They'd been locked together for a little over half an hour when Isaac knocked on the door. Stiles wouldn't have thought it was possible considering the world class ache in his ass where Derek's knot was still fastened inside of him, but he was actually starting to doze off. They'd rearranged so that he was using Derek as a pillow, scratching patterns out against his skin and watching the faint red lines fade almost immediately.
Werewolf healing never failed to amaze him, even though it would never fail to piss him off that he wouldn't ever be able to mark Derek. Hickeys were out of the question for the both of them, which really shouldn't have annoyed him as much as it did. He supposed actually though that the aching in his ass would have been more of a burn if it hadn't been for being a werewolf. He could actually feel his body healing itself around the intrusion, the process slowed down whenever one of them squirmed – and if anybody thought Stiles could stay still in any situation, including when he felt what could have been a pool ball up his ass, then they had another thing coming.
It was Derek who had the peace of mind to pull the sheets up over them when Isaac knocked, saving the pup from an eyeful when he walked in a minute later. His eyes were downcast and there was a flush on his cheeks that betrayed the fact he was embarrassed even if Stiles hadn't been able to smell it. There was also a hickey on his neck that had to be recent if it was still there and his scent was almost completely mixed in with Lee's by this point.
It was something that made Stiles smile even though he sort of wanted to die right there. It felt like he was corrupting Isaac's mind or something having him walk in on this. Even if he knew that was a stupid thing to think, Isaac would always be a pup to him.
"Chris Argent's outside at the end of the drive," Isaac muttered, looking everywhere but them, his face getting redder and redder the longer he stood there, "He wants to speak to Stiles and because of the treaty we can't technically do anything to make him leave."
A treaty that Stiles didn't know the terms or the small print of, but that wasn't the point. Before he'd left, they hadn't actually had an official treaty in place with the Argents.
"Tell him we're a bit. . . stuck right now," Stiles said, feeling his own cheeks heat up and hating himself for the wording even if it had been partly intentional, "I'll be there in a bit."
Honestly, it was Argent's own fault for not calling ahead, so if he had to wait, so be it. That was his problem. Isaac nodded quickly and practically bolted out of the room.
Derek choked on a laugh as soon as the door shut. "Seriously?" he asked, those eyebrows of his voicing a whole lot more than he ever would out loud.
Stiles just shrugged, settling back down on Derek's chest, tucking his head under the other Alpha's chin. "Well we could always go out like this, but I don't really think it would be appropriate," he muttered and he was almost positive he could hear Isaac make a strangled noise somewhere in the house. Or maybe it had been Scott.
"I have a better idea," Derek replied, pushing his hands under Stiles' thighs. Somehow – Stiles blamed stupid Derek Alpha Strength – he managed to stand up, wrapping Stiles' legs around him and managing to keep the knot from pulling too much. Although, Stiles really wasn't going to complain at the pulling, because even though it ached, the knot sent a shot of pleasure through his system every time it shifted. Derek walked through into the en-suite bathroom, his hands underneath Stiles' ass, even though the grip was more fondling than supporting.
Again, Stiles wasn't one to complain. Especially not when Derek's long fingers slipped down between his cheeks to slide a finger around where they were joined. Not attempting to breach – which would have been impossible – just testing. Just feeling his handy work.
It was a strange experience washing whilst they were still joined together. Even though he could feel the knot softening slightly, neither of them made any move to see if Derek could pull out. Derek smirked at him as he arched against the wall, legs locked still around Derek's waist and the knot pulling just a little as he lathered up his hair. In the combined space and pressed so closely together, Stiles couldn't have said for the life of him at times which hands belonged to which person. And it wasn't even sexual, or at least it was about as un-sexual as it possibly could be whilst they were still technically having sex.
Each touch, each slide of soapy skin was more intimate than almost anything they had done before was. It was comforting and more real than Stiles would have known how to cope with had it been anyone else. He'd been in a shower with someone before, fucked and been fucked up against a shower wall. He'd held Jason up and awkwardly washed dirt out of wounds to help him heal whilst the other wolf had been unconscious. He'd been in showers in locker rooms with other people, had stood with Maggie just on the other side of the glass having a conversation. He could think of over twenty different scenarios, but there wasn't anything quite like having someone look at him with the sheer level of care that Derek was doing so with.
It was difficult to explain.
And he thought the only way he could really make any sense of it was if he thought of the rest of his life as one big mess. The mess of his mother's death, the chaos of his teenage years. The hectic tornado of activity that was the Pack. The harsh adrenaline-fueled moments of fights. The fast-paced panic-filled days of his return to Beacon Hills. All of it had been a mess, whether good or bad, it was all a mess. His entire life. And yet that moment right there seemed uncharacteristically neat. No stress, no pressure, just Derek and Stiles, hot water and soap.
Not even the looming potential mess that Chris Argent could bring to the fold could ruin it. That moment just seemed like it was cut out a picture-perfect magazine in comparison to the rest of Stiles' life. To everything he could imagine in his future as well. It felt stolen, like he'd cheated somehow in order to be granted this.
But nothing could have made him give it up.
"Stop thinking so hard," Derek muttered against the shell of his ear, his fingers brushing lightly down Stiles' side as he sucked the lobe into his mouth just briefly. Not even giving Stiles enough time to build up a moan, instead letting him stutter on the beginnings of the sound in his throat. It made Stiles wish he had the energy to scowl or just do something in any sort of retribution.
"You'd probably be dead by now if I didn't overthink things," he pointed out, leaning his head back against the tiles and sliding his fingers into the back of Derek's wet hair so that he could look his mate in the face.
It seemed weird to think that word. Or at least to actually think it and have an aspect of confidence to the thought. It wasn't just a pipe dream anymore. It was reality. And in a way it didn't seem like it should be real, that it should be right. Because sure, Derek could be broody and temperamental and he wasn't all that good at actually using his words, but he was still one of the most beautiful things that Stiles had ever seen. He blamed the eyebrows, or maybe the cheekbones, but then he supposed it probably helped that Derek just had the sort of eyes that anyone could get lost in. He was broken and all hard edges, but it just made people want to find out how to open him up.
It had made Stiles want to find out how to open him up, but more than that, it had made Stiles want to learn how to show everyone that softer side to Derek. The person he'd been before the fire. Before Kate Argent had broken him practically beyond repair.
Allison had said to him once that Derek was, "Ruined not broken," and that you couldn't hope to fix what would be impossible to mend. He'd disagreed then and he disagreed now. Derek wasn't ruined. Not completely. Sure, Kate had messed him up in a lot of ways, many of which would never be able to be reversed. But Stiles wasn't looking to put all the pieces back together in the same way, he'd just always wanted to make them fit as best as possible. He'd work on filling in the cracks for as long as it took, in any way that it took.
God knew anyway, Stiles was just as broken as Derek was in a lot of respects. He maybe hadn't lost on the same scale as Derek had done and he didn't carry around the same volume of guilt that Derek probably always would do, but it was still there. That little bit had always been real enough for him to be unable to cope with. So maybe that was the way in which they were perfect for each other, in the fact that they were both broken and ruined and maybe sometimes it took swapping a few fragments of the whole in order to get it back to completion.
Stiles would love to tell people the secret, but honestly, even in the good moments he knew that they would never be completely there. He didn't even try to fool himself.
"Probably," Derek agreed, grinning slow and lazy. Those perfect lips stretching wide into a smile that had a few too many teeth. But then that was just Derek, vicious even when he was being tender.
"Definitely," Stiles countered, pressing an almost chaste kiss to the corner of Derek's mouth.
His feet dropped to the floor a minute or so later, it could have been ten, it could have been just two, Stiles honestly couldn't have said. All he knew was that the water turned colder and the knot inside of him slipped free. Both of the groaned lowly as Derek slipped out of him and Stiles shuddered for a moment in Derek's arms, feeling incomplete and empty after all that time of being so completely filled.
He could smell the salty tang in the air of Derek's release as it ran down his thighs, mingling with the water and swirling down the plughole. He almost mourned the loss of it, probably would have done had Derek not moved in quickly and started massaging the purest form of his scent into Stiles' skin with precise swipes and circles of his fingers. It didn't even occur to Stiles for a second to complain, because he'd been waiting for far too long to wear Derek's scent. To be allowed to wear Derek's scent and he planned on never smelling like anything else ever again as far as he was concerned.
They both jumped slightly and stopped what they were doing when a fist connected with the door. "Stop with the kinky shit and hurry the fuck up," Maggie called through the door, "Jason's about two minutes away from going over to chat to that hunter and that ain't gonna turn out well for anybody."
Stiles groaned as Derek shut off the water, but he waved for him to stop when he moved for the door handle with nothing but a towel slung low around his waist – an image Stiles was quite happy to have burned into his memory forever thank you very much. "Nice try Mags, but get the fuck out of our room," he shouted back through the door.
He heard her huff out a breath and just knew she was pouting even though he couldn't see her. "I was just checking you were actually getting out," she replied and he could have pinpointed that as a blatant lie even without the help of her heartbeat ticking in his ears.
"Liar," he didn't even bother raising his voice, "You just want to see Derek's naked ass."
He heard her moving away from the door even as she laughed, "Can you really blame me?" And no, in all honesty he really couldn't blame her for wanting to sneak a look at any part of Derek. And he was quite willing to share a lot of things with Maggie, would give her his life even, but Derek's ass was definitely not on the list of things he was willing to hand over to her. Or to anyone. Ever. It'd have to be over his dead body and even then he'd come back as a ghost to haunt whoever it was that'd killed him.
Oh yes, he was just that serious!
Derek just did nothing more than roll his eyes, press a kiss to Stiles' temple and didn't even look mildly surprised when Stiles jerked the towel off as he walked away. Impending meeting with a hunter or not, Stiles wasn't missing out on that view walking away from him.
Was going to put the meeting up tonight as well, but I did say on Tumblr that this update would be done if everything went to plan today and it didn't, my brother got taken into hospital. So I have a bit of an excuse there. But it's 11:48 and I've updated, so I fulfilled my promise! Thank you to everyone who is sticking with me and sorry for the wait. Hate me if you like, but just remember that if you do, you won't find out what happens. . . just saying. . .