Author's note: So here's the annotated Derek POV chapter. It's going to be a one-off but it was a lot of fun to write.

Warning for medical inaccuracies (= I make some stuff up and ask you to suspend your disbelief)

DEREK POV

Stiles kept fussing over Liam all day. When the pizza order came in with all Liam's favorite toppings, Derek just rolled his eyes, but when it was followed by a hoard of chocolate ice cream and a marathon of Naruto, he couldn't resist the feeling of fond amusement. Stiles was gonna be such a helicopter parent one day. Derek could picture him spoiling their kids rotten. Uhm, his kids. Did I say 'their'? I meant 'his', of course!

"You didn't have to go full mother hen on Liam," he told Stiles, when they finally got to bed that day, "I wasn't that hard on the kid."

"I know."

"You do?" Derek raised an eyebrow. The way Stiles acted all evening one would think the boy was tortured within an inch of his life and then some.

"Yeah, Liam said you spank like an Omega chick."

Huh?

"Oh really? Perhaps I should practice on you more often then." Derek pounced on top of Stiles and pinned his wrists above his head. He loved how Stiles always struggled against his grip. Not because he didn't want to be restrained, but because he got off knowing that he couldn't break free unless Derek let him. "Though I might consider going easy on you if you tell the truth," he purred against his ear. He knew full well Stiles was eavesdropping, but he let it go knowing how much Stiles was worrying.

"Ok, I might have been listening behind the door. I know, I know, don't give me that look, I was freaking out. I'm not even sure who got more traumatized by that punishment."

"I'm fine," Derek said.

Stiles gave him a scandalized look, "I meant myself!"

"You poor thing," Derek cooed, softening the sarcasm by kissing his neck and enjoying the shivers it produced. "I guess I'll just have to take your mind off of this traumatizing event."

"Please do."

And Derek did.

And then one more time just to be sure.

...

The hushed giggling voices woke Derek up at night. He checked the clock and frowned. It was almost 3 AM and certainly not the time for social gatherings on a school night. School night? God, he sounded like mom.

Derek's chest squeezed with hurt like it always did whenever something reminded him of his family. Two years might have dulled the pain, but it was still hard to deal with sometimes. Especially this time of the year.

One thing got better though. The hollow empty feeling wasn't as prominent anymore. Who would have thought that those two troublemakers (and a cat) could fill in the void and give Derek something else to care about, other than his lust for vengeance.

Oh whatever, he could totally bust their party and send them to bed, but why ruin the fun? Derek has had enough of being the bad guy for one day. If they fall asleep in class tomorrow, well that's on them.

...

In the morning Derek forgot all about it and jumped straight into the shower. He had a board meeting first thing in the morning. Gah, he hated those. Instead of doing something productive, he will have to run around in suit and tie, justifying his decisions to a bunch of clueless investors.

He was quickly reminded of the nightly meeting when the green stream of sticky water hit him square in the face. The accompanying fruity smell of Kool-aid might have been nice, but the overall experience was still very subpar for a refreshing shower. A growl ripped through his throat and the subsequent giggles coming from the hallway only increased the annoyance. His first instinct was to unscrew the showerhead and shove it up somebody's ass, but he forced himself to take a deep breath and step out of the shower without damaging anything in the process. Fucking kids!

The green dye was dripping on the towel he wrapped around his hips, but Derek didn't care. Of course, he could have cleaned the showerhead himself and then take a normal shower, but that would let the transgressors get away with it.

"Hulk, is that you?" Stiles called, bending in half from laughter. Liam was restraining himself a little better, covering his mouth with both hands, though his eyes were giving him away.

Derek tried to unclench his jaw. And his fists. And most of the muscles. "Hilarious. Fix the mess in the shower before I go SMASH on you both," he growled unamused. "Aren't you a bit old for such childish pranks?"

"That was my thought exactly!" Stiles exclaimed. "But then I saw your face…"

Derek felt the familiar twitching in his palm as he narrowed his eyes at the brat. Thankfully, Liam pushed Stiles inside the bathroom and away from Derek's reach before he had the time to act on his urges.

After finally taking a normal shower, Derek retreated back to the room to put on his "I know what I'm doing" persona, also known as "the big bad boss attire", in other words - suit and tie.

As he stood in front of the mirror tying his tie, his mind immediately traveled to the times when his dad did it for him. When the future of the company didn't weigh on his shoulders and all he had to worry about were grades and pretty Omegas. He closed his eyes letting the memory wash over him.

The sound of laughter coming from the kitchen brought him back to the present. Derek smiled at the domesticity of it. His normally grim and lonely apartment was now filled with cheerful voices and laughter. Derek felt… content? At ease? Happy? He thought he would never experience that feeling again.

Alright, that might have been a bit premature. Derek longed to finally get his hands on coffee and some breakfast, so after fixing his business look he quickly jumped into the bathroom to finish it off with his hair. A couple efficient swipes of the hair gel and he was done.

"You gotta be fucking KIDDING ME!" he yelled when he looked at his hands and they were… you guessed it - green. And sparkly! Just like his hair... And of course, he already managed to smudge his white shirt with it. I'm gonna fucking kill them! Furious he charged into the kitchen only to be met with another burst of laughter.

"Oh, is it Christmas already?" Stiles cackled, "Cause I kinda want to put presents under you."

"O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches," Liam sang in between giggles.

"You think this is funny?! Look at my shirt!" Derek snarled, far from the festive mood, "I'm gonna be late for the board meeting because of your stupid joke!"

"I thought it's your company," Stiles replied, unconcerned. "Besides, this look certainly becomes you. It's very, uhm.. "

"Fashionable!" Liam suggested.

"Yeah fashionable! You look like Billie Eilish!"

"So you're a tough guy, like it really rough guy, just can't get enough guy…" Liam sang again.

But Derek actually has had enough. "You little shits, I'll show you 'tough guy'! Stiles, that corner, Liam this one," he barked, hand pointing to the respective corners. "If I hear as much as a peep…"

"But who is gonna make breakfast then?" Stiles argued, completely unbothered about the looming threat.

"Well, thanks to you I don't have any time for breakfast anyway!" Derek snapped. "If I come back and don't see you with your noses in the corner, I'll make sure you won't sit down for a week!" He didn't wait long enough to see if he was obeyed and ran back to the shower to get the sparkly green mess out of his hair.

When he got back to the bedroom to change into a new shirt, Stiles was sitting on the bed with a mug of coffee and a sandwich in his hand. "Don't be mad," he said before Derek had the chance to start acting on his threat. "Here, eat something before you go."

Derek silently accepted the sandwich and the coffee, his irritation somewhat mollified by Stiles's consideration.

"We didn't mean to cause too much trouble, just to re-establish the status quo."

"And by status quo you mean the two of you being the insufferable brats that make my life harder?"

"I think the word you were looking for is 'better' or 'brighter'," Stiles replied cheekily. "You were worrying about Liam, I thought this would show that he doesn't hold a grudge."

"I never expected Liam to hold a grudge, to begin with! And you were worrying about him, not me."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Stiles threw his own phrase at him.

"Well, it would certainly help if your giggling at 3 in the morning wasn't so damn loud!"

Stiles actually looked guilty after that. Finally, some remorse! "Alright, alright. Stop grumbling, I'll make it up to you," he wrapped his hands around Derek hugging him from behind.

Derek felt the remnants of irritation evaporate into the ether. He just hoped the Beta will never learn about the effect he was having on him, otherwise, the brat will play him like a fiddle. "You better," he groused, tying his tie for a second time today. "You should invite your dad for dinner."

The hands let go of him so that the head could peak from behind his shoulder. "O-kaay? Where is this coming from?" Stiles asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Your dad invited us for burgers, remember, and we never went. You haven't seen him for a while, I'm sure he misses you. Besides, we should tell him that we are together now."

And you should never take your family for granted, he added silently.

"Ok, sure." Stiles looked surprised, probably wondering what suddenly brought this on, but didn't ask again. Derek didn't feel the need to explain himself as he gave a couple of finishing tugs to perfect the tie knot, the feeling of nostalgia hitting anew.

It wasn't much of a surprise that Liam wasn't in the corner either. The boy probably figured that if Stiles got away with it, then he would too. Though he was definitely a bit more nervous than Stiles was.

"You two got lucky this time," Derek growled pointing a finger at the two culprits. "Next time I won't be so forgiving."

"Aren't you late? Just go already," Stiles waved him off as if he was a pest.

Derek tilted his head, pondering whether he had time for some additional ass-kicking, but figured that setting the brat straight was not worth further delay. As he closed the door he could hear them bursting into singing "O Christmas tree" again.

"You are both GROUNDED! FOREVER!" Derek yelled from the elevator, fighting his face from breaking into a smile. And losing.

xxx

Stiles seemed nervous about his dad coming over. They agreed that they won't be involving the Sheriff in the investigation for now, though each had a different reason for it. Stiles was fretting about his dad finding out about his reckless gun-waving and Derek expected to be chewed out for putting Stiles in danger. Or worse. His dad could contact BRP and demand Stiles got a different RA, because Derek posed danger for his son. And Derek wouldn't really blame him if he did.

Stiles made lasagna and a vegetable salad for dinner, and it was surprisingly edible. Mr. Stilinski greeted Derek without a trace of the previous animosity, which suggested that Stiles already informed him about the shift in their relationship. He did get a quizzing look when the Sheriff noticed the bullet holes in the wall, but Derek ignored it, diverting his attention elsewhere.

The conversation flowed easily, with Stiles prattling about his exams, and his dad sharing curious and often embarrassing stories from his childhood. Though Stiles was a good sport about it, laughing it off with the rest of them. There was an awkward moment when Mr. Stilinski asked how his MRI last week went, and Stiles lied that it was fine and quickly changed the topic. Derek raised an eyebrow at him, and Stiles just subtly shook his head.

Liam never showed up, using some lame excuse about studying, though Derek had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that Stiles's dad worked in law enforcement. Either way, they didn't press the kid.

When the Sheriff left, the table was cleared and all the dishes were washed, Stiles quickly excused himself to the shower to avoid the pending conversation, but Derek was not having it.

"Not so fast, Stilinski. There's an elephant in the room that needs addressing. What was that about the medical exam that you supposedly went to last week?"

"It's the FTD testing. The blood test and MRI that I'm supposed to go for every 2 years to keep track of the mutation that caused mom's illness."

"And why didn't you go?"

"I had exams."

Avoiding eye contact, elevated heart rate = an obvious lie.

"So you rescheduled?"

"Uhm…"

Lie to me again, I dare you.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Cause it's unnecessary."

Derek felt a surge of irritation over Stiles' dismissive tone. He didn't know much about FTD, but what he knew was enough to produce a queasy feeling in his stomach.

"Your father doesn't seem to share that opinion," he replied, forcing his voice to remain calm. "Why is that?"

"I'm an adult and this is my life, he doesn't have a say in this."

Here it was. The defiance that on a good day amused Derek and on a bad one drove him absolutely crazy. It was the biggest difference between dating a submissive Omega and a know-it-all Beta.

"I'm your boyfriend and your Responsible Alpha, do I have a say in this?"

"See, that's exactly the reason I didn't tell you!"

"So you admit you have been lying to me. Good, I'm glad we are on the same page."

Stiles pulled a face, clearly annoyed at getting cornered like this. "Derek, that's..."

But Derek didn't let him finish, "Now, tell me why you are avoiding the testing," he said sternly.

"Why do you think?! I don't want to find out that I have it!" Stiles retorted, "And I hate needles."

"Fair enough. If they find that your blood developed that mutation, what happens next?"

"Well, nothing really." Stiles scratched the back of his head somewhat awkwardly. "I mean, I'll have to take some pills for the rest of my life to prevent it from developing or at least slow it down."

"And if you don't take the drugs?"

"Then it will probably progress faster."

"So let me get this straight…" Stiles' grimace told him that his husband was well aware of the trap he just set up for himself. "You are afraid to know, even though catching it in time could prevent it from developing, allowing you to lead a normal life. Oh, and you are afraid of needles."

"It sounds stupid when you put it this way."

"Because it is. As well as highly irresponsible."

"Fine, I'll schedule a visit."

"Good." Derek pushed the chair away from the table and beckoned Stiles with his hand, "Now come here."

"Why?" The way his voice went up an octave suggested that he knew exactly why.

Derek just gave him a pointed look and patted his knee.

Rosy color crept up on Stiles's cheeks, as he shook his head in protest. "No, Derek. I said I'll go."

"Yes, you will. But right now you are going over my knee." Derek watched Stiles swallow nervously, his eyes flicking to the door, probably contemplating if it was worth a try. "It will be worse if I have to chase you," Derek said sternly.

"But… you can't."

"Let's put that theory to the test, shall we?"

"No, I mean.. I thought…."

"You thought that now that we are together I won't discipline you?" Derek offered helpfully. "You lied to me, Stiles. Repeatedly. That alone would be enough. And the fact that you did it so that you could hazard with your life, makes it all the worse."

"I wasn't hazarding! Every two years is just a recommendation. Not to mention that statistically, this type of FTD is familial in less than 20% of the cases. You are making it sound as if I was to die tomorrow."

"You understand all that, and yet you childishly avoid it and lie to your dad and to me about it."

"I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell you…"

"You really wanna go with that?" Derek waited for Stiles to drop his gaze guiltily. "Now give me at least one good reason, why you shouldn't be punished. And 'I don't want to be spanked' is not one." To be honest, Derek would love to forget the whole discipline agenda and proceed in a more pleasurable direction (he was pretty sure that Stiles would be down for some kinky impact play), but he doubted Stiles had a legit excuse for his behavior.

The way Stiles bit his lip, his face a perfect picture of contrition, proved as much. He looked so cute Derek had a hard time keeping his resolve. His primal instincts were telling him to provide his distressed mate with hugs and cuddles, but he knew that something else needed to be done first.

"I'm sorry," Stiles muttered, sending him a pleading look. And damn if it didn't kill the remnants of Derek's anger. He knew he was still gonna follow through because it was the right thing to do. But it would have been easier if Stiles kept the defiant know-it-all attitude.

"You are going to be. Now stop trying to soften me up with those sad puppy-eyed looks and get your ass over here," he barked more sternly than he intended.

Stiles sighed and dragged his feet over, his hands hovering over the button of his trousers, as he cast Derek another pleading look.

Damn, the kid was not making it easy. "Stop stalling, you know the drill."

"Ok, but not too hard?"

Derek couldn't help chuckling at the ridiculous directive. "You have been spanked before, what's with all the fussing?"

"I'm not fussing! It's just..."

"You'll survive, I promise." Derek didn't wait for compliance. He pulled Stiles's trousers down himself and draped the younger man over his knees.

"As long as you are not mad at me anymore," Stiles muttered, wrapping his hands around Derek's thigh.

Derek lowered his hand mid-air in frustration. He couldn't even spank the kid, what with all the guilt-tripping. As if Derek ever punished him just to vent out his anger! Well... that one time… Fuck, how long is he gonna make me feel bad about it?

"I'm not mad. But I'm certainly disappointed and not a little hurt that you kept this from me." Ha, I can guilt trip you too, you miserable brat.

Derek was usually not one to play the victim card, but he couldn't deny the satisfaction Stiles's lack of comeback produced. It was easy to quarrel about actions and consequences, but it was impossible to argue with somebody's feelings getting hurt.

"I'm sorry," Stiles repeated, hugging his thigh tighter.

Derek took it as a signal to get on with the punishment, but instead of pulling down Stiles' boxers, his hand deviated to pet his head. "It's going to be ok. I'll go with you," he said softly, his fingers brushing through Stiles's hair. Then he realized what he was doing and shook his head, bewildered at his own behavior. There he was, providing comfort before his hand even landed a single smack. Seriously, what was wrong with him?

He cleared his throat, silently berating himself to pull his shit together and get it over with. He quickly bared his target and fought the completely inappropriate surge of arousal. He will pound that delicious ass later, but right now he had to punish it. Adjusting his mindset he brought his palm down sharply, watching the pink handprint appear on pale flesh. The following whimper confirmed that it was 'well' received.

Derek didn't bother starting slow or gentle, this was discipline and the swats came down hard and fast. Of course, by his own standards, this would be a laughably mild punishment but Derek learned that with Stiles it was more than enough to get the point across.

All too soon Stiles's whimpers turned into pitiful teary sniffles tugging at his heart. Counter to Stiles's numerous claims about Derek's sadism, he didn't enjoy seeing his mate hurt and upset. Derek longed to cradle the boy in his arms and kiss away all those tears, but Stiles clearly needed an emotional release, so Derek kept going till Stiles's butt was a lovely shade of red and his sniffles progressed into full-fledged sobbing.

Finally, he let his hand rest on the small of Stiles's back and then patted the hot cheeks gently to signal that they were done. Stiles didn't seem in a hurry to get up even though the position was hardly comfortable. He rubbed at his face, fruitlessly trying to stop the tears.

"It's over, baby, I got you," Derek said quietly, petting the crying Beta. He lifted Stiles by the shoulders and rearranged him to sit on his lap, keeping the tender part of his bottom between his legs. Now that it was finally time for the comfort, Derek didn't hold back. He held him tight, petted his head, and stroke his back, all the while whispering soft reassurances and 'good boys' in between kisses.

With all the affectionate attention Stiles calmed down almost instantly and relaxed in Derek's embrace, his breath still hitching on occasion.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he said after a couple minutes, "I knew you'd force me to go and I just… I mean I would go anyway, at some point."

"That some point better be next week, or you are getting another spanking."

"But what if they don't have availability for the next week? You can't spank me if they don't have a spot!"

"Wanna bet?"

Even though Derek smirked, Stiles was apparently still too vulnerable to pick up on the teasing tone. His eyes glistened with fresh tears as he turned his face away.

"Hey, I wasn't serious," Derek said softly, lifting Stiles's chin and wiping the tears with his thumb. "Come now, none of that. Let's get you to bed. I'll rub some soothing lotion on that naughty butt of yours and then fuck it into tomorrow."

"Not sure I'm in the mood," Stiles replied sulkily.

"That's fine. With a bit of luck, you might be by the time I'm done."

That won him an amused snort. "Derek. That's rape."

Derek furrowed his brows comically. "Wait what? I thought it's not rape if we are both crying?"

Stiles slapped his shoulder, though it was softened by the sound of his laughter. "You are the worst."

"So I've been told." Derek scooped Stiles to carry him to the bedroom. "Apparently I'm a rare Alphahole."

Stiles wrapped his hands around Derek's neck, smiling fondly back at him. "My rare Alphahole."

xxx

Stiles did manage to reschedule relatively fast and true to his word, Derek went with him to "hold his hand and kiss his boo-boos". When he said that he was just being a sarcastic dick, he didn't expect Stiles to actually freak out quite as much over blood drawing.

The Beta was pale as a ghost and visibly trembling as they sat in the waiting room. He was quiet, but Derek would be probably able to smell his anxiety all the way from the parking lot. Stiles was nothing of the sort during the MRI, so Derek figured that he must have had an actual phobia to have such a strong reaction to the upcoming relatively harmless procedure.

When Derek's hand on Stiles's knee did nothing to calm him down, he knew he had to up his game. He walked behind him and put both hands on Stiles's shoulders, applying pressure to ground him.

"Breathe," he commanded, his voice quiet but firm. "In and out."

Stiles obeyed on instinct, taking deep measured breaths, and Derek could hear his heart rate slowing down. He massaged his shoulders, thumbs digging into the pressure points to further relieve tension, and Stiles actually drifted for a bit, till his name was called.

The nurse frowned at Derek, suggesting that he should wait, but Derek had no intention of letting Stiles go alone, so he turned on his Alpha charm, claiming he was the moral support, and strolled past her inside. Once the door closed behind them he immediately took charge, sitting Stiles down and quickly explaining that he had a needle phobia.

The nurse nodded in understanding and gave Stiles a reassuring smile. "Don't worry sweetheart, we have patients like you all the time. I'll make it as quick and as painless as possible. Lie down here and relax."

Derek sat on the other side from the nurse, forcing Stiles to look at him and holding his hand as promised. He talked to him throughout the blood drawing and even though Stiles was clearly only half paying attention, he didn't look like he was gonna bolt or pass out.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" the nurse cooed, giving him a small bar of chocolate. The cartoonish wrapping indicated that it was mostly given to children, and Stiles blushed, looking quite embarrassed now that it was over.

"Where's mine?" Derek asked with mock sulkiness and the nurse gracefully gave him one as well, which he immediately stuffed in his mouth, waiting for Stiles to follow his example.

The nurse then told them that the results will be emailed to Stiles in two days and reminded him to show up again in two years. She didn't add "or sooner", which was kind of a given shall the blood test reveal the mutation.

"Well, the hard part is over," Stiles said as they reached the car. "Thanks for going with me."

Derek just nodded curtly, the swarm of butterflies in his stomach suggested that the hard part was definitely yet to come.

...

The queasy feeling followed Derek around all day and the next day it didn't get any better. It was funny, that he was all calm and collected when Stiles was ready to jump out of his skin, and now he had a hard time concentrating on pretty much anything, while Stiles looked carefree and unconcerned.

It made sense since Stiles lived with the possibility of developing a nasty mutation for years and Derek only now entertained all the gruesome scenarios for the first time. The google search didn't help in the slightest. If anything it only spiked his anxiety.

They didn't talk about it, because there was nothing to discuss really. Derek knew that the statistical probability was on their side, but it was hard to keep being rational when your heart was pounding in your ears. Though he made damn sure not to let it show and be the Alpha Stiles needed him to be.

The sound of an incoming email on Stiles's phone triggered a moment of breathless silence. Stiles's fingers hovered over the mail icon uncomfortably long. Derek didn't rush him, he simply extended his palm and Stiles immediately passed the duty over to him placing the phone in his hand.

"Negative," Derek said on exhale, the overwhelming relief making him feel lightheaded for a second.

Stiles rolled his eyes, grinning. "See. Told you, waste of time."

Derek ignored the cheek, wrapping his hands around him in a crushing hug.

"You don't have to… Really, I'm fine, I'm fine," Stiles protested, squirming in his embrace.

"It's not all about you, Stilinski, stop being so fucking selfish."

There was a pause as Stiles dissected that answer and then fired up his inner brat, "Awww. Were you wooorried about me, Mr. Hale?" he drawled teasingly.

Derek didn't bother confirming nor denying it and stuck to a simple, "Shut up."

TBC

So that turned out way fluffier than I intended… I hope you guys didn't cringe. (I mean, I didn't but I'm kinda biased, so let me know if you did).

The FTD plotline came out of nowhere so I did add a small mention about the test into one of the previous chapters. Either way, I'm not going in that direction, this was just a minor deviation from the main plot. Stiles is not sick, he is not going to get sick and all will be peachy in that department.

I already mentioned it, but I feel the need to repeat - Frontotemporal dementia doesn't exactly work this way, but for the sake of the narrative let's pretend that that particular mutation does.

I hope you guys enjoyed the brief venture into Derek's mind. Now we are going back to Stiles POV and moving on with the story=)

Ruby: "Derek reminding Stiles that spankings are not always for punishment" - I actually had something like this planned for the next chapter.