Derek

Stiles was lying on his bed, trying to figure out all of the emotions running through him when there was a knock on his doorframe (because when did he ever close his door). He looked up to see his dad standing there. "Hey kiddo." He smiled slightly. "So, I heard you had quite the eventful bidding at the charity thing tonight." He tried to hide the amusement he got from his son's embarrassment. If only his wife were here to see this…actually she would be the one sitting on the bed trying to give advice while the sheriff would feel much freer to joke at his son. But no, he was both parents now.

The comment only made Stiles roll over and shove his face into the pillow. "It's awful dad!"

The sheriff laughed lightly before walking into the room and sitting down on the desk chair. "Come on son, you're a kid. This is…"

"I swear to god if you give me the, 'this isn't permanent' speech, I'll hit you. Melissa already gave me that speech and it didn't help. Maybe it doesn't seem permanent or like this big deal to you but it does to me, okay? This is my reality. These are three people I really care about. Three people who I've been madly in love with at some point in my life, still am in some way. They are all in the pack. They aren't people that I'll never see again; at least I hope this won't make it that way. They're…all of them are an important part of my life. I can't just take this lightly, Dad. I really, really care about them."

Smiling, the sheriff put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Your mom always said you had the biggest heart, so much love to give…just like her." He sat back in the desk chair. "You know, when I met your mom she was seeing someone else."

Stiles sat up quickly, making himself a little light headed. "What? You never told me that!"

Again, the sheriff laughed a little at his son. "Yeah, she was in love, at least that's what she thought. It was this kid she had known her whole life. She said she had always seen herself marrying him and could never see her life changing from that course. She had the colors, napkins, and even the dress for the wedding picked out. She was eighteen but she had it figured out. Then she met me." He smiled at the memory, seeing her gorgeous face for the first time when she tripped into him. "We were friends for a while before I confessed that I had feelings. She was torn for a long time because she loved us both. She didn't want to lose either of us even if she only chose one of us to marry."

"How'd she choose?"

The sheriff shrugged. "Just because you love someone deeply, doesn't mean you're in love with them. She cared for this other guy and he meant a lot to her and her life. But ultimately, she was in love with me. I asked her once how she knew it was me and she told me, 'Because you weren't just a pull at my heart, you were my heart.' I'm still not completely sure what she meant by that but that's all I got." He smiled. "Listen, Stiles, if you can't decide tonight, you can take your time. I understand that you have to make a decision and that it's important but it doesn't have to be made tonight. And remember that all of them are lucky to have you in their lives. They won't just let you go. Don't worry, you're a smart kid, you'll figure this out." He ran a hand through his son's already messy hair. "I love you kiddo."

"Thanks dad, I love you too." Stiles smiled as his dad walked out of the room and started to get ready for his next date, his first date with a guy. He'd always considered himself an equal opportunist when it came to gender but he'd just never gotten the chance to date a guy. And the fact that his first date was with Derek Hale seemed a little dream-like and intimidating.

Stiles had just finished showering (yes he felt the need to shower again, because he's understanding and caring of werewolf senses and didn't think Derek would want to smell Lydia on him during their date), dressing, and getting his hair in just the perfect position there was a tap on the window making Stiles jump almost a full foot in the air and possibly yelp like a small child. He turned to see Derek slipping through the window. "Jeez! Derek, did you want to give me a heart attack so I'd die before I could choose anyone?!"

Derek did not smirk; he would definitely deny any smirking. "Are you ready Stiles?"

Stiles took one last glimpse in the mirror. "Yeah, I think so. What do you have planned?"

"It's tradition in werewolf courting for me to take you on a hunt and for you to eat what I catch, so we're going to the woods." He said with a calm voice and a blank face.

Stiles' jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" His stomach suddenly seemed a little queasy, thinking of some raw, dead animal he'd have to think. God, he hoped there really was a little werewolf oven because he couldn't do this.

"No." Derek let a small smile slip. "Of course not, Stiles don't be an idiot. Come on." He rolled his eyes and started towards the window.

"Dude…" Stiles started but was interrupted.

A voice from the door made them both stop. "We do have a door." The sheriff leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, an amused look on his face. "Hello, Derek."

Derek raised an eyebrow. He'd come to be pretty close to the sheriff over the past few years, a nice change of company from the constant teenagers. "Uh, sorry Sheriff, I'm just…the first time I came to visit Stiles was through the window and I…" His cheeks started to turn red, embarrassed as he tried to explain himself. This is why he didn't do emotions. This is why he was better at quick and short relationships (although, maybe he shouldn't say 'better' seeing how some of those turned out…). "I could just start this all over and leave and come back at the door…"

"Nonsense, you wanted to be nostalgic, it's romantic." The sheriff smiled. "Just leave through the door so my son doesn't break a leg. And get him home in one piece before the sun rises." He gave a smile to his son before walking off.

Stiles' eyebrows were almost hidden in his hair. "Holy crap, that just happened, alright. So…door." He turned to Derek and smiled. "And I didn't have to hear your heartbeat to know you're afraid of my dad."

"I respect him." Derek grabbed Stiles' hand as he walked fast and the two left out the door.

The two drive for a while in silence, at least Stiles' definition of awhile in silence, before Stiles finally broke the silence. "So, where are we going? What are we doing? This hasn't been some elaborate plan to get me all alone in the woods to rip my throat out with your teeth, has it?" He laughed a little nervously noticing they were getting further from town.

"I thought we trusted each other." Derek kept his eyes on the road.

Stiles squirmed in his seat a little bit. "I do, we do. I mean, I trust you with my life, of course. I just, um, well, this is weird, right?" His only response was a small smirk on Derek's face. "So, you like me. Mr. Sourwolf who slammed me into walls and steering wheels, likes me?"

"I've also saved you quite a few times between the slamming." Derek finally looked over, but only for a second. "I wouldn't do that if I didn't care. You knew me before you and Scott infected me with that hero-ideal. I wouldn't go around saving people, saving the town, just for the heck of it. Even if I said there was a means to an end in saving you, it wasn't like that. You're smart Stiles, stop acting so dumb." He huffed as he took a sharp turn. "I let you in my car. Scott might have driven it, but I gave you the keys. That Camaro meant the world to me. Hell, I trusted you with my sister."

Stiles smiled, looking down at his fidgeting hands. "I like you too."

"We're here." Derek made the car come to a stop just outside the woods and swiftly got out the car, going straight to the trunk.

Stiles tripped out of his own door. "Shouldn't you be opening my door or something? This is a date after all."

"You have hands. You can open your own door. Be a man about it Stiles." He smiled as he put a duffle bag over his shoulder and closed the trunk. "You ready?"

"Depends on what I'm ready for?"

Derek walked forward, taking Stiles hand again (Stiles could really get use to this), and started walking into the woods. "Don't worry, you can trust the big bad wolf."

"Hey, leave the jokes to the professionals." Stiles couldn't help but crack a smile as he let Derek lead him into the woods. It didn't take him long to figure out where they were heading. "We're on Hale property." He mentioned as the two jumped over a small creek. "And as I was once told before, it's private property and we shouldn't be here."

Derek only gave a small smile. "It's not Hale property anymore. Besides, you've got a Hale with you this time." He finally came to a stop in a clearing. "This is something I've been wanting to do with you for a long time Stiles." He let go of Stiles' hand and put the duffle bag down before opening it up and riffling through, pulling out…tape?

"What kinks are you into Derek?" Stiles mocked.

"It's for your hands." Derek stood up, taking one of Stiles' hands again. "This way you hopefully won't cut up your knuckles or hurt yourself. But it's you, so I brought some first aid just in case."

Stiles stared, confused, as Derek began to wrap his hands like a boxer. "What are you talking about? What are we doing? I took a freaking shower and got dressed semi-nice for you, for this date. And you're putting tape on my hands and talking about first aid. This better be some form of role play."

Once Derek was done he took a step back. "You're going to hit me." His face was completely serious. A face that Stiles couldn't respond to with words, he could only raise an eyebrow. "You're stressed out Stiles. You have been for a long time. You bottle everything up until you can barely take it anymore. You complain about being the weak human and I know it bothers you even if you say it jokingly. So, if you want to hit something, hit me. If you want to learn to fight, I'll show you."

"Is this really date material?" Stiles was completely shocked at Derek, and maybe even a bit at himself. He looked at his hands and never really thought he wanted to hit something before but now he could feel that weight on his shoulders.

"We have the rest of our lives to worry about dates." Derek took his shirt off, taking a grounded stance. "And face it, neither of us are normal. Our friendship has never been normal. So, just go with it Stiles. And hit m…" Before Derek could finish there was a fist going right into his diaphragm. "There you go, just change your stance a bit. Put your whole body into your punch. Come on. Hit me again. Mean it."

And Derek coached him as he threw punch after punch. Stiles let out a few screams as his punches became less method and more emotion, that's when Derek stopped coaching and just took the punches. It must have been several minutes of just non-stop hard punches when Stiles began to feel his body gain fatigue and two strong arms wrap around him. "Shh, it's okay Stiles." He heard Derek whisper; he hadn't realized he was crying until then. "I've got you. I'll always have you Stiles." A small kiss was placed on the top of his head. Stiles pulled his face away from Derek's chest, looking up at the werewolf's lips before going for them only for Derek to pull away. "No, I'm not going to kiss you tonight Stiles. I'll kiss you if you're ever mine. If you choose me then we'll have the rest of our lives to kiss. If you don't, I don't want another story of almost, of failure. You're my friend. I don't have a lot of those Stiles. I won't lose my friend after tonight, at least I hope not. But if I gain a boyfriend, then I'll be the luckiest man alive."

Stiles couldn't help but stare. "This wasn't a date."

Derek shook his head, glad to see Stiles understood. "I don't have a good record with one-date scenarios. Really, I don't actually date. If you don't choose me, I won't let you be one of them. If you do choose me, then I'll take you on a real first-date. I'll take you on as many dates as you want."

Pushing away from Derek Stiles looked at the duffle bag. "What else do you have in there?"

"Plenty of weapons to get out the rest of that anger." Derek bent down over the bag. "I learned the hard way that anger and hate isn't what will win you a fight. You taught me that. I thought anger and hate were my answers to everything and then you had to go and come up with that anchor crap." Derek stood back up with butterfly blades. "Proving me wrong at my own game."

Stiles smiled, taking the blades. "That's alright Derek. We all know you can at least hit really hard and turn into a cute fuzzy…" Before he could finish his sentence Derek started his fake attack and the two were "fighting". As much as Stiles hated to admit it, it was kind of perfect for the two of them. They spent most of their time fighting anyways. And Derek was right, he didn't want to be in the same group as Kate, Jennifer, or even Braeden maybe. Derek didn't need a longer list of first dates gone wrong.

After a fulfilling night of stress relief, Derek drove Stiles back to the house, putting the car in park right outside the Stilinski home. "Stiles, I want you to know that I really do trust you. I trust you'll make the right decision, the decision that will make you happy. Even if it's not me, I'll trust your judgment. I'm…" Derek looked at his hands straining on the wheel. "I've trusted you with my life over and over Stiles. Now…now I'm trusting you with my heart."

Not being able to help himself, Stiles leaned over in the car and put a kiss on Derek's cheek. "This was exactly what I needed Derek, thank you." He unbuckled his seat belt. "And Derek, I'd trust you with my heart too." He smiled and made his way back to his house.

There were three people who meant the world to him, who all pulled at his heart, who he cared for and loved, but there was only one who was more than just a piece of his heart. There was only one he was in love with. It came to him during the fight. His mind cleared of everything, his body not trying to shake off nervous energy, and just like that he knew what his mom had been talking about.

/I know this took forever to put up. And I feel like some people might be mad with this but I just don't think Stiles and Derek could jump into a "normal" relationship and dating. They needed a little something more and Stiles needed a way to make up his mind. Also, the reason this took so long to finish was that recently someone close to me passed away. I've had a hard time bouncing back from this one. I'll try my hardest to update again soon with Stiles' decision and the ending of this story but it might be awhile and I apologize for that. But please, still let me know what you think (although if you could just stay in more of the positive realm that would be great, life is kind of rough at the moment) and send in any last votes (Sterek is still very much in the lead) I'd really appreciate it. So thank you so much for reading, please review, and have a good day.