It was weird to lie across Derek on his sofa. Mainly the Derek part. The rough and tough werewolf who was actually all soft edges. More bite than bark, he wanted to say. Derek had his arms around him. His hands were on his back rubbing soothingly along his spine. Stiles had his fingers locked across Derek's chest, his chin uncomfortably resting on them as they had some sort of romantic staring contest. Derek had this lovestruck bliss set to his eyes that made him seem twenty minutes away from a good four hour nap. If Stiles wasn't lazy he would have pecked him on the forehead, but alas, he was perfectly content blinking at him.

Derek's fingertips tickled along his bony spine. The corners of his mouth twitched upward. "What are you thinking about?" The best part of his question was it lacking a corny tone. It was asked in nosy invasive way. Stiles liked that.

"Why do you ask?"

"Emotions."

Duh! Stiles couldn't fight the blush if he tried. "Oh yeah. I forgot."

"You forgot? Your best friend is a werewolf."

"And you. You're…" He sighed and grabbed his bottom lip between his teeth, letting them scrape along it before letting it go with a frown. "What are you to me? And don't retort with that stupid 'what do you want me to be' bullshit," he tacked on with a mocking voice. Stiles hated that and Derek seemed like the kind of guy who would say it.

Derek chuckled at him. "Okay."

Sensing the seriousness of the conversation, they both sat up. They only touched along the length of their leg.

"I want to be with you," he admitted.

Stiles could have wept. He could hear the holy choir sing! About time. He let out a shaky sigh. "I want to be with you."

"We want to be with each other." God, he was cute. Anyone else and Stiles would have been annoyed.

"Right."

"I'm sure you'll agree that staying away from each other hasn't turned out well."

No! That's not what he wanted to hear. This wasn't going in the direction he thought. This isn't what he wanted! Stiles was panicking now. He had to save this before it fell apart.

"But that's not an option."

The beta put a hand just above Stiles' knee and glanced almost shyly at him. "No, it's not."

"So, we're doing this."

"I want to."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"You're seventeen."

Stiles groaned. "Seriously? That is what's stopping you from dating me?"

"Your dad's the sheriff! I have no doubt in my mind that his new best friend, the seasoned werewolf hunter, will give him wolfsbane laced bullets. Assuming he doesn't have some already."

"My birthday is in six months. And you do realize that you can technically date me at seventeen you just can't -" Stiles stopped talking. He stood up and faced the scaredy wolf. He didn't know why. To dominate the predator in the situation? Maybe predator was a bad word choice to use, because "Oh my god!"

"What? What are you raving about?" He reached out to pull the human closer, to sit him back down beside him. Stiles stepped back.

"You don't just want to date me."

"Of course I do." The was a pink high in the man's cheekbones.

"No, because otherwise you wouldn't be in a huff about all this age and sheriff special bullets business."

"Stiles, I want to be with you." Ah! There it was again. He wanted to be with him. You bet your sweet ass you do. Stiles nodded erratically. He was one hundred percent sure he looked like a maniac. The man didn't know how to take his behavior, but he sure knew what he was getting at. He was even redder. "Don't say it," he begged.

Stiles took a deep breath.

Derek groaned.

"You want to fuck me."

The groan turned into a pathetic growl. The werewolf hid his face. A muffled, "you're a moron" was heard. Stiles continued to smirk at him, a little pride puffing his chest out, even when Derek looked back at him like it was a chore. "Why do I like you again?"

"Because of my sex appeal." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Stiles, be serious."

"Dude, I am. I am totally serious right now. It's not my fault that you want to f-"

"Stop!"

Stiles jolted. He took a step back and finally realized the distress Derek was in. So, it was a seriously serious serious moment. It wasn't about his sex appeal at all. This was something more. He took his seat at Derek's side and grabbed a hold of his probably boyfriend's hand.

"Der," Der? Since when? How did that slip out? He continued, "what's wrong?"

He couldn't meet his stare. The conversation was too heavy. He didn't like feeling vulnerable. He was a werewolf, dammit. He was supposed to be strong and almighty. But when? When has he felt like that? He exchanged glances with Stiles and held his hand a little tighter.

"I want you in every way. God help me, but I do."

Stiles breathed out a laugh.

"Given everything that just happened and my track record with jumping into relationships, I need to take this slow. Painfully slow. I don't want that to be a problem."

"Yeah, of course! I mean, it's not a problem at all. Just because we're going slow doesn't mean we can't see each other or hold hands." He brought their joined hands up and waved them awkwardly. "It doesn't mean you can't kiss me like you did earlier," he added a little quieter.

Derek guffawed suddenly and brought Stiles forehead to his lips. "No, it does not."