Final chapter :) though I think I should give a trigger warning. Stiles has mild PTSD from the events with Jennifer and Peter and it starts to come through in this chapter. I don't go into too much detail about it but it is mentioned (not by name) twice. Anyway, despite this warning, this chapter is mostly fluff so I hope you enjoy.
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Stiles woke up only a few hours later in Derek's arms with his boyfriend gazing down at him.
"Hey," he muttered around a yawn and Derek smiled at him, kissing him on the forehead.
"How do you feel?" Derek asked and Stiles thought about the question for a little while. His arm ached but it was more of a dull throb than a searing shooting pain now. It also felt a bit restless from being in a sling all night while he'd slept and Stiles felt the urge to stretch it out and feel his wrist click… but he resisted, knowing that it would do him no good and likely just cause him pain.
"Better," he replied. The memory of what had happened in the woods last night left a sour taste in his mouth and he tried to pass it off as only a bad dream. But no matter how surreal it had been to see that gold energy shooting out of his hands, the feeling it had left in his body was just too real. Stiles had felt alive. It was like he'd been given a huge dose of adrenaline, only without the inevitable memory loss because he remembered every second of it with vivid detail.
Jennifer had knocked him unconscious but he'd woken up just in time to see her send Derek flying back into a tree. With a blink of an eye his world exploded, like the universe had woken up around him: he could feel the energy of the trees and the dirt, the bugs and the clouds, everything. He drew it into himself on instinct and it became tangible. He hadn't meant to set Jennifer on fire, but all he could think of was protecting Derek from her and it had just… happened.
Slowly the energy had drained from his body, sinking into his hands before finally returning back to the ground. When it had left him the world had seemed deafly quiet. The energy had been warm and welcoming and so when it was gone Stiles was cold, outside and in, like his bones were made of ice. He instantly craved for the energy again and that scared him more than Jennifer did.
He felt more like himself again now, though.
"Laura's still here," Derek whispered. "Is that okay?" Stiles nodded and Derek pulled him up to get some breakfast.
"Good morning!" Laura sang as they left the bedroom and entered the kitchen. Stiles had been pretty zoned out for most of last night and he felt his stomach tighten at the realisation that that would forever be Laura's first impression of him. "I'm making some eggs, do you guys want some?" She asked and Derek's eyebrows drew together in a frown.
"You mean, do I want some of my eggs from my cupboard in my apartment? Yes, Laura, I'd love some," Derek muttered as they walked towards the table.
"Oh, don't be grumpy. It's not like you can do anything with eggs other than make an omelette. I, however, can make them anyway you'd like." She beamed. "So, what will it be?"
"An omelette," Derek deadpanned.
"How predictable," Laura scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully. Stiles sat at the table and Derek kissed his cheek before moving to the fridge. "How about you, Stiles?" She asked, turning a bright smile his way.
"Nothing for me, thanks," he replied quietly.
"You're not hungry?" She asked and Stiles shook his head, his stomach was in knots thinking about going to see Talia's 'expert' and finding out what kind of magical being he was.
It was odd to think about: when he was a kid he would have loved to have powers. Hell, last week he would have loved to have powers. But after being attacked by a werewolf, kidnapped by a druid, and accidentally setting someone on fire… he was a bit nervous.
"Where's Mum?" Derek asked his sister as she handed him a jug with two cracked eggs inside.
"In DC. She left after you fell asleep. But she told me to tell you that, when you come home for your birthday in a couple of weeks, that you have to bring Stiles with you. She wants to meet you properly," Laura said turning to face Stiles. "But she thought it might be a bit too overwhelming right now after everything that just happened."
Stiles smiled. He was thankful, at least, that he still had a few weeks left to prepare before he met the rest of Derek's family. Stiles watched Derek and Laura make their breakfasts and he stood up.
"Do you have my apartment keys?" He asked, taking a quick look around the kitchen and Derek looked over to him with a frown?
"You want to go up there?" His voice was carefully blank but Stiles could read the hesitation between his words. He understood why Derek would be cautious… Stiles didn't exactly feel thrilled at the idea of going back to the place where he had been attacked, not once but twice. But, he lived there. He couldn't exactly avoid the place.
"Yeah, I need to get my wallet and phone," he replied awkwardly and, after a long few seconds, Derek nodded.
"Top drawer by the door."
"I'll be back down soon," Stiles replied with a weak smile. He grabbed his keys and left Derek's apartment as calmly as possible. Walking back into 3D was more difficult than he thought it would be. He stared at the sign on his door for at least a minute before he finally got the nerve up to unlock it.
Stiles didn't quite know what he was expecting to see… but everything was still in its place: there wasn't a single overturned chair or broken glass and that was somehow more disturbing than if it had looked like a crime scene. He'd been abducted from this room and there wasn't anything to suggest it'd happened. His hands were shaking as he walked to get his phone and wallet from the table. He accidently pressed the power button and the screen turned on; it was dull and there was a low battery warning so he unsteadily grabbed his charger from the plug at the far wall.
He couldn't think of anything else that he needed so he turned quickly and began to march out of the room. On his way out he trod on something that felt like fine grit underneath his shoe, he looked down and saw a purple powder sprinkled lightly over his floor. For a second he felt calm; finally, some proof of what had happened here… but then he remembered all too clearly the way that Jennifer had made it float in the air and Stiles felt his throat close up.
He jumped away from the powder, stumbling a bit as he quickly made his way out of his apartment without another look back. He slammed the door closed behind him and fumbled with the keys to get it locked, which was made an even more difficult task by the fact that his dominant arm was now in a sling, before finally slumping against the door. He took a deep breath to calm himself down again before climbing to his feet and taking the elevator back down to the ground floor.
He was conscious of the way his heart was beating a little too quickly as he walked back into apartment 1A, but thankfully neither werewolf in the room mentioned it. Stiles plugged his phone into one of the kitchen sockets and fell into the chair next to Derek.
"How's your arm feeling today, Stiles?" Laura asked with a wide smile and Stiles resisted the urge to shrug.
"It's throbbing a bit but much better, thank you," he replied as nonchalantly as possible.
"I'm glad," she said sincerely. "Once it's out of the sling I'll send you a video of shoulder exercises that you should try, to help get some muscle strength back," she commented and then got up from the table to wash her plate at the sink. Laura put the plate on the drying rack and left the room. She came back a moment later with an overnight bag and told them she was going back home. She hugged Derek and then, surprisingly, Stiles before leaving.
After that, Derek helped Stiles out of his clothes and they showered together, though it was more for convenience… there wasn't anything sexual about it. They got dressed and Stiles checked his phone as Derek got ready to leave for Beacon Hills.
Scott had texted him while they'd been in the shower and so he unlocked his phone, with difficulty because apparently he wasn't very good at typing with only the use of his left hand, and read the text. It was odd to realise that yesterday he had been kidnapped and almost sacrificed, with his shoulder dislocated in the process, and yet his best friend had no idea about any of it. It felt like they were leading two completely different lives now and it was… disconcerting, at best.
From: Scott
Received: 7:11am
Craving five guys. Want to get burgers with me at lunch?
To: Scott
Sent: 11:26am
I can't today. I'm going back home for a few hours
Stiles slowly typed out the text and stared at the screen until Scott replied.
From: Scott
Received: 7:26am
Is everything ok?
To: Scott
Sent: 11:28am
Pretty much, I'll explain tomorrow
Stiles felt something twist in his stomach as he skirted around what had happened yesterday. He wished he could tell Scott the truth but he would have to get Derek, Erica, Sarah and probably Allison to agree to it first. He would have to talk to them. Soon.
Until then, he just had to come up with a lie to explain to Scott about his impromptu visit back home and dislocated shoulder…
"Hey. You ready to go?" Derek asked as he came back in the room with a small, seemingly empty, duffel bag. Stiles stared at it and tried to quirk his eyebrow at his boyfriend but probably failed miserably.
"What's that for?" Derek looked at the bag and then back to Stiles.
"Snacks," he replied as though it was obvious.
"You don't eat snacks…" Stiles pointed out and unplugged his phone from the wall, locking it and shoving it into his pocket along with his wallet.
"No. But you do. And Laura informed me that a road trip requires junk food." Derek's face was completely serious and Stiles couldn't help but smile as he shrugged his one good shoulder.
"She's not wrong."
"Good," Derek smiled. "So, you ready to go?"
"Yep." Derek turned to leave the kitchen and Stiles squinted his eyes at his boyfriend's back before following him. "Aren't you going to fill up the bag?" He asked, confused and Derek shook his head.
"Apparently beetroot chips and energy bars don't make good junk food," he muttered. "So we have to stop at a shop on the way."
"But… if we have to go to a shop anyway then why don't we just use the carrier bags that they give us instead of a duffel bag that looks more like it should be carrying weapons rather than tasty treats?" Stiles bickered and smiled when Derek turned a disapproving look his way.
"Because this way is better for the environment," he pointed out and Stiles nodded, making his face serious.
"Of course."
"I'm not going to get drawn into this argument with you again, Stiles," Derek sighed and Stiles grinned; this was the most normal he had felt all week.
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When Derek and Stiles arrived in Beacon Hills it was almost 10am and so Derek explained that they'd be meeting Deaton at his work. This was the first time that Stiles was hearing the name of the guy that they were supposed to talk to and he found himself frowning at the familiarity of it.
It shouldn't surprise him that he might know the so called 'magic expert' in Beacon Hills, considering how small the town was, but it did. It was an odd feeling thinking that someone he possibly knew since he was a baby, maybe one of his former neighbours or an ex-teacher, could have had this secret second life.
Stiles balked as Derek pulled the Camaro up outside the vet's office. He looked from the building ahead of them and back to his boyfriend in the driver's seat with a slack jaw as he suddenly remembered how he knew that name.
"Are you kidding me? Deaton as in the vet?" He asked in a hushed voice and Derek shrugged.
"Seems like. You know him?"
"Scott used to work for him." In his mind Stiles had been picturing a guy with long curly hair who dressed in hemp clothes and listened to new-age music. And that was definitely not Dr. Deaton. Deaton was just so… normal. Derek took Stiles' hand in his own and gave it a brief squeeze.
"Are you ready?" He asked after a moment of Stiles staring blankly out of the window and Stiles blinked a few times before nodding.
"Yeah. Let's get this over with." Derek dropped his hand so they could both climb out of the car, but once they were standing next to each other he reached out and grabbed it again. Stiles interlocked their fingers and allowed the skin on skin contact to soothe his growing nerves.
For a moment he wondered if the werewolf pain magic that Derek had told him about worked on emotional pain too, or if he was just relaxing because it made him feel better to know that Derek was there for him. He wanted to ask but they were soon inside the clinic and several of Deaton's clients were sat only feet away from them in the waiting room.
Derek led Stiles to the desk where a young boy, probably only fifteen, smiled at them.
"Can I help you?" The boy asked in a fake-cheerful voice.
"Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski," Derek muttered. "Deaton is expecting us."
"He's just with someone at the moment but I'll let him know that you're here," the boy said and retreated into the back of the clinic. Stiles and Derek waited a couple of minutes at the front desk before Deaton came into view. After saying goodbye to a man holding a cat-carrier, Deaton turned his smile on Stiles and Derek. He opened the gate and ushered them through.
"Mr. Stilinski," Deaton said after they took a seat in his office. "It's good to see you again."
"And you," he replied on instinct.
"So, Derek's mother filled me in on what happened after I left. But I would like to know from your own words, Stiles… if you are comfortable with that, obviously," Deaton said as he made himself comfy in his chair. Derek squeezed his hand again and Stiles nodded. He looked down at his and Derek's interlocked fingers because it was easier to explain to his boyfriend than it was to Deaton.
The words were difficult to find but Stiles eventually gave them a fairly decent account of what happened the previous night. This was the first time that Derek was hearing about the rush of power and how cold the magic had made him feel once it left and he knew that his boyfriend would have been dragging him into his arms by now if they were alone. But, unfortunately, they weren't. When he finished his short explanation his eyes skipped to Derek's face before he looked back to Deaton.
The vet nodded minutely before standing back up and going towards his bookshelf. He ran his fingers along the hardback books there for a moment as he spoke.
"This explains a lot..." he muttered, still searching for the right book title.
"Care to share your wisdom there, Doc.?" Stiles muttered and saw Derek smirk at him. Deaton seemed to find what he was looking for and he turned back to the two of them with a polite smile.
"You're a spark," he said as though that meant anything to Stiles. "It's similar to a druid in many ways except your abilities are much stronger and more innate." He skimmed through the large book for a moment as he spoke and Stiles frowned when he saw that the dustcover was for a cookbook.
Deaton found the page he was looking for and passed it to Stiles, who had to drop Derek's hand to be able to hold it. He realised pretty quickly that the dustcover was there just to draw attention away from book as it most definitely didn't hold recipes inside its pages. Stiles' eyes skimmed the page in front of him without taking any of the information in as his attention just kept being drawn back to the drawing at the top: a sketch of a woman surrounded by a glow of golden energy looking ethereal and dangerous.
"You're very powerful, Stiles, and very rare too. I'd love to help you explore your abilities," Deaton said, sounding almost excited, but Stiles just felt sick.
"Powerful? How powerful?" He mumbled and Derek brushed his hand over Stiles'.
"That's hard to say, exactly. Like all magical beings you have a certain amount of power that you can tap into right away, but to find the full extent of your magic would take training: the more you practice the more your powers will grow." Stiles placed the book back down on Deaton's desk and took a deep breath but Deaton kept talking. "The first thing we would need to do is to switch the emotional trigger from pain to something less harmful…"
"What do you mean?" Derek asked.
"Well, from what your mother and Stiles have both told me, it sounds like his link to his power is through pain. Emotional and, perhaps, physical: emotional pain when you were both separated which allowed him to recall the memories which were taken from him, and again when he saw the Darach hurt you in the woods which caused him to reach into the earth's energy to protect you."
Deaton turned to Stiles before continuing, but Stiles couldn't make eye contact anymore.
"And it's possible, Stiles, that the physical pain from your dislocated shoulder caused your magic to reach out to the mate bond and call for Derek's help," Deaton summarised. "But, obviously, we don't want to cause you pain so that you can use your magic; so we'll just have to find another emotion that your powers work well enough with to allow you to practice."
"So, for now, as long as I don't let myself get hurt then I won't accidently use it?" Stiles asked and Deaton frowned before nodding.
"I suppose that would work, yes."
"Good. I need some air," Stiles announced and stood up. Deaton looked surprised by his reaction but Derek was already moving to follow him. Stiles heard Deaton's voice as he left the office but didn't make out what he was saying and didn't turn back to listen. He knew it was rude but he just really needed to get out of there. Three times. He'd used magic three times without ever meaning to. And that was just what they knew about, who knew how many times he had used magic in the past!
"Are you okay?" Derek asked a moment later having followed him outside. Stiles nodded but then he noticed that Derek was holding Deaton's book.
"Why do you have that?" He asked in a voice that was supposed to be angry but just came out sounding broken. Derek unlocked his car and threw the book onto the backseat before bringing Stiles in for a hug.
"He said you could borrow it," Derek replied in a soft and warm voice and Stiles closed his eyes as he sunk into his boyfriend's arms. "And I know you don't want to read it right now, but I thought that you might change your mind. If this time next week you still don't want to read it then I'll send it back." Stiles nodded against Derek's chest and stayed there until his racing heartbeat calmed down and he felt less sick again.
"I don't want to use the magic again," he explained without opening his eyes or moving away in the slightest. "Not ever." Derek ran his hand up and down Stiles' back and nodded.
"Why not?" Derek asked after a pause and Stiles bit his lip before finally pulling back. He looked up into Derek's concerned big brown eyes and admitted the thing that had been scaring him ever since the golden energy had faded from his hands last night.
"Because I don't want to become like her. Or Peter. I don't want to lose myself because of my power," he admitted and felt his eyes start to sting.
"Stiles… you could never become like them," Derek said, so sure that what he was saying was true. Stiles felt his tears slip past his eyes and Derek pulled him back into a hug, allowing Stiles to cry on his shoulder.
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When Stiles calmed down and pulled himself back together they climbed inside Derek's Camaro and sat for a moment as they let the heater take away the lingering chill from the winter air. Stiles' eyes flickered to the wing mirror and he noticed red spots on his cheeks and forehead from crying, which he tried to rub away with no success. As he was staring at his pitiful reflection, Derek spoke up.
"So, it's only half ten and we both have the rest of the day off already. What do you feel like doing?" He asked and Stiles bit his lip.
"I want to see my dad," he answered honestly in a quiet voice. He'd been through a lot of stress and pain since he last saw his dad at Christmas: having been attacked by Peter, getting his memories about said attack wiped, being dumped, thinking he was losing his mind, remembering the attack, being kidnapped and almost murdered by a psychopath, and now finding out that he has magic…
Yeah, he knew that he couldn't tell his father about any of that because it sounded insane and would likely end up with him getting locked up in Eichen House… (Which, according to Derek, wasn't exactly the best place to go to get away from magical psychopaths since it apparently housed all of California's criminals that were too dangerous and magical to be held in a regular jail.) But, even though he couldn't tell his dad the truth, he still wanted to see him again.
"We could do that," Derek said slowly and Stiles felt himself smile.
"Really?" He asked and Derek nodded.
"Sure. Why not."
"You're the best boyfriend," Stiles said and kissed Derek quickly. Derek turned the key and started the car before driving to the gas station to top up his car. When Derek got out of the car and started to refuel, Stiles awkwardly got the phone from his pocket, struggling because of his shoulder in the sling, and called his dad's mobile. It rang for a little while before the Sheriff finally picked up.
"Hey, Stiles, How are you?" He asked with an obvious smile on his face.
"I'm good," Stiles said automatically and was reminded that that wasn't quite true when his arm throbbed suddenly. "Mostly, anyway. Look, I'm actually in Beacon Hills…"
"What have you done?" His dad sighed and Stiles frowned down at his lap.
"Nothing!" He replied, affronted. "I just… had to pick up a rare book for my course," he lied after a glance back at the book on Deaton's backseat of Derek's car. "But I've got it now and I thought we could go for an early lunch or something. You do have the day off today, right?" He asked as he struggled to remember what his father's work times were for this month.
"Yes, I'm free," his dad said. "And I'd love to grab some food. How far away are you?"
"Gas station on Main's Street. So I'll be at the house in ten minutes," Stiles answered and they said goodbye before he ended the call, just as Derek climbed back into the driver's seat. Stiles gave his boyfriend instructions to get from the petrol station to his house and as the minutes ticked by he became more and more nervous. By the time they got to his street he was sweating.
"Stiles, what's wrong?" Derek frowned and Stiles gave him a nervous smile. "You didn't tell him I was coming, did you?" He guessed and Stiles shook his head.
"He doesn't even know you exist…" Stiles admitted just as Derek pulled up in front of the house. Derek shook his head as he looked up the driveway at the patrol car in the drive.
"Did you at least tell him that you're bi?"
Nope. "Of course," he lied and Derek closed his eyes tight before turning off the car. Stiles waited but Derek said nothing else and so they both climbed out. The tension was thick as they walked down the path and towards Stiles' childhood home. He opened the door and called out for his dad.
"In the kitchen!" Came his father's reply and Stiles closed the front door behind them before leading Derek further into his house. He entered the kitchen first with Derek trailing behind him and lingering in the doorway.
"Hey, Dad," he muttered with fake-calm. His dad was just rinsing out a cup and facing away from Stiles, after putting the cup on the drying board he turned around with a wide grin on his face which flattened almost instantly when he saw Stiles' arm was in a sling. Then, after a long second, the sheriff's eyes landed on the stranger in the doorway. "This is Derek," Stiles continued after a deep breath. "My boyfriend."
Stiles waited and watched for any kind of negative reaction, but his dad seemed to be keeping his face blank on purpose. He swallowed and bit his lip to stop him from babbling, hoping that his dad would just say something. After a second, Derek stepped further into the room and offered the sheriff his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Sir," he said politely with a charming smile. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Wish that I could say the same," the sheriff muttered but shook Derek's hand anyway. His face was still carefully blank, though, and once he dropped Derek's hand his eyes flitted back to Stiles. "What happened to your arm, Son?"
"I took a bad fall while practicing lacrosse with Isaac yesterday," he answered without pause, using the lie that he had made up during the car ride to Beacon Hills and had already talked Isaac into backing up. "It was dislocated. But Derek's sister was visiting, and she's a doctor, so she popped it back in free-of-charge," he ended with a smile but the sheriff just frowned at his son as though he was trying to figure out whether he was lying. Stiles had the biggest urge to start babbling but he knew that the more information you gave the weaker the lie sounded. Short and sweet was the way to go.
"So, how long have you been seeing each other?" He finally asked and Stiles shrugged, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.
"About four months," Stiles attempted to say nonchalantly and his dad lifted an eyebrow in surprise, the only emotion apart from suspicion that he had let slip so far. "So… that early lunch is sounding pretty good right now." Stiles laughed stiffly and after a moment the sheriff nodded and took a step back.
"Right. Let me just grab my wallet." Stiles' dad momentarily left the room and Stiles had just enough time to mime the words 'I'm sorry' to Derek before they followed. Outside, the sheriff noticed Derek's Camaro parked in front of the house and he frowned. "That yours?" He asked, his tone gruff even though his words didn't seem very threatening.
"Yes, Sir." Derek's politeness didn't seem to be getting him very far with Stiles' dad, though.
"Little ostentatious, isn't it?" He muttered and they all climbed into the patrol car. The ride to the diner was awkward and quiet, but it got worse when they got to there and Stiles' dad stared Derek down as he began asking him a relentless amount of questions.
They were all perfectly normal things for a father to ask, like how old Derek was and what he did for a living to afford such a nice car, but the way that he said them made it seem like he was testing Derek for weaknesses.
After they received their drinks and ordered their main course, Derek excused himself to go to the toilets, though Stiles wouldn't be surprised if he was just retreating to a safe space where the sheriff wouldn't bombard him with questions.
Stiles waited until Derek was out of earshot, not that it mattered for werewolves anyway, before turning on his Dad. He glared at him for a moment and the sheriff just shrugged.
"What?"
"Don't act like that; you know what you're doing!" Stiles accused. "Stop treating Derek like he's a bad guy."
"I'm just worried about you, Stiles. I'm looking out for you," his dad replied earnestly before taking a sip of his drink and Stiles mentally prepared himself for what he was about to say and how his father might react.
"Look, I'm sorry for springing my coming out on you like this. But Derek is great, he really is, and just because I'm dating a guy doesn't mean you have to worry about me," Stiles announced slowly, carefully selecting each word. But instead of some biting comment that would probably rip Stiles up inside, his dad just laughed. It was a pretty loud, full-belly, laugh too and it made Stiles blush as he noticed everyone in the diner was turning to look their way.
"Stiles," his father said fondly, showing him none of the anger that he'd been expecting. "I've known you are gay for years. Of course that's not what worries me…" and, like that, Stiles deflated. "What worries me is that you've apparently been dating this guy for four months and you never so much as mentioned his name to me. I want to know what's so awful about him that you felt the need to hide your first serious relationship from me. I just want to make sure that he had nothing to do with that," the sheriff gestured to Stiles' dislocated shoulder as he finished and Stiles shook his head violently.
"He didn't hurt me, Dad, he wouldn't. I swear!" Stiles insisted and after a long moment his dad accepted the answer. "I only kept him a secret because… I don't know why I kept him a secret, actually. I was just worried how you would react, I guess. But he's a really great guy, Dad," Stiles ended sincerely and the sheriff eventually nodded.
"Okay, just… please don't think that you have to keep anything from me, Stiles. I love you no matter what."
"I love you too, Dad," he ended and the sheriff pulled him into a quick hug, careful not to squeeze his injured shoulder. After that, the meal was moderately normal. There were still the odd awkward moment but his dad wasn't going out of his way to make Derek feel uncomfortable anymore.
Stiles soaked up family time with his dad for a little longer after they finished eating but all-too-soon they were getting back into the patrol car and saying goodbye outside of his childhood home. The sheriff hugged Stiles goodbye and then shook Derek's hand, leaving him with a friendly "nice to meet you, Son" before Stiles and Derek climbed into the Camaro and drove away.
Stiles watched the image of his family home grow smaller and smaller in the wing mirror and he sighed as his nerves about going back to his apartment began to return.
"I suppose that wasn't too bad," Derek admitted after a moment. "Though I'm thankful I'll never have to do it again," he joked and his smile was so relaxed and beautiful that it took Stiles' breath away.
"Huh?" He asked, momentarily dazzled by his boyfriend.
"I told you, Stiles. You're my mate. You're it for me. I want only you for the rest of my life." Derek's words made Stiles' heart beat faster and he smiled goofily.
"That sounds nice," he admitted. It was kind of strange, actually. He was only eighteen, the thought of being with the same man for the rest of his life should scare him… but it didn't. They drove back to the apartment building and it was only when they were parked up and about to head inside that Stiles' nerves returned. He took a deep breath and moved to climb out of the car, but Derek stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist.
"Move in with me," he said suddenly and Stiles blinked for a moment.
"What?"
"I know that you don't want to go back up there," damn werewolf senses, "and I understand why. But maybe you'd feel safer in my apartment. With me," Derek finished and for a moment Stiles wasn't sure how to respond. He imagined what it would be like to wake up in Derek's arms every morning and have someone waiting for him when he came home from a stressful day. He couldn't help but smile at the thought and so he nodded.
"I'd like that," he replied and leaned forward just enough to brush his lips against his boyfriend's. His mate's.
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I've been writing this fanfic for just over 2 years now and I can't believe it's finally complete.
But, Stiles' and Derek's story is far from over. I have two sequels planned: the first is a short oneshot that I'll post on Valentine's day, and the other will be another multichapter fic (probably about 40-50k words). But neither of them will be posted on here because I've decided to stp using this site and switch over completely to AO3. If you want to read more of my work then m username is pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel. Though you might occasionally see it written as (SourWolfie)pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel or (ThunderSnow)pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel, depending on which pseud name I used. All three of them are me.
Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this and will enjoy the future installments. I'd love to read your thoughts so leave me a comment :)