Chapter 10: A Day To Ourselves

"In the flush of love's light, we dare be brave.
And suddenly we see that
love costs all we are, and will ever be.
Yet it is only love which sets us free."
Touched By An Angel, Maya Angelou

When the alarm on Jackson's phone went off, he just turned it off and then lay back down on the bed. He and Derek had fallen asleep still fully clothed, which for them was a rare thing. They had spent much of the night talking, and Jackson wasn't entirely sure when they had stopped.

Typically, when they slept together, Jackson was the little spoon. As Derek was bigger than him, it seemed to be the natural fit, and was usually just how they wound up. But every now and then they would switch, because big and strong as he was, sometimes Derek needed to be held too.

Last night had been one of those times. Derek had fallen asleep lying against Jackson's chest, and Jackson had spent much of the night stroking his hair and holding him tightly, promising him that whatever was going on, it would all be okay. He tried to sound as certain as possible, tried to keep his heartbeat steady and unwavering as he said it. No matter what worries he himself had, he needed Derek to believe him.

Derek stirred slightly when Jackson moved to turn off his phone, but resumed his sound sleeping once Jackson laid back down with him. Jackson put his arms back around him, and looked down at the sleeping person in his arms. Derek's hair was a mess, sticking up all over the place and Jackson smoothed it down slightly with his hand. Derek buried his face into Jackson's chest, and Jackson felt his arms tighten around his waist.

Looking down at him, Jackson wondered how Derek thought he could ever leave him, even for a little while. How could he go away to school, and leave Derek behind in Beacon Hills? While he liked to think he'd moved on from needing Derek the way he used to, moved on from the burning craving to see and touch and smell him that he used to feel whenever they were apart, the truth was that he had not entirely. Sure, the need had changed since the year before; it no longer drove him crazy to be apart from Derek, and no longer was Derek the only thing he could think of night and day. But he did still need him, he knew that. And Derek needed him back, just the same way.

They needed each other.

But even more than the need, Jackson wanted Derek. He wanted to see him every day, wanted to talk to him and see his grumpy face. He wanted to be there to provoke smiles that no but Jackson could, wanted to hold him at night and be held back.

Jackson needed Derek, and he wanted him just as badly. And nothing, not school or the future or whatever the hell was coming, was going to make him give that up.


Stiles walked down the hall, mind madly running through all of the information he knew and trying to find some kind of explanation or pattern. Two days ago, a third body had been found; Taylor Patrickson, the wiccan. It was just like the others, and Stiles was forced to come to the obvious conclusion. One was incidence, two was coincidence, and three was a pattern. Along with the attempt on Jessy, the truth was undeniable. Someone was hunting supernatural beings. Aberrants.

Stiles added the facts up, and then added them again and once more came to the same conclusion: none of the facts added up.

He went through it all one more time.

Fact one: two girls were killing people

Fact two: each of those people possessed supernatural abilities of some kind

Face three: one of murderers was a werewolf, and one was an oculus

Fact four: each victim was found with their brains removed, venom in their bloodstream, and two puncture wounds on their neck

Fact five: the two girls had somehow known Kate Argent

He shook his head. None of it made any sense. What would a werewolf and an oculus need with someone's brain? What the hell was up with the snake bite? And finally, how the hell did Kate Argent fit into this? He may not have had an answer to that last question, but he knew that if Allison's crazy aunt had been involved in any way, things were not good.

Not good at all.

Maybe they were looking at it wrong. Or missing something. Stiles was almost sure of that, that there was some big important piece of the puzzle that was eluding them. Something that would tie everything together. He just needed to figure out what it was.

"Stiles!"

Stiles slowed his walk and turned around, hearing someone call his name. He walked back a few steps, and smiled.

"Hey, Jessy," he said.

The girl smiled at him, and tucked a piece of blond hair behind her ear.

The night they'd found her running from the girls, they'd taken her back to Deaton to get patched up. They'd found out that she was actually in school with them, in the year below. It made Stiles wonder how many other aberrants were going to school with them, that they had no idea about.

Jessy was standing at her locker, with two friends by her side. They stared at Stiles with slightly open mouths and wide eyes. Stiles looked around uncomfortably, wiping his cheek in case there was something on his face. "Stiles, this is Robin and Sandra. Guys, this is Stiles. He's the one who came to my rescue the other night," she glanced at Stiles with a raised eyebrow. "You know, when I was mugged."

"It was nothing," Stiles said. Not out of modesty; truly they'd done nothing but calm the girl down and give her some stinky tea to help her heal.

Robin and Sandra continued to say nothing. Robin leaned in to Jessy and whispered "You never mentioned he was a senior!"

Jessy glared at her friend, shooting them both a look that very clearly said "bitch, be cool!"

"So, anyways, my parents are going to be out of town this weekend, and I figured since the last thing I want right now is to be all alone in my house, I decided to throw a party," Jessy said. "It won't just be juniors, because my cousin is getting us a keg and once word of the free beer gets out, lots of seniors will come,"

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "And you're telling me this to what, make me jealous about your awesome party?"

Jessy nodded soberly. "Yup, that's basically it." She said, shrugging.

Stiles smiled, and Jessy laughed. She punched him lightly on the arm. "Obviously you're invited! It's Saturday night, and I've been telling people to come for nine, but people will just show up whenever so feel free to do the same. You can bring whoever you want, like Boyd and Scott and Isaac, or whoever else."

"Awesome," Stiles said. "I will see you Saturday night, then,"

Jessy smiled, and did the hair-tucked-behind-the-ear thing that Stiles decided was adorable. "See you then," she agreed.

Stiles turned and walked off down the hall. The moment he stepped away, a chorus of giggles erupted behind him.

"Ohmygod he is so cute!"

"I can't believe he's coming to your party-you're so freakin' lucky!"

Stiles halted slightly, fighting the urge to turn around and get confirmation that they were actually talking about him. He forced himself to keep moving, and hoped to hell that his face hadn't turned bright red.


Derek awoke sometime shortly after ten, which was the latest Jackson thought Derek had ever slept in his life.

"Jackson?" Derek mumbled, as if he were surprised to find him there. "What time is it?"

"A little after ten," Jackson said.

Derek sat up, his brow creasing. "Jackson!" He said. "You're supposed to be in school!"

"I know, but I thought I'd take the day off, and we could spend it together," He replied. "I mean, we hardly ever get to spend the day together, just the two of us,"

"You shouldn't skip school. I mean, a class here and there is one thing, but not the whole day,"

Jackson sighed. "I didn't want to leave you," He admitted. Kate Argent, even dead and buried, had a way of effecting Derek. He knew what she'd done to him, and he knew from experience how easy it was for all of that to be brought up again, even by the smallest thing. Dr. Kaya called them "triggers," and Jackson was sure discovering there were killers walking around baring Kate's mark was a big one.

Derek scoffed and turned away. "I'm not some fragile thing that needs protecting," He muttered.

Jackson bit his lip, and decided against verbally disagreeing. Everyone needed to be protected sometimes, and with the right pressure even the strongest person was fragile. Derek was proof of that, but Jackson didn't feel it was the right time to say so. "Fine," He said. "I guess I'll go to school, then,"

Derek looked up sharply, eyebrows raised in surprise. He took a moment and composed himself. "Good," He said, not convincingly.

"I knew it, you want me to stay with you!"

Derek rolled his eyes. "I always want you to stay with me," He said, running his fingers through his hair. "But that doesn't mean I should get what I want,"

"Come on," Jackson said, moving closer to Derek on the bed. He put his hand on the side of Derek's face. "Maybe just this once, you should get what you want," He pressed a light kiss against Derek's mouth. He pulled back, and raised an eyebrow.

Derek's eyes slid down to Jackson's lips. "Maybe," He said. His eyes moved back to meet Jackson's. "But we can't make this a habit, alright?"

Jackson grinned, and leaned back to recapture Derek's lips. "For sure," He promised.

They kissed slowly for a while, almost lazily. They took their time removing each others clothes, drawing out the removal of each article, mouths roaming easily over exposed flesh. It had been a long time since they'd been able to be together like this, without fear of Isaac over-hearing from the next apartment over, and able to take as long as they wanted.

Jackson's mouth trailed down Derek's naked chest, sucking marks into his skin that instantly healed over. He made to move further down Derek's body, but Derek pulled him back up and kissed him.

"Lie back, Jackson," Derek murmured, biting lightly at Jackson's bottom lip. His hand drifted between Jackson's legs, and Jackson stuttered slightly.

Derek climbed off the bed and kneeled in front of Jackson, who made no move to lie back. Derek raised an eyebrow. "I said lie back," He repeated, his tone making it clear this was not a request.

"I like looking at you," Jackson said. "Please?" The way Derek looked kneeling in front of him was too good a sight to pass up. To be fair, a nude Derek doing anything was too good a sight to pass up. Sometimes when he looked at him, Jackson could not understand what he'd done right in his life to deserve someone so beautiful.

Derek smiled and spread Jackson's knees apart. "Alright," He allowed. He pressed a kiss to the inside of Jackson's knee. "You can watch,"

Jackson groaned, and grabbed fists full of blankets as Derek slowly kissed along the inside of his thigh. Before he pressed his mouth against him, Derek looked up at him and smirked slightly. Jackson bit down on his bottom lip as Derek's mouth ghosted over the head of dick, pre-cum dripping down his lips. An involuntarily whimper escaped Jackson's throat.

Finally he took Jackson into his mouth, moving up and down as his fist, slick with lubricant, slid along Jackson's shaft. Jackson's hands found their way into Derek's hair and he held him tightly, begging him not stop.

So of course, Derek did. He pulled back, ignoring Jackson's whines of protest. "Enjoying yourself, Jackson?" Derek asked. Jackson could only moan and whimper in response. "No, I want full words. Do you want me to keep going?"

Jackson nodded quickly, and tried to find his voice. "Yes, please, please keep going—" He pleaded.

Derek smirked. "What will you give me, if I do?"

"Anything," Jackson promised. "You know I'll give you anything you want, Derek please..."

"What I want," Derek began, resuming the movements of his hand on Jackson's cock. Jackson let out a sigh of relief, but still ached for Derek's mouth. "Is for you to come. More than once, until you're absolutely exhausted,"

Jackson nodded again. "Mmm, oh-kay,"

"And then," He continued, slowing the motion of his hand until Jackson began to squirm. "Once you're so worn out you couldn't possibly come again, I want to bed you over this bed and fuck you until you scream,"

It was approaching the evening by the time Jackson fell back onto the bed, completely exhausted and immensely satisfied. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to move for the next week, but even if that proved true it would be totally worth it.

It wasn't just that it felt good to have Derek touch him. Of course it felt good, but it was more than that. It felt... right, some how. It was stupid, and an impossible to explain, but it was the way Jackson felt. Like what they were doing was more than just physical, more then just grinding bodies and searching mouths. It was special, somehow.

"How do you feel?" Derek asked, pulling Jackson into his arms. "Do you need anything?"

"Mmm, I feel great. I just need you," Jackson murmured, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again. "And maybe that really soft blanket I like?" He asked. It was a little chilly in the loft. At least it always seemed that way to him, afterwards.

Derek smiled, and pressed a light kiss against Jackson's mouth. "I'll grab it for you," He said, sliding out of bed. When he came back he wrapped the blanket over Jackson's shoulders. "Here, you should drink something, too," He said, handing him a glass of water.

Jackson nodded, and took a gulp of water. Derek nodded approvingly, and got back into bed with him, wrapping his arms over him once more. Derek kissed his forehead, and ruffled his hair. "You're amazing, you know that?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jackson said. "But I wouldn't mind hearing about it from you,"

Derek grinned. "I mean it, you're... you're too good to me. I don't deserve it,"

"Well, obviously I agree," Jackson said. "That's why I spend all of my time with you, and why I love you more than I used to think it was possible to love someone. I mean, clearly you're terrible, of course," Derek gave him a look, obviously not impressed by his sarcasm. "No, I'm serious. You're really awful. But so I am. And all those times people say things like 'god, you two are so awful, you deserve each other,' they're really talking about us. So you actually do deserve me,"

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Interesting logic," He said.

"Thank you," Jackson said. He stretched out his limbs, thinking that were probably okay to start using again. "Let's go watch something," He said, slowly climbing out of bed. He kept his blanket wrapped around him, and shuffled over to the couch.

"Game of Thrones?" Derek asked, following Jackson over to the couch. They resumed their cuddling once seated, and Derek picked up the remote. "I think there's a new season out that we haven't seen..."

Jackson made a face. "Nah, I've heard some things and I seriously don't like the direction it's going in," He said. "Besides, the books are way better in comparison,"

"You've never read the books," Derek pointed out.

"No, but Stiles has and he can usually be trusted when it comes to nerd things, so..."

"Wow, first Scott, now Stiles?" Derek said, amused. "Who are you going to agree with next?"

"For the record, yes I have matured to the point where I am comfortable agreeing with Scott and Stiles," Jackson said. "However, I am not mature enough for Stiles to ever know that I agreed with him, okay?"

Derek chuckled softly. "Okay, Jackson," He said. "Whatever you say,"