derek raised an amused eyebrow. "Dude, relax. You and I can go to the drive-in some other time, okay? I know this is like a tradition with you and your dad, but sometimes things just don't go as planned."
"But I spent so long planning everything out!" Stiles said in exasperation. "Tonight was supposed to be perfect and special and..." he trailed off, feeling like he'd already said too much.
And, of course, Derek caught on to that. "I get the feeling that I'm missing something," he replied. Then he frowned slightly, his brows furrowing as he did so. "Stiles, you can talk to me, you know. We're friends, and friends look out for each other. It's like... it's like we're in a pack together. And if you don't tell me when something is bothering you, I can't help you and that could hurt both of us." This admission was accompanied by a seldom-seen warm smile.
Stiles blushed at this. Did Derek really think of them like that? He'd always figured that Derek only saw him as Scott's annoying human friend who seemed to mess everything up. So, with the knowledge that Derek actually did like him, Stiles decided it was time to come clean with the rest of the plan. "Well, you see, I was kinda going to confess to you..." However, Stiles couldn't bear to look at Derek anymore. His neck prickled with the embarrassing heat racing across his skin.
"Oh," was all that Derek said in response.
Somewhat put off, but too far in to back out, Stiles continued. "At the drive-in I was going to ask you to go to the concession stand to get us some snacks. While you were gone, I was going to tape this up to the ceiling of the car," Stiles held up a sprig of mistletoe. "That way, when you came back and saw it, you'd have to kiss me. I mean, I guess that's it, really. And, God, when I say it out loud like that it really does sound dumb. But now you know why I wanted to go to the drive-in so badly, and why I specifically wanted us to be in my car; it was all part of this stupid plan to tell you that, for the longest time now, I've had a huge crush on you." He finally stopped talking, so as to let everything sink in for Derek.
A few painful heartbeats passed before Derek said, "Stiles, look at me." It was a command, but said in a tone that was still soft enough to not feel threatening in any way.
Reluctantly, Stiles did what Derek said and finally turned back to look at the older man. He didn't quite know what to expect, but he definitely wasn't ready for what actually happened.
When he turned, Derek suddenly reached out and took hold of Stiles' hand that still clutched onto the piece of mistletoe. Raising their clenched hands, Derek forced the mistletoe to be lifted over their heads. Then, without missing a beat, Derek leaned in and kissed Stiles directly on the lips. It was quick and chaste, but it felt amazing. Stiles had always imaged that Derek had soft lips, but they were so much better than he had ever dreamed. The moment, only a second in length, left Stiles gasping for air in greedy gulps when they'd pulled away.
"Sometimes you really overthink things, Stiles," Derek whispered, his face still only a few inches away.
Stiles could only nod and admit, "Yeah, I know." His mind buzzed as he tried to process everything. Even though he had intended to kiss Derek during the evening, the situation he now found himself in was so unexpected that he was thrown for a complete loop. Absolutely nothing had gone according to plan, and Stiles felt at a loss as to what to say or do next.
Derek, however, opened his mouth as if to say something, when suddenly a car pulled up right next to them. Scott smiled through the window of the passenger's side, Kira next to him in the driver's seat. "Need a lift?" she asked happily.
Still in a bit of a daze, it took Stiles a minute to figure out why Scott and Kira were there. He shook his head, trying to get back into the present, and said, "Yeah. Thanks guys."
In the car, Scott explained that he hadn't answered the call because he and Kira had been out getting dinner but had just left the restaurant when he received the text. "Thankfully we weren't very far from you guys," he said with a crooked smile.
"Well, we really appreciate the ride," Derek replied in a polite voice.
x-x-x
As Stiles got out of the car he called, "Thanks again. Merry Christmas everyone."
The other three people occupying the car said their farewells, before Kira drove off, leaving Stiles standing on the sidewalk in front of his house. He made his way to the front door, digging around in his pocket to find his keys. After going up to his room and changing into his pajamas, Stiles sat on his bed and noticed that he'd received a new text.
"I like you too," was all that Derek had written, but it was enough to open a grin that stretched from ear to ear on Stiles' face. And maybe everything didn't go as planned, but the results were so much better than he'd expected. Then his phone buzzed again as another text message came in. This one read, "But your car still sucks." Stiles tossed his phone onto his bedside table and laid down, feeling like he was floating on a cloud.
"Merry Christmas," Stiles said to himself, letting out a little laugh. And with a large smile still stretched across his face, he went to sleep, not caring what presents he opened in the morning, because he'd already received the best gift he could have asked for.
A/N: Happy holidays! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this story. As always, reviews, comments, critiques, and requests are welcomed and encouraged.