Braeden sort of feels like a hero after saving Sophia from torture which is what the men would have resorted to next. Braeden didn't accept money from Mrs. Saltorro, but she did accept a bottle of water which she was thankful for. She'd been riding on her motorcycle for hours. It's now pushing three in the morning. She notices her stomach growling as she pulls up beside the Stilinski residence to retrieve her phone. As she pulls off, she gets a text from Stiles. She reads it at the corner:
Heard your bike outside. Hope this means you're fine and everything's good?
Braeden texts back:
Yep! Thanks. Go to bed!
She calls Derek using her bluetooth and puts her phone away. After a few rings, he picks up sounding half-asleep "Hello?"
Braeden responds, "Hey sleepyhead. Mission completed."
Derek perks up at her voice, "Oh, nice. How was it? How many bad guys did you kill?"
Braeden smirks, "Unfortunately, none. But I did make it so that two of them can no longer reproduce. And I got the girl home safely which was my main priority."
Derek says in all honesty, "I'm really proud of you. You put everything on hold to save a life. That's big, Brae."
Braeden sighs, "It was the right thing to do. I still feel bad about ditching our Bellini plans though. Maybe another time?"
Derek yawns and says in a very direct manner "Look, don't worry about it. Oh and do me a favor? Hurry up, Brae." He hangs up.
Braeden blinks for a moment trying to register what just happened. Did this prick just hang up on me? Oh hell no! I'm gonna rip him a new one! I don't care if he was asleep or not!
Braeden storms into the loft to find candles lit and John Legend playing in the background. What the hell?
Derek saunters around a corner and when he sees her, he says, "Finally." He swiftly makes his way over to her, grabs her head, and kisses her with a little more force than he intended. She finds herself liking it immediately as they invade each others' mouths with their tongues.
Braeden pulls back after a minute, looks around, and asks, "What is all this?"
Derek simply responds with a classic Hale-shrug, "Date night."
Braeden dead-pans, "Derek, it's three AM. This is not date night."
Derek throws her a warm smile and wraps his arms around her lower back, "Well maybe this will be our tradition. I know we wanted it to be special and it will be."
Braeden tries not to smile even though it's tugging at her face, "Candles, Hale? Really?"
Derek tightens his arms around her as he gets defensive, "Hey! I found them in the bathroom and they smell nice. Okay?"
Braeden laughs, "Okay." She gives him a peck and pulls out of his arms, "Let me go take a quick shower."
Derek stops her, "I ran you a bath a minute ago. It should be the perfect temperature by now. And you're hungry, right? I'm gonna go make us some homemade waffles." He doesn't wait for a response. He just heads to the kitchen and Braeden stares after him slack-jawed in total awe and confusion. Who is this man? Where the hell is my boyfriend? These are thoughts that run through her mind as she makes her way to the bathroom to strip down and relax for a while in the hot water.
Derek is starting to make the batter for the waffles and he hears Braeden's muffled laugh. He instantly knows it's because of the rose petals in the tub. Damn Kira. I should have never taken her advice.
Braeden yells from the tub, "I love the rose petals!"
He knows she's being sarcastic. He yells back, "Oh yeah? Shut up."
She laughs even harder and he smiles but rolls his eyes at the sound of her chuckle ringing through the loft.
After their night has winded down, they lie in bed exhausted from playful arguing and rough love-making, entangled in sheets and each other. Derek's fingertips lightly trace Braeden's spine and her thumb makes small circles on his shoulder. With her head resting on his chest, she listens to the steady drumming of his heartbeat. She listens for her own heart's rhythm to find that in this exact instant, their hearts are beating in tandem. Slowly, a smile creeps onto her face as she listens harder to make sure she's hearing things right.
She can't help but bathe in Derek's warmth. She's never felt more safe and at ease. Braeden's guard is virtually always up but for some reason, Derek happens to be that catalyst that can bring her walls tumbling down. She's never wanted to be closer to any other person in her adult life before Derek. They've only been dating for five months and she's never felt more in love. Love? Shit, am I in love? Oh shit. No. No. NO. I can't be. We've never said that to each other. So there's no way. I don't lo—Derek cuts her thoughts off with his concerned voice, "Brae? What's wrong? Your heart just started racing."
She moves her head up so she can meet his eyes, "I don't know. I'm scared."
Derek's brow furrows and he rubs her back a little harder, "Scared of what?"
Braeden turns her body and leans up on her forearms. Derek slightly sits up to meet her changed posture. With his eyebrows, he urges her to tell him what she's thinking.
Braeden scrunches her face a little because this is going to be that hardest thing she's ever had to say. "I think I… I love you." She almost winces awaiting his reaction.
At her words, Derek's face completely relaxes from its worried state and changes into something entirely foreign for him. His eyes full of passion and his face containing a smile so genuine and wide that Braeden doesn't think she's ever seen that many teeth in his mouth when he's not wolfed out.
Derek leans forward and touches his forehead to hers, "No need to be afraid. I'm completely in love with you, too." No more words needed to be said. Nothing could make this moment any better for the both of them. Nothing… except for maybe the first breaking of daylight trying to peek through the window over the bed.
Author's note: Thank you everyone for reading! I was feeling especially inspired after watching the midseason promo. Draeden everywhere! I couldn't be more in love with this ship. I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing. Please review, fave, and/or follow (on tumblr as well, if you'd like). I appreciate it! :)