It was late and everyone had finally turned into their tents for the night, giving in to the exhaustion and excitement of the days events. Derek stayed up just a little bit long, bringing the fire down until it was a glow of coals, he piled a little dirt onto the edges of it and left it to flicker out. All in all, it had been a good day, everyone had gotten along with little incident and had actually bonded.
Once he was sure the fire was safe to be left he got up and started walking back to the tent. Erica's words still rang through his mind. Could Stiles really like him? He didn't think it was possible, he was always pushing the poor kid into objects and slamming him against walls. He would be surprised if Stiles didn't hate him. Still, he had to find out. It would eat away at him until he did.
When he was only 50feet from the tent he heard it. A soft whimpering noise. He caught a whiff of distress, of fear and panic. He was at the tent in second, fling the front flap back to see what was wrong. Stiles was laying, body covered in sweat, tears streaming down his face, his hands clenched around his knees with tremors running through him. Then Derek realized that he was still asleep. He was having a nightmare, it was causing him to have a panic attack in his sleep.
"Stiles! Stiles wake up god damnt!" It was half command and half plea. He hated seeing Stiles like this, hated it.
He reached out and put his hand on Stiles shoulder. Stiles eyes flung open immediately at the touch. Tears were still streaming down his face. He looked up at Derek, a look of fear in his eyes. He cowered back against the far side of the tent, which in reality, only gave them about 4 feet of space. Derek didn't like this, he wouldn't have it.
"Stiles are you ok? Your having a panic attack." He said, trying to even out his tone. All the boy did was whimper in response. Derek reached out again, this time he gently grabbed Stiles arm and pulled him towards himself. It was completely instinctual, he wrapped Stiles into a hug, one arm around his waist and the other reaching up around his back, he gripped the back of Stiles neck like he would with any of his betas, but Stiles was so much more then that.
This time Stiles leaned into the touch. Wrapping around Derek in a tight hug, clamped on like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Derek only tightened his embrace. He looked down at Stiles who had buried his head in the alphas chest. Stiles looked up at him and finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry. It was a nightmare, from when my mom died, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, sorry." he let it stumble out, trying not to make direct eye contact with the older man.
"Stop apologizing. I hate it when you do that. You haven't done anything wrong and I think we are all entitled to a little emotional breakdown once in awhile." He said, and wow, that came out of left field. He never really liked to talk about feelings but his concern for Stiles over road his normal behavior. He used his hand to make stiles look at him, make him see the concern in his eyes, let him read the emotion on his face. Stiles was always good at reading the alphas face, he would know from one look whether or not Derek was telling the truth.
"I'm sorry" was all he could say.
"Stop saying that!" Derek protested
"Make me" it was a challenge. His tone had shifted ever so slightly.
That was all it took. Placing his hand on the back of Stiles head he ducked down and crashed their lips together. It was hot, the warmth of Stiles mouth as he leaned into the kiss, granting Derek complete access to his mouth. When Derek pulled back Stiles was slack jaw. He had stopped crying, his heart beat was still rapid but for an entirely different reason and Derek could smell new, more promising scents creeping into the nights air.
"I love you" he said, immediately biting his own tonuge. God why did he say that? What was he thinking? He was thinking it was the truth. And it was, he was hopelessly in love with Stiles. The soft squishy human that dared to run with wolves and stand up to an alpha, who would throw his life on the line to take a bullet for them. He loved him, he knew it.
"I love you too." It was a faint reply but it brought Derek back to the present. He looked at Stiles. The boys face was flushed, but it was true. No skip in his heart beat. It was true. He loved Stiles and Stiles loved him back.
He took of his shirt and pants, laying down, bringing stiles down with him. Stiles curled up into his chest, his hot breath right over Derek's heart. He wrapped both of his arms around the boy, Stiles did the same, intertwine their legs together. Soon Stiles heart beat evened out, his breath slowed to a slow pattern as he drifted asleep. Derek pulled him even closer, closed his eyes and fell asleep laying there with his lover, his mate.
Redemption for last chapter. I KNOW everyone wanted the sexy times to happen that night in the tent, but seriously, it would be kinda tacky to have sex after a panic attack like that so i went with fluff. Now, i dont know about you but i think a few hours of sleep is a good enough time period for..ahem..sexy times, if you catch my drift ;)