In the morning Derek was gone and Stiles convinced himself it was all a dream thought up by his tired and stressed mind that Derek was ever there at all.

That day Stiles did normal things, visited his parents graves, drove past the high school, grocery shopped. He didn't see any of the pack but he figured that was because of the wedding.

At night he got out his tux and hung it up so it wouldn't be wrinkled for the wedding. Somewhere in the last few years he'd given in to the pressure from one ex or another and had actually splashed out and brought a really nice expensive tux so he knew he'd look good tomorrow, that wasn't his worry, seeing everyone all at once was. From what he'd heard from Scott they were all happy and missed him but he was still apprehensive about how it was going to go, he wasn't used to being around people that knew him so intimately.

When Derek rang the door bell around 9, takeaways in hand, Stiles should have been surprised but somehow he knew it was inevitable.

"Have you eaten?" Derek grumbled out.

"Yeah I'm great thanks for asking. Always straight to the point aren't we big boy?" Stiles ushered him inside to the couch and got them some forks.

Derek sighed "sometimes I wish you'd just stick to calling me dude."

That made Stiles laugh as he sat down next to him. "So, heard you're a mechanic now?"

"Mmm" Derek didn't even look up from his food, Stiles guessed all the wolves still ate like they were starving teenagers.

"Ah, I made it to detective."

"I know."

"What? How?" He dropped his food and turned to face Derek, "Are you keeping tabs on me?"

Derek sighed again, put his food down and turned to Stiles so that their knees were touching, "Look, would you believe me if I said I heard it through the grapevine?"

Stiles raised his eyebrows, "Nope."

"Then yes, I'm keeping tabs on you. Someone's got to." Derek looked exasperated, like, of course I'm keeping tabs on you idiot.

"But why?" Stiles couldn't understand it, yeah they had this morbid no family bond but Derek had a pack, a life here, why look out for Stiles too.

Now Derek tore his gaze from Stiles, look down at his hands resting on his thighs. He took a deep breath then looked up again.

"It's ah, my wolf. He kinda doesn't want you to be alone, like we were. So sometimes I check up on you. How's Cara?"

Stiles jumped up, shocked, "You found out who I was dating? Why am I surprised? Once a creeper, always a creeper." Stiles sat back down, away from Derek this time.

"We broke up. Apparently girls don't like to be told they aren't "the one" even when they know it's true."

"Oh, I'm sorry? She seemed nice." Derek's expression was unreadable.

"Yeah. Whatever. What about you? Got a Mrs Wolf yet?" Stiles looked up, hopeful. Wait, hopeful?

"No, Stiles." Derek was feed up again. "Look, lets clean up and go to bed."

Stiles liked how he didn't have to ask Derek to stay, how Derek just understood that it was better to sleep with anyone than sleep alone.

In his room Stiles wasn't sure whether or not to take his shirt off like last night. The last time he was here they both slept clothed every time, but that was partly due to physical and emotional exhaustion. While he stood there, in his mind debating the choices, Derek strolled in, stripped down to his briefs and climbed into Stiles's bed.

Derek looked up to Stiles, raised his eyebrows and held up the covers and growled out, "You getting in or what?"

"In there with you sexy body? Fuck yes." The thought raced through his mind so fast he had to bite his lip so it didn't slip out.

"Yep." Stiles finally squeaked out.

Stiles knew he didn't have anything to be insecure about, he spent 5 hours at the gym a week. Criminals had this nasty habit of being fast. And strong. So Stiles had to be faster, stronger and as a result, his skinny teenage body was a thing of the past.

On the other hand, Derek could only be compared to a supermodel, or a Greek god.

Stiles gave up, dropped his clothes and climbed into bed next to the Greek god himself. Derek wasted no time pulling Stiles close, back against his chest, hand over his heart.

Stiles couldn't help but shudder from the feeling of Derek's breath of his neck. Stiles knew Derek must smell the shift in him but assumed he was choosing to ignore it. This was about not being alone, not anything else. Stiles closed his eyes and hoped sleep would come soon.

Stiles woke up to the feeling of Derek's fingers moving, thumb tracing slow circles against his skin. He felt warm all over, calm and electric at the same time.

Derek's mouth connected with Stiles skin, tongue slowing lapping against his shoulder. Stiles nearly groaned but he didn't want to ruin it, or scare Derek away.

It wasn't until Stiles turned around slightly to look Derek in the face that he realized Derek was asleep.

"Of course he's a sleep grouper." Stiles's mind supplied.

Stiles settled back into Derek's chest and sighed. Of course this was the way it was gonna work.

Derek's tongue restarted on Stiles shoulder and this time a moan escaped Stiles lips before he could stop it. Stiles made up his mind to just enjoy it while he could, he was sure Derek wouldn't remember in the morning.

Derek's hand slipped lower and Stiles felt his body go tight with anticipation. Unable to stop himself, Stiles reached a hand back behind Derek's head, fingers carding through his soft hair. Derek shifted slightly and Stiles felt what could only be Derek's erection press against his ass. Stiles wanted nothing more than to grind against it but he was afraid this was going too far.

He hated himself as he pulled away, staying within the circle of Derek's arms but far enough away that no other parts of their bodies were touching.

That wasn't going to be enough.

Stiles slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the sink and slipped one hand down to grasp his throbbing erection.

"Fuck." The words hot on his tongue, he hadn't been this hard in a long time.

Stiles jerked himself off roughly, thumb swiping over the head occasionally. He tried to keep his eyes open because when he closed them he could almost feel Derek's tongue on his neck, hand reaching slowly down.

It didn't take him long to feel the tell-tale signs of his orgasm coming. And if he hissed out Derek's name as he came, well he was sure there was no-one around to hear it.

Derek woke to the sound of the bathroom door clicking shut.

The first thing he realized was that he hard.

The second thing he realized was that he could hear Stiles jerking off in the bathroom.

He didn't think twice about putting his hand around his own erection and doing the same thing. He knew he'd have to be quick, or Stiles might walk in mid-wank. He fondled his balls with his other hand and felt his orgasm approaching.

Unsurprisingly, it was the sound of Stiles breathing his name that sent Derek over the edge.

After thirty seconds of euphoria Derek panicked. Stiles would be back any second and his hand was covered in his cum. He contemplated leaving but made up his mind to just quickly clean himself off with the t-shirt closest to him then quickly feign sleeping as Stiles came back into the room and climbed back into bed.

He couldn't help but note how Stiles didn't try to spoon him anymore.