Okay.
1. Stiles never thought Derek Hale would actually kiss him. 2. Stiles never thought that Derek would back off if he actually tried to kiss him. But as the unfair and sexy man that he was, he did. He backed off! And now Stiles probably looked like an idiot, thank you very much to our favorite Alpha. Stiles let out a nervous laugh, hoping it wouldn't sound as nervous as it actually did, but hey; he was with a werewolf, of course he could tell he was nervous. "Stiles," Derek repeated, but this time it sounded more like he felt bad. Bad for leading on Stiles, making him believe Derek might want him just the same way. Which, let's be honest, was already a very small possibility. But now it was just gone. They weren't anything at all between them.
Rien.
Nada.
N-o-t-h-i-n-g.
"Hey, it's fine Derek, I was just playing, I don't want to actually kiss you," and there it was again, that fake nervous laugh of his when he was in an embarrassing moment. And even if Derek really wanted to believe Stiles, his werewolf didn't let him. It was obvious Stiles wanted him, he could just smell it. Nothing else smelled like Stiles' arousal, it smelled good and naïve and it was by far the Alpha's favorite smell – not that he'd ever admit it –, so he couldn't have just imagined it or mistaken it for something that could have smelled similar. There wasn't anything like that.
It took Derek a while to realize his attraction to Stiles. It wasn't something easy to deal with. It was weird at first, understanding you liked dicks a lot more than vaginas. It was even very weird, but it could have been weirder. Derek wasn't the type of guy who really gave women that much attention, " he didn't have time for that", he liked to answer, but he still was straight. Correction, he still thought he was straight. And he was until he realized Stiles' every moves, Stiles' lips – oh and those fucking lips, weren't they just great when they sucked on something? –, Stiles' eyes, Stiles' freckles. Stiles' way of being himself.
The Alpha didn't get it at first. After all, the only things Stiles was good at were being awkward, ridiculously logical at some point, hyperactive, annoying (which was more because he smelled so damn good) and dumb. Not that he really was, he just had this way of making himself look stupid. And even if Derek could point out more easily Stiles's flaws than he could point out his qualities, his stupid werewolf still fell for him. Hard. Then again, not that he'd ever admit it.
On Stiles' side, he always knew he liked Derek. And he knew exactly what he liked about him. It was nice, really, the way he looked at his pack like he was actually proud of them. He put so much effort into it, he spent so many nights making sure everyone would be safe on full moons. No one really saw the Alpha's sweet side, but it sure was there. Because Stiles could see it. But not when it was toward himself. He couldn't tell that the way Derek looked at him was intense. He couldn't tell that Derek had trouble controlling himself when he was close to Stiles. And even if it was hard for Stiles to not just jump on Derek and dry hump him until he died, it was even harder for the older one because, hello, werewolf here. And God knows how hard it is to control werewolves. Especially from sexual desires.
Stiles spent a lot of his days reading about them, the werewolves. Ever since he met Derek, oh and ever since Scott kind of awkwardly became one of them, he was suddenly a lot more interested in everything there had to know about them. But it really was something interesting. He learned that there was this Greek word, lycanthrope, that meant werewolf. He learned that in Italy, France and Germany, it was said that a man or woman could turn into a werewolf if he or she, on a certain Wednesday or Friday, slept outside on a summer night with the full moon shining directly on their face. There were apparently various methods that had existed for removing the werewolf form. In antiquity, the Ancient Greeks and Romans believed in the power of exhaustion in curing people of lycanthropy. The victim would be subjected to long periods of physical activity in the hope of being purged of the malady. This practice stemmed from the fact that many alleged werewolves would be left feeling weak and debilitated after committing depredations. But really, all those weird things about werewolves were freaking him out, as much as he liked to learn about them. So after reading way too many weird things to still have a sane mentality, he decided that he would only do researches on them when he had to.
"Okay," Derek finally spoked, grabbing Stiles' hand and lacing his fingers with his before he disappeared. He just wanted to see how they'd fit together. And they fit perfectly.