When Finstock kicked them out of the office, Stiles was more than ready for that. It had been a long day and they weren't quite used to that again. They weren't exactly in pain but they were still hoping for some of Derek's werewolf pain drain later. Among other things. Derek had promised them kisses. Which reminded them that they still had to talk about what Derek was comfortable with.

Stiles glanced over to where Derek was walking next to Isaac. For some reason, they were talking about leather jackets. Stiles had been a bit worried about Derek fitting in, they were a tight circle of nerds and Derek was not into games or all the other things they liked to geek about. But it turned out that Stiles had worried over nothing. Derek and Isaac found common ground in movies and it didn't take long and everybody was recommending their favorite shows. Derek even took notes and Stiles promised to make him watch at least some of them but if Stiles was honest, they hadn't heard of some of the shows the others suggested either. Maybe they should take notes as well.

Erica raised her glass for a toast and that was when the evening went south.

Her eyes rolled back and she crashed to the floor before anybody could react.

"Erica!" Boyd was at her side in a heart-beat.

"She's having a seizure," Stiles realized when they saw her thrashing on the ground. "Watch her head but give her space. Derek, take the time." They hurried to get the chair out of the way but aside from pillowing her head there wasn't much they could do. "I didn't know she has epilepsy."

"She doesn't." Boyd looked at them with wide eyes while he tried to keep his hand between Erica's head and the floor.

"Shit." Stiles cursed. "Isaac, call an ambulance. And everybody else? Would you give us some fucking privacy?" Stiles glared at the other patrons who were watching the spectacle. Reluctantly most of them turned away but Stiles still felt their eyes on them.

The seizure was going on for too long already, not a good sign.

By the time the paramedics arrived the seizure had stopped but Erica was still mostly out of it. She was drowsy and mumbling incoherently.

Stiles gave the paramedics a short recap of what had happened with the time Derek had stopped and everything else that might be important while Boyd added that she didn't have a history of epilepsy and wasn't taking any medication aside from the pill.

They put her on a stretcher and Boyd rode with her to the hospital.

"What the fuck." Isaac slumped down in his seat. "She peed herself."

"It happens." Stiles took a seat as well and leaned into Derek when he slung an arm around their middle.

"You were amazing." Derek hugged them close.

"Yeah, how did you know what to do?" Isaac asked.

"My dad is a sheriff and my best friend's mom is an ER nurse," Stiles explained. "They made sure that we know what to do in an emergency."

"Makes sense." Isaac nodded and reached for his half-finished beer.

"They knew us." Stiles shrugged. "Most emergencies were self-caused."

Isaac snorted into his beer.

"I'm in love with an idiot," Derek realized.

"But you do love me." Stiles grinned at him and only then Derek realized what he'd just said.

"Sometimes I wonder why." Derek finished his beer. "We should go home."

"Yeah," Stiles made.

They said their goodbyes to Isaac and then they were walking back to where Derek had parked the car. Derek couldn't speak for Stiles but he couldn't stop seeing Erica in his mind. He'd felt so helpless. He'd stopped the time like Stiles had told him to but he'd set that up on his phone within seconds and then he'd just been standing there while Erica had been thrashing on the floor.

"You think she's alright?" Derek dared to ask.

"We'll have to wait what the doctors say," Stiles said, sounding just as helpless.

When they reached the car, Derek walked over to the driver's side.

"Wait." Stiles stopped him. "Are you fit to drive? How many beers did you have?"

They hadn't been at the bar for that long but they all had a beer or two. Derek would not let Stiles drive tonight but the alcohol did not affect him.

"I can't get drunk," Derek told them but kept his voice down. They were alone on the street but one newer knew.

"That's kind of sad," Stiles said but got in the car. "Man, when I think of some college parties … well, I don't remember all of them but that's kind of the point."

"I don't think I miss out on much." Derek had never understood the appeal of getting drunk. "That kind of party is too loud for me anyway. And people smell."

"Being a werewolf must suck sometimes."

"Maybe." Derek eased the car into the traffic. "But I don't know anything else, I was born this way. A bitten werewolf might miss things like that but being a werewolf does have its advantages."

"True," Stiles agreed. "I still don't think I would want to become one. Can you imagine me joggling the gender thing and the different forms of a werewolf at the same time? No thanks." They shook their head in amusement over that thought but then something seemed to occur to them.

"Do I have to become a werewolf?"

"No." Derek glanced over at them, not following. "Why would you?"

"If this thing with us is something serious, wouldn't I have to join your pack?" Stiles asked. "Even if I don't have to, you're down in numbers wouldn't Laura want your partner to be a werewolf?"

"That's a lot to unpack." Looked like they wouldn't get a relaxed evening any time soon. "Can we do that upstairs?"

They had reached Stiles' place and Derek didn't want to do this in the car.

In their apartment, Stiles put on some coffee, they wouldn't go to sleep anytime soon anyway. Then they settled on the couch where Derek sneaked a hand under Stiles' shirt to take what little pain there was while he explained a few things to them.

As the alpha, Laura could turn them but there was always the risk that the bite didn't take.

"You would die," Derek told them. "If it's not a life or death situation, I'm not sure if I would risk it. You don't have to be a werewolf to be pack. We had a few human pack members. Some were born into the pack, others came as partners of a pack member." He thought of all the people he'd lost. Why was it so hard to let go? Why did the memories like to sneak up on him like this?

"Come here." Gently Stiles drew him in until he was sitting with his back against Stiles' chest and their arms tight around him.

"So I don't have to become a werewolf to be with you but I have to become pack," Stiles summed it up. "Whatever that means. It sounds like a cult."

"You don't have to become pack." Derek focused on the moment and forced the memories to the back of his mind. Stiles needed to understand. "Things would be easier if you were pack and you're right we are low in numbers which makes us weak but you don't have to become pack."

"What does that even mean?" Stiles asked. "Pack. You make it sound like it's more than just some kind of family."

"It is more." It was hard to explain. Derek had never known a life without a pack, it was something that was just there. The alpha shared a bond with the betas but the pack members shared bonds as well. Between partners, between parents and children, between every member of the pack.

"In a pack, you're never truly alone," Derek tried to explain.

"That's why omegas become feral." Stiles nodded in understanding. "They are truly alone."

Derek had never thought about that but it did make sense. It never stopped to amaze him how well Stiles understood werewolves.

"But it sounds nice," Stiles said while they started to play with Derek's hair. "Being in a pack, I mean."

"You could become pack," Derek said. "I would like that. Laura likes you, she would take you in."

"Do I have to do what she says, then?" That was the part Stiles wasn't fond of, Derek knew that. "Could she force me to do stuff?"

"She's a good alpha." Derek defended her. "She would never force anybody."

"But she could."

"Yes," Derek had to admit. "The alpha has power over the betas. The alpha can cast somebody out of the pack if they have to." Why she hadn't cast him out he still didn't know.

"Making them an omega," Stiles concluded. "With that threat hanging over them, the alpha can force the betas into anything."

"The betas have the same power. Alphas can become omegas as well," Derek reminded them. "The betas can cast out the alpha if they are not happy with the leadership."

"I have to think about it." Stiles stifled a yawn. "But not today. Let's watch something and then go to bed early?"

"Sounds like a plan."

They didn't talk about it but they did stay up longer than they should in hope to hear from Erica but when around midnight neither she nor Boyd had messaged them, they did turn in.

Tonight Derek stayed in his human form and he fell asleep with Stiles tucked into his side. He could get used to that.

What he could go without was waking up with Stiles' morning wood pressed into his hip. Stiles was lying half on top of him, one arm and one leg thrown over him, and said morning wood poking him in the side. Of course, Stiles was snoring into his chest.

"Stiles?" Derek tried to shake them awake but by now he knew that it would take more than that to wake up Stiles.

"Dammit, Stiles." He tried a bit louder to which Stiles smacked their lips but they didn't wake up. They did, however, readjust their hold on Derek and with that, they bucked their hips into him. They seemed to like it because a minute later Stiles was humping his leg in shallow thrusts. While staying stubbornly asleep.

"I swear to God." Derek cursed. He had half a mind to pinch the offending member, with his claws, when Stiles finally seemed to wake up enough to realize what was going on.

They did rut against Derek's hip a few more times before their brain caught up with what they were doing. Stiles recoiled with a yelp. Eyes wide in horror they retreated to the other side of the bed but their erection still tented their underwear.

"I'm so sorry." Stiles tried to hide their stubborn erection by dragging the blanket over their lap. However, their arousal hung heavy in the air and even their shame and embarrassment weren't able to cover that up.

"Did you have a nice dream?" Derek asked. He couldn't help the hunger in his gaze when he looked at Stiles. This was not about sex, at least not on Derek's part, this was something deeper, more primal. Stiles' eyes widened even more at that and a new wave of arousal hit Derek's nose.

"Were you dreaming of fucking me?" He asked in a low voice that sent visible shivers through Stiles.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked but it came out in a squeak.

"What do you want me to do?" Derek shifted until he was lying on his side with a good view on Stiles. "Do you want me to tell you to take it out? To show me? Do you want to show me how hard you are?"

Stiles stared at him with big eyes but then they reached down and freed their erection. Their fingers closed around the base while they looked Derek straight in the eye.

"Make yourself come."

Stiles tried to maintain eye contact but it didn't take long and they arched their back and spilled their release all over their fist and stomach.

Derek reached over to rub it into their skin before he hugged them close and drew the blanket over both of them.

"We need to talk about our sexual preferences," Stiles mumbled but offered their neck for Derek to run his nose along the curve. "Seriously."