Author's note: Alright. Here we go. Last chapter! Thank you for all the lovely feedback!

I hope you enjoy the conclusion. (be ready to brush your teeth - this is tooth-rotting)

Stiles checked his phone for the missed calls or messages and frowned. It's been 3 days since they got out of prison and he was yet to get in contact with Liam. Sure the kid might have been busy with settling in the residential treatment center, or whatever that facility they stuck him in was called, but Stiles didn't expect the kid to go completely awol.

"What is it?" Derek asked when Stiles let out a particularly heavy sigh.

"It's Liam. I can't seem to get a hold of him. I left him several messages and called him a couple times, but he is yet to call back."

"He is a teenager. How fast are you getting back to your dad, hm?"

"Whoa! Hold it right there, you are not lecturing me right now." That was just like Derek to use an opportunity and go full Responsible Alpha on him. "You are supposed to be empathizing with me because the kid is ghosting me and that's not nice."

Derek chuckled and wrapped his hand around Stiles's shoulders pulling him closer. "Speaking of Liam, there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

Stiles guessed the direction of the conversation even before Derek said anything. It was on his mind ever since Peter mentioned CPS taking the boy away.

"I asked Kira what are the chances for me to get custody over the kid while we are still a part of the BRP and she told me - not big. At least not a full-time thing. But she said that we could probably get one-two overnight stays a week and then slowly increase it if all goes well. She promised to help, but I wanted to make sure it's something you would want, first."

Stiles threw his hands around Derek's neck in a strangulating hug. "Are you kidding, of course I want this! And I'm sure Liam wants this too. Oh, and you already spoke to… did I tell you how much I love you?"

"Are you high on heroin again?"

Stiles laughed, too happy to mind the teasing. "Having a déjà vu?"

"Kinda. Just need to invite your dad over so that you can tell him all about the kinky shit you are into and the picture will be complete."

"Stop ruining my moment!"

"My apologies," Derek said, not sounding apologetic in the least. He gently patted Stiles on the butt prompting him to stand up. "Let's go break the news to the kid."

...

"Liam is not feeling well, sorry." A young caretaker Omega gave them an apologetic shrug, which suggested that the boy simply refused to come out to see them.

"Is he ok?" Stiles asked, picking up on the underlying message.

"He is fine, I promise. A bit moody, but nothing we can't handle," she tried to reassure him.

But Derek was far from reassured. "And how exactly do you handle moodiness?" he snapped, his tone just on this side of polite.

The lady gave him a cold look. "With care and patience, Mr. Hale," she said, crossing her arms on the chest, clearly offended at the notion that they would mistreat their wards.

"Sorry. It's just that the kid has been through a lot," Stiles offered as an excuse for Derek's less than friendly behavior.

Her face softened. "I know. And he is working on his issues with a very good therapist. But these things take time. You can always try again later." She gave them a sympathetic smile and then showed them out.

xxx

A week passed and they still haven't heard from Liam. Stiles was starting to get worried. He was slowly running out of excuses and explanations for this behavior. Yes, the kid was forced to betray his uncle and ultimately lost the only living relative he had. But surely he understood that it was the right thing to do. He never appeared to be against their plan. He was a willing participant in all of it and tried to help as much as possible.

Did something bad happen while they were in prison? According to his dad, Liam's part went down smoothly, but he only knew what the kid told him, right? Either way, they won't know for sure till they saw him, and the boy refused to get in contact.

Stiles realized that he has been staring blankly at the microscope while deep in thought for a couple minutes now. However before he could get back to work, the door to the cleanroom opened and Derek's head popped in.

"Mask!" Stiles barked, stopping the Alpha from entering.

Derek disappeared again and came back a minute later wearing a mask.

"Glasses, gloves! Come on, dude, shouldn't you know the dress code in your own company lab?" Stiles berated the Alpha, which prompted more than one raised eyebrow.

Derek cast him an annoyed look. "Then come here, smartass."

"I'm busy," Stiles said unabashedly, returning his focus to the microscope.

What? He was busy. And ok, maybe he enjoyed provoking the big boss a bit too much.

There were a couple of shocked gasps heard across the lab. Stiles looked up from the specimen he was testing to see Derek silently raise one finger at him. When it didn't spur Stiles into action a second finger joined the first and then a third.

"Ok, ok, coming," Stiles grumbled, standing up and rolling his eyes demonstratively.

When the door closed behind him, Derek shook his head with a tsking sound. "What happened to keeping a low profile at work?" Despite the fact that Stiles quite literally just sassed him in a very public setting, the Alpha didn't appear the least bit angry, but rather amused.

"I've been cuffed and escorted out of here by the police. My reputation can't get much worse than that."

"Are you saying that dating me is not as bad as getting arrested for drugs? Cause that sounds strangely offensive."

Stiles laughed at Derek's pretend pout and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "So what is it? I really am kinda busy right now."

The Alpha grew serious again. "I called Mrs. Waters."

"Who?"

"The principal in Liam's school."

"Oh. The one, that was into you," Stiles remembered.

"Yes. I asked her to call him in her office, so we could talk."

"And she agreed?"

"Of course." Derek gave him a toothy grin. "She is 'into me'."

Of course.

"Ok, let me see if I can delegate my work." Stiles opened the door and noticed the money being shuffled around and Jessica looking all smug. "Jess, could you finish this up, please? Matthews wanted it done by tomorrow."

"Sure thing, babycakes. Anything for you since you just earned me two hundred bucks," the redhead called, waving the banknotes at him.

"Uhm, thanks," he said, closing the door with a frown.

"What was that?"

Stiles rubbed his forehead grimacing. "I think they were betting on us being together." Jess and Jen often teased him about the Hot Hale, but Stiles never acknowledged that there was anything between them. "I guess we weren't all that subtle after all," he said with a shrug.

Derek took his hand as the two made their way to the parking lot, neither caring if anyone saw them like this.

xxx

Mrs. Waters greeted them in front of the office, informing them that Liam was waiting inside. She eyefucked Derek just like she did last time, twisting a lock of hair around her finger and fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously. Derek smiled back at her and for once Stiles didn't feel the least bit jealous. He had no doubt about Derek's feelings towards him and he knew that it was in their best interest to stay in her good graces for Liam's sake.

They opened the door and… well hello, Alpha.

Liam was sitting on the chair, pulling at the button of his shirt with a bored expression on his face. A face that matured a lot since Stiles last saw him. It had been just two and a half weeks but Liam gained at least five inches in height and 10 pounds in muscle, turning him from a kid into a respectable teenage Alpha.

"Wow," Stiles said instead of a greeting.

Liam's cheeks pinked at that and he smiled sheepishly. He stood up but didn't attempt to approach them, as if there was an invisible wall between them. "Hey, guys."

Even his voice matured. Sure he was still a 13-year-old… no, actually, 14-year-old boy, but the air of dominance surrounding him made him appear older than what Stiles was used to.

"How are you?" Stiles asked, hoping to break the ice.

The kid shrugged, hiding his hands in the pockets. "I'm fine."

Stiles waited for Liam to say something, but that was it. He studied the rug pattern, brushing his shoe against the fabric, looking uncomfortable. Derek didn't say anything either and the silence stretched between them till Stiles couldn't take it any longer.

"Hey Stiles, how was prison?" he said, mimicking Liam's voice. "I was so worried about you guys, but I had a very good reason why I never replied to your calls. And that reason is…" Stiles gave him a pointed look, waiting for the kid to fess up.

Liam sighed. "Of course I was worried, but look... We don't have to do this anymore."

Stiles didn't like the sound of that. At all. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm fine now. I'm taken care of, I go to therapy, I'm an Alpha. You don't have to save me anymore."

Liam wasn't entirely off track, since their relationship was built on the fact that Stiles wanted to help him out of the bad situation, without even knowing what it was. But surely over the course of those few months that they knew each other, it became more than that?

"Okaay," Stiles drawled, frowning. "And that means that we can't see you or what?"

"You can, I just don't see why you would want to."

Stiles felt like slapping some sense into the obstinate teen but he reigned it in. "We came to see you three times and you refused to come out!"

"Cause I didn't want to put you in that position."

"What position?" Stiles' temper was starting to get the best of him.

"To feel sorry for me. Like I'm some needy orphan… I didn't want you to feel pressured, not that you would, but... I mean…"

"How do you feel about spending tomorrow night at our place?" Derek interrupted his rant.

Liam cast him a sad look. "I'd love to but I can't. I'm on a tight schedule. Curfew and all."

"I know, but the CPS agreed to two days a week for starters. If it goes well, it will be increased to three, four, five... and then a smooth transition to full custody once the BRP is over. If it is something you want, of course."

Liam's gaze darted between Stiles and Derek a couple times, then he started blinking rapidly but it was a lost battle. He hid his face in his hands and Stiles didn't wait for further invitation, breaking down the invisible barrier and enveloping the teen (who was almost the same height as Stiles now) in a tight embrace.

"Is that a yes?" he asked, chuckling at the kid's emotional reaction, though he wasn't far from weeping himself.

Liam just nodded, unable to form a coherent answer. Derek joined them in a group hug, landing a kiss to the top of Liam's head and then doing the same with Stiles'.

"Don't get too happy. You are totally grounded for ghosting me," Stiles said, prompting a surprised look from both Alphas since Stiles was never the one to issue discipline measures before. He always tried to get the kid out of trouble, leaving Derek to play the bad guy.

And yeah… perhaps that didn't change after all, since everyone conveniently forgot about the grounding the moment Liam set foot in the apartment and Stiles loaded him with junk food and sweets and then spent the entire evening playing Fortnite with him. But at that point, no one really cared.

xxx

One month later

Stiles almost choked on his coffee when he saw the newspaper Jennifer brought to lunch with her. There was a picture of Palmer in handcuffs and a flashy headline saying, "The Secretary of Health sentenced to 25 years for felony murder." Stiles grabbed the newspaper from Jen's hands and sprinted to the 8th floor, ignoring the protests heard behind him.

"Is he in?" he asked Angela, trying to catch his breath as the adrenaline coursed through his veins.

"No, he is in the conference room. But wait, Stiles, he has a…"

Stiles burst into the room excitedly. "Derek, look at this! I knew the fucker would rot in hell, but this is better! He is-"

"Stiles!"

"No, you just look at him! He goes away for 25 years! Serves him right-"

"Stiles? Board meeting? Hello?"

Stiles glanced around, finally taking in his surroundings. "Oh." The men sitting at the long table watched him with a mix of curiosity and amusement, and a couple with outright indignation. "Well, this is important," Stiles said, losing some of his confidence.

"I'm sure it can wait," Derek replied, not unkindly, his eyes dancing with mirth.

"Yeah, totally," Stiles nodded, playing it cool. "You guys continue with... whatever it is that you were doing." Hands gesticulating wildly, he slowly backed away from the table.

So fucking smooth, Stiles.

Derek went back into business mode, ready to continue with the meeting, but Stiles decided that since he was already here, he might as well live up to his Polish name. "Sorry, one more thing." He strolled back and pulled the surprised Alpha in for a kiss. Tongue and all.

Derek's flushed face was priceless.

"This couldn't wait," Stiles said cheekily, ignoring the scandalized gasps from the rest of the room. He was well aware that he was gonna pay for that little mischief later on... and he had no doubt that he will love every second of it.

xxx

Somewhere around that time

"Where are you going?" Derek asked Liam when the teen tried to subtly sneak out one sunny Sunday afternoon.

"To see Emma."

"Emma? The Omega chick you like?" Stiles asked and then quickly bit his tongue seeing Liam's glare, but it was too late. The rest of the gang jumped in on it right away.

"Liiiam has a giiirlfrieeend," Isaac teased the blushing teen.

"Where are you taking her?" Scott asked.

"I don't know yet."

Derek reached for his wallet. "Do you need money?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Liam said, his eyes darting towards the door. One could tell, the kid just wanted to vanish from there, but didn't dare to walk out on Derek.

"Young people don't need money to have fun, you know?" Isaac cackled, making Liam blush even further and Derek frown.

"You better not be having that type of fun," he growled, ready to go in full lecture mode.

"Stop it, I'm sure he knows…" Stiles tried to save kid some face, then turned to him to make sure, "You do know, right?"

"Jesus! Stiles!" Liam exclaimed, going completely crimson. "Are you serious right now? The sounds coming from your bedroom would put the whole Pornhub to shame and you want to give me the birds and the bees talk?!"

"The birds and the bees actually don't apply to these two," Isaac grinned, enjoying Liam's discomfiture.

"You better not get her pregnant," Derek growled again, relapsing into "dad mode".

The teenager groaned, as if in pain. "God! Everyone just stop! We are going skating to the park, I'll show her some tricks, teach her the easy ones, maybe hold her hand if she lets me. And if I get lucky I might even steal a kiss before the end of the day. Which wouldn't even be my first, mind you. And that's it! So piss off!"

The slamming of the front door was followed by a second of silence. Normally it was not something Derek would tolerate, but right now he just snickered at Isaac, taking sadistic pleasure from riling the young Alpha up.

"You guys are the worst," Scott said, shaking his head, as the rest of them grinned gleefully.

xxx

And another week or two later

Good weather always filled the outdoor area of the UC Baker campus with students lying around on the grass pretending to study. No one was pretending to study now though, as all the eyes were turned to the flashy looking BMW i8 in gorgeous matt black color.

Stiles didn't notice it right away, too busy discussing the plans for the upcoming night with Scott. His friend finally passed all his remaining exams and renegotiated a lighter schedule for the upcoming year, thus proving Derek right that he was fully capable of sorting out his problems without Stiles' interference. And yeah, he was also moving in with Isaac, which certainly helped the finances.

With Stiles turning 21 a week ago and Scott successfully finishing the semester, they decided to go for a short camping trip, just the two of them. It's been a while since they spent time together, what with all the changes and newfound relationships, and they both missed it. That's why they decided that for once, the boyfriends will remain at home and they will go camping, fishing, and drinking, as they used to during their teenage years.

"Is that Derek?" Scott asked nodding towards the sports car.

And yeah. It totally was. Stiles had to restrain himself not to break into an excited sprint and play it cool.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" he told Derek, eyeing the car with appreciation. "Where did you get this baby?"

Derek smirked at him. "I'm a millionaire, remember?"

That was rather easy to forget with Derek's tame (or as Peter rightfully called it - boring) tastes.

"You bought it?"

"A couple years ago actually. But I kept her in Peter's garage and we weren't exactly on speaking terms. And now I don't need to lay low anymore, so..." he shrugged smiling.

Stiles petted the hood with a little moan. "Oh, I want to make love to her."

Derek chuckled. "Too bad I don't share, Stilinski. But if you promise to keep it in your pants…" he tossed Stiles the keys, "Enjoy your camping trip."

Stiles stared at the car keys in his hands for a second and then jumped on Derek, wrapping his legs around the Alpha's hips and attacking his mouth. "You are officially the best boyfriend ever!"

"Agreed."

Stiles rolled his eyes and kissed him again.

"Just remember not to overdo it with the booze. We are still going to your dad's for dinner, regardless of how hungover you are."

"Yes, moooom."

"I'm serious. Scott's in charge."

"No, he is not!" The hell would sooner freeze over before Stiles let his best friend boss him around.

Derek didn't care. "Watch over him for me, will you?" he asked, turning to Scott.

His friend nodded and Stiles decided to let it go. If Derek needed to think that there was an Alpha in charge, so that he could sleep better at night, then Stiles will graciously let him have this illusion.

xxx

Another month later

Stiles mindlessly played around with his pen as he read through the BRP release papers. It was probably the first time he was happy to be in Kira's office at the BRP headquarters. He didn't really care much for the boring legalities, but since Derek was running late, he had nothing better to do anyway.

The last months of the Program went without incident. They stuck to the regimen of work, school, culture and sport activities, visited the Saturday group sessions, and followed Kira's directions to a T.

They passed the evaluation with flying colors and the only thing left was to sign a couple papers and they were free! And truth be told, Stiles couldn't wait to be out of there. Yes, the Program did ultimately turn his life for the better - he was not dealing anymore, he had a stable job, a boyfriend he loved to bits and a teenage Alpha, who found his way into their hearts and became a part of the family. Still, he was all too happy to be rid of this BRP burden and be his own man again.

Stiles's eyes fell on the divorce papers lying underneath. He almost forgot about that part. As much as he was opposed to getting married at the age of 20 to a random asshole, he found that being married to Derek was not exactly a hardship. They rarely dwelled on their legal status, referring to each other as boyfriends, and yet both wore their spousal pendants right there in the open. Stiles never gave it much thought, but now looking at the divorce papers, he realized that he actually liked being married.

But then he reached the last page and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Derek's signature there. The sudden feeling of hurt was suffocating. Stiles dropped the pen, staring at the signed paper breathlessly.

He just signed it. Just like that. Without saying a word about it to Stiles. It wasn't even a hint… it was an in-your-face blatant good-fucking-bye. Derek's words about this not being permanent echoed in Stiles' head.

Stiles tried to remember if there was something he could be missing for Derek to so suddenly end things with him. And yes, he did catch Derek quickly closing his laptop just as Stiles entered the room a couple days ago, but he didn't put much weight to that, assuming it was something embarrassing, like kinky porn or something. Now Stiles wasn't so sure.

He was confident about Derek's feelings, and perhaps he got too comfortable? After all, it wasn't that long ago that he was sure that Derek was completely out of his league. He since grew out of this notion, and maybe he shouldn't have.

Even still, to break things off this way was too cruel even for Derek, so maybe it was just some kind of misunderstanding. The rational part of him decided to wait for Derek's explanation, but his emotions were clouding his judgment with an intense feeling of betrayal.

The door opened and Derek rushed in, apologizing for being late. He saw the divorce papers in Stiles' hand and his ghostly white heartbroken face, and groaned glaring at Kira. "My fucking God, Kira! You had one job!" he snapped, visibly annoyed.

Kira must have realized her blooper because her expression changed to a sheepish one. "Sorry."

This was certainly not the explanation Stiles was hoping for. "A job to make me sign the papers so that you won't have to deal with me anymore?" he demanded, clenching his fists to stop himself from flipping the table or doing something else worthy of an emotional Omega in a fit of hysterics.

"Stiles. Calm down and don't get upset."

"You're kidding, right? You just signed divorce papers without as much as saying a word to me and I'm not supposed to be upset?"

Derek grimaced and turned to Kira. "Yukimura, leave us."

"This is my office…"

"GET. THE FUCK. OUT!" Derek boomed and the girl fled from there before anyone could blink. Derek took out his cell and quickly typed something.

Stiles was infuriated. They were in the middle of a fight, possibly a break-up and Derek was texting?! "What, am I holding you from some important meeting with my stupid…"

"Stiles, shut up and listen."

The stern command silenced Stiles into compliance. He folded his arms on the chest and scowled at the Alpha.

"We are NOT breaking up. I want to be with you and I know that you want to be with me too. This is NOT what this is about, alright?" Derek said firmly, looking Stiles straight in the eyes. "This is just a reset. Something to have us going on without having the relationship being coerced by the circumstances."

Ok, this didn't sound as bad as what it originally seemed, but Stiles was still angry. Not like Derek couldn't speak to him about it beforehand.

"And why don't I have any say in this?"

"You do, you can choose not to sign these. Or sign and dump me. Though I really hope you won't, cause…" Derek threw his hands in the air helplessly, "I love you."

"You have a fine way of expressing it."

"This is not how this was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a mutual decision after a thorough discussion."

You don't say.

"Then why is your signature already there?" Stiles snapped, pointing at the paper.

Derek huffed in frustration. "Cause she dropped it off at my work for… and I signed it without thinking. But then I realized that you could get upset so I called her not to give you the papers before I got here so that I could explain my position on this. She fucked up."

Sure, it was convenient for Derek to blame his own thoughtlessness on Kira, but that explanation was enough to diffuse the bomb that was about to explode in Stiles's chest. "So… you just want to divorce but stay together?"

"Yes stay together, build a future, without it having anything to do with BRP and the forced marriage."

Stiles sighed, his anger somewhat mollified. "Ok…"

"Come here."

Stiles was still a bit mad but Derek's open embrace was too tempting to resist. The Alpha hugged him tightly as if trying to squeeze the remnants of anger out of him. And if that didn't work, then the heartfelt apology that followed certainly did.

"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean to hurt you with this."

Stiles just hummed in response, breathing in his favorite "elevator smell".

"Forgive me?"

Stiles shook his head in defeat, "You know I can't say no when you are this irresistible."

"Good. Hold that thought," Derek said, grinning. "Come let's go out on the balcony for some fresh air." He grabbed Stiles around the waist and led him outside. The light breeze actually did make Stiles feel better, the cloudless sunny sky replacing the lingering bitter feelings with positive ones. But Derek seemed off, his palm sweaty and his breaths oddly shallow.

"You ok? You're trembling."

The Alpha rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Just nervous."

Derek? Nervous?

"Why?"

"You'll see."

And 2 minutes later Stiles did. At first, he didn't know what it was when the red semicircles started appearing above the treeline, and then he realized those were the hot-air balloons rising into the sky. There were like 50 of them, which made for an extraordinary, beautiful sight. Stiles' heart filled with joy when he saw that all of them had a "Marry me" written on them along with a short message:

Marry me
I know I'm a dick.

Marry me
I love you. Stay by my side forever.

Marry me
My adorkable moron.

Marry me
I promise to make you happy.

Marry me
I'll even learn to cook. Maybe.

Marry me
Ruby approves.

Marry me
Liam tells you to say yes.

Marry me
I got permission from your dad.

Marry me
It will be too embarrassing if you say no.

Marry me
Talk about big romantic gestures…

Stiles turned to Derek, eyes like saucers, but Derek was already on one knee beside him.

"I'm so out of my depth here," the Alpha said with a nervous smile. "If you say 'no' now, I'll probably jump off the balcony… or throw you off the balcony."

"What happened to a fresh start that is not coerced?" Stiles teased, basking in the moment.

"Yeah, that was before. Now I don't take no for an answer."

Stiles giggled. "You haven't even asked me yet."

"How about all that?" Derek gestured towards the balloons.

"I don't see a question there."

"Stilinski! My hand is gonna have a serious discussion with that sassbutt of yours if you continue down that path."

"And that's fine, but right now you are proposing. Focus Derek," Stiles replied, still giggling.

The humor helped with Derek's nerves and his lips twitched in a smile, the tension dissipating.

"I love you, Stiles, and I want to spend my life with you by my side. Will you marry me, baby?"

"Yes," Stiles nodded, bubbling with happiness. "Fuck yeah, I'll marry you."

The End.

Thank you for reading!