I want to thank everyone for reading and doubly thank anyone who reviewed. You all are so fantastic and it's always a pleasure to write for you.

I also want to give a shout out to my beta, JessicaMDawn on AO3 and Tumblr, without whom this story wouldn't be half of what it is.

For a playlist of all songs used in the story, check out this playlist on youtube. www. youtube watch?v=5d7EbtLb8ok&index=1&list=PLx9RM1CdboCAf2tRPTO9S52hnFJaz4d3g

Chapter 17

Derek had never been part of a wedding proposal before. In all fairness, he'd never actually known anyone who got married. Okay, so people in the company got married regularly, but Derek didn't know any of them personally and his only involvement was to send them a small flower arrangement, as was company policy.

So helping Mr. Stilinski- er… John decorate his New York condo to be really romantic and listening as Jordan walked John through how to cook Gorgonzola Steak, which sounded and smelled amazing but which Derek would unfortunately get none of, was a brand new experience.

Stiles was doing a solo concert for a charity event in Times Square, so he was prepping for that instead. Eventually they would all be there, but first Melissa was going to show up for dinner and John would set the mood, and by the time he got Melissa to the concert, she'd probably have figured out the plan and would either bolt or stick around to let it happen. John worried she'd choose option one, but everyone else was certain she'd choose option two.

Scott was home with his mom, hopefully doing his part in getting her ready but not freaking her out. And also hopefully not totally ruining the surprise of the night. He'd been very excited when they brought him into the planning party, and he and Stiles had hugged a lot, so Derek could imagine that energy getting the better of him and letting something slip. But Stiles assured Derek that Scott was good for this. If anyone would have spoiled something because of excitement, after all, it would have been Stiles. And Derek had to agree with that.

Seven p.m. rolled around quicker than they expected, and Derek was pretty sure John had wanted more flowers and rose lights than Derek had put out, but Derek was also pretty sure that John was not in the right state of mind to be dictating how many lights and flowers were acceptable and how many were just rude.

The steak smelled so good that Derek was literally salivating, so when Jordan declared dinner a success and their exit time had arrived, Derek was relieved to leave.

Jordan and Derek had barely shut the doors on their car when a taxi rolled up to the curb to let Melissa out. They held their breaths as they watched her walk inside, and only when the door closed behind her did either of them breathe.

"You'd think we were afraid she could hear us breathing or something," Jordan scolded himself and turned the key in the ignition. "Anyway, with that meal, she might end up proposing to him instead."

"You're that confident in your cooking lesson?" Derek asked. "So humble."

"Hey, humility is good, but pride can be good too, and I am very proud of my kitchen abilities." Jordan looked behind them and then pulled out onto the street, leaving John Stilinski to his own bumbling dating habits.

Derek chuckled softly and looked up at the clear sky. They'd been a little worried about rain, but there wasn't a cloud in sight. "Has Lydia experienced these masterful kitchen abilities?" he asked as he lowered his eyes back to the street.

A noncommittal shrug answered and then Jordan said, "Once, but it was just pork chops. Really I want to make her some chicken cordon bleu, because she really likes it, you know? And I've been practicing to get it perfect."

"Sounds like you're planning for a proposal too," Derek commented. He wasn't being serious, but Jordan's answering silence was more than confirmation. "Wait, are you really thinking about asking her to marry you?"

"What do you mean 'really'?" Jordan asked, a snip in his tone. "We're soul mates. I love her. But no. I'm not going to ask her to marry me. Not now, at least. Way too many people are getting engaged right now."

Forehead knitting tight, Derek turned his head to regard his best friend. John and Melissa were about to get engaged, they all knew that. But what was Jordan talking about? Derek tried to think of who else Jordan knew that was getting engaged, but all he noticed was that he didn't know any of Jordan's other friends.

"Who-?" he started, but Jordan started talking at the same time, louder than normal.

"I mean I also don't have a ring," he said. "That's kind of important when proposing, right? Can you imagine Lydia's face if I proposed without a ring?"

Derek could. He could see her perfectly shaped eyebrow rising up as she looked around for the nonexistent ring and her disbelieving stare, but he could also see her reaching into her Prada bag and pulling out a ring box and saying "Guess it's a good thing I bought this the other day." And then she'd kneel right in front of the already kneeling Jordan and present him with a ring instead, and he would laugh, embarrassed, and it would be nauseatingly sweet.

"That actually seems exactly the way you'd do it," Derek commented offhandedly and shrugged.

Their conversation was cut off as they pulled off the road to park. They had to walk a block to get around the people already crowding around the stage, and once they got there, security guards had to let them through the barriers to the backstage.

Before Derek could spot Stiles, someone was tackling him from behind, but not hard enough to knock him over. Stiles' arms locked around Derek's stomach and he squeezed tightly.

"Everything set?" he asked and dropped his arms when he realized Derek wasn't going to succumb to the bear hug.

Derek turned and wrapped Stiles so tight in his arms that the singer squeaked and then wheezed. Releasing Stiles, Derek smirked and said, "Everything set. And here?"

"I'm-" Stiles paused to wheeze again and pressed a hand to his side. "Dude, you're not supposed to damage me. I'm the face of this enterprise. Jesus." Derek just rolled his eyes, so Stiles pouted before continuing. "I'm all prepared here. Ready to do my part."

"Good. Now go rock Time Square and raise money for…." Derek frowned, trying to remember.

Shaking his head in mock disappointment, Stiles supplied, "Heart disease research?"

"Right. Go Red For Women and the American Heart Association," Derek agreed but Stiles did not look impressed. He bopped Derek in the forehead and then gave him a quick kiss before hurrying over to the stairs. The event manager was there, but Derek couldn't hear what he said over the roar of the crowd after some people spotted Stiles' head in view.

Just in time, Scott appeared on the scene, a shy but happy Kira holding his hand. They waved as the guard let them through and then the group of now four people huddled on the edge of the stage. Derek and Scott gave each other a one-armed hug, nothing too intimate, but it was far friendlier than the handshake Scott and Jordan shared.

Then Stiles was on the stage, greeting everyone and thanking them for their support, and all attention in the group went to him. It was always great to see Stiles in his element, and tonight he seemed just as brilliant as always. Derek didn't think he'd ever lose the strange warmth that spread through his chest when he saw Stiles possessed by the crowd's energy. Stiles looked so damn happy on stage, singing to his fans, and that made Derek happy.

The concert was sort of a 'best of' set list. It was the world premier of "Lonely No More" too, which excited Derek, but he doubted anyone would ever guess the song was inspired by him. After almost two months of being revealed soul mates, the people who knew were still limited to just their small group. Even most of the crew the day of the reveal had no idea what Derek had done to "fix" Stiles.

It wasn't that they hadn't talked about letting the general public know. The fans already knew Stiles had a blank wrist, after all. The topic was an obvious one. But Stiles kept saying 'not yet' and 'soon' and other platitudes, and Derek kept letting him. But after the concert, he was going to sit down with Stiles and make sure they had a plan for it, because they couldn't keep living behind closed doors.

The energy was high in the square and the screen above Stiles flashed to show fans had already pledged two hundred thousand dollars before the half time hit. Stiles jumped off stage to change his shirt, as he always did at the halfway point, Derek was learning, and that's when Melissa and John showed up.

They weren't glowing, per say, but they brought a sort of warmth to the side stage with their beaming smiles and easy intimacy. Melissa's finger was still barren, so John hadn't jumped the gun and everything was going as planned.

"Right on time," Stiles said, shrugging on a very nice button up. It was dark blue and sat nice against his pale skin. It also perfectly matched the shirt Stiles had insisted Derek wear when they were getting ready that morning. Derek opened his mouth to comment on it, but then Stiles was climbing back up the steps to the stage.

"On time?" Melissa asked, and she sounded genuinely curious but Derek saw the knowing look she cast around them all. She knew.

"Okay, Okay, Okay," Stiles said on stage and the crowd settled. "So according to the screen, you guys are beasts, because I took like two minutes to change my shirt-"

"I love you!" someone shouted in the audience.

"I love you too," Stiles threw back in the general direction of the voice. "And I know, right? I mean I look pretty damn good, right?"

The crowd erupted into cheers that Stiles soaked up before he held his hand up to quiet them again, and wow. If that wasn't power, what was?

"Anyway, in the last five minutes, we've gone from two hundred thousand dollars to three hundred. Three. Hundred. Thousand. Dollars!" Stiles announced loudly and the crowd roared again.

That time, Stiles let them go and go until they tapered off on their own, nodding the whole time. He walked back and forth on the stage, wiping his brow and then rubbing his nose before bringing the mic back to his lips. The crowd got very quiet.

"Now, as many of you are aware, this event holds a very special place in my heart. Six years ago, my mother passed away from heart failure. We had a pretty good warning for it, but it still came as a shock when she died. I was still a relative nobody at the time. I think I had played one major gig by that point, and by major I mean like five hundred people, and now look at all of you." He smiled as a few people shouted support and whistled. "So yeah, this concert is partially dedicated to my late mom. Cause she was great, you know? And maybe the money we raise tonight will help someone else's mom not die."

John put a hand on Melissa's shoulder then and she put her hand over his in a sign of support, and a little of that knowing glint left her eyes and Derek started to see doubt in them. Stiles' speech was making her wonder if she'd misread the signs. Derek did his best not to grin.

"Anyway, so yeah. This concert is partially for my first mom, but it's also for my second," Stiles said, and the crowd began to whisper curiously. Melissa frowned and tried to get information from John's expression, but the man was doing very well on not revealing anything. "Even before my mom passed, I had a wonderful manager who made sure I got where I needed to go and did what I needed to do for my career, but who also made sure I was taken care of… emotionally. She helped me get through the grieving process and inspired me not to quit on my music. She's not blood related, but I call her mom, and I'm pretty serious about it even if she thinks I'm joking. And she's here tonight, so I want to introduce her to you all. Would you like to meet her?"

The crowd clapped and cheered, and Derek knew they were just as moved by the idea of her being Stiles' second mom as they were trying to thank Melissa with their cheers. Without her, they wouldn't have Stiles.

"What?" Melissa gasped.

"That's your cue," Derek said and took her hand.

With minor confusion on her part, Melissa let herself be led up onto the stage by Derek. He took her all the way to Stiles and then handed her off, like a bride at the end of the aisle. He backed up to the stairs then, and while Melissa was distracted by Stiles, he motioned for John to get ready.

"Melissa McCall, you've been one of the best things about my life these last eleven years, and I know I speak for more than just myself when I say I can't imagine life without you in it." Stiles' grin grew as a tear ran down Melissa's cheek. He hugged her to the awws of the audience and then he took her hand in his and said, "This next song is for you."

When the music started, it was not a Stiles Stilinski tune. The audience cheered as they recognized John Stilinski's song start up and Derek could see the excitement on their faces as they waited to hear Stiles cover his father's music.

"It's hard for me to say the things I want to say sometimes. There's no one here but you and me and that broken old street light," Stiles sang, and Melissa covered her mouth with her free hand.

It was a love song. One of Derek's favorites to come out of John Stilinski's band, and as far as their recon had shown, it was also Melissa's favorite. Coming from Stiles to her, the song was almost sweeter than if it was coming from a lover.

"Thank you for loving me. For being my eyes when I couldn't see. For parting my lips when I couldn't breathe. Thank you for loving me," Stiles sang and kissed her hand.

Derek motioned and John ascended the steps right as Stiles' lips landed on Melissa's hand. The crowd gave away John's appearance, but Melissa must have thought they were excited over the kiss because she didn't turn around until after Derek had handed John the second microphone and the older Stilinski started singing.

"I never knew I had a dream until that dream was you. When I look into your eyes, the sky's a different blue." His voice was deeper than Stiles', more robust. He was like a strong coffee where Stiles was like creamy hot chocolate.

Now Melissa was definitely crying, and with both her hands now freed, she didn't know what to do with them. She covered her mouth but then pulled them away and pressed them together like she was praying and then they went back to her lips.

"Thank you for loving me. For being my eyes when I couldn't see. For parting my lips when I couldn't breathe. Thank you for loving me," John said, finishing the second verse, and then he dropped down on one knee before her and produced the ring.

The crowd couldn't have been louder if the microphones had been out among them. For a long moment, John and Melissa just smiled at each other. The band was playing the tune of the song very quietly in the background, on repeat until however long it took to complete the moment. So as soon as the crowd started to quiet, John put the mic to his lips.

"Melissa McCall – like Stiles said. I can't imagine life without you in it. So would you do me the honor of marrying me?" he asked.

He almost went to hand her the microphone, but she sort of snatched it away before he could. She was still crying a little from the song, but now she was laughing as she said, "That's the stupidest question you've asked me in eleven years – including the time you asked me if I wanted a Reese cup when you know I'm allergic to peanuts." The crowd laughed with her, and then she offered him her hand and nodded. "Yes."

John didn't have the mic anymore, but his breath of relief was almost audible, even over the erupted cheers of the audience. He slipped the ring on her finger and stood to embrace her, and she hugged him tightly in return. The band swelled the music to return to the song as they shared their first kiss as an engaged couple – was it their first kiss ever? Part of Derek doubted it.

Then Stiles and his father sang together. "Thank you for loving me. For being my eyes when I couldn't see. You parted my lips when I couldn't breathe. Thank you for loving me."

Derek was still by the stairs and he realized too late that he should have stepped down, but no one had called to him to remind him either, and he thought that was foolish on them as well as him. He actually started to move the two short steps to the stairs, but Stiles caught his eye and waved him over.

With his eyes, Derek asked if Stiles was sure he wanted Derek to walk out into the middle of the family thing. Stiles raised his eyebrows in insistence and Derek took a deep breath. Well it seemed Stiles had come up with a 'coming out' plan all on his own.

Derek got all the way to them without the crowd paying him much mind at all, but they definitely took note of the way Stiles slipped his hand into Derek's and turned to serenade him with the last part of the song.

"When I couldn't fly, oh, you gave me wings. You parted my lips when I couldn't breathe. Thank you for loving me." Then Stiles leaned in and they kissed. On stage. In front of thousands of people and live TV cameras.

The music swelled and then died out as the crowd lost their minds over the kiss. John and Melissa were hugging again and being really too cute to bear, but the crowd's attention was back on Stiles again.

"Also, please give a loving round of applause for this man!" Stiles shouted to get over the noise and held up Derek's hand. "I'd like to formally introduce you all to my soul mate and personal Superman – Derek Hale!"

The concert raised seven hundred fifteen thousand dollars, roughly, when you included the money from ticket sales for the good seats and the percentage of sales from vendors selling food and merchandise around the edges. And the bank that hosted matched the first hundred thousand dollars. But the fans did most of it.

This amazing feat meant the concert was covered on all major news stations the following night. Which meant even serious news eventually had to talk about John Stilinski's engagement and Stiles Stilinski's new soul mate.

Part of Derek really hated that. There was literally no more public way to announce themselves as a couple.

The other part of him knew he'd gone over to Stiles of his own free will and, like Melissa, he'd known exactly what doing so would mean. So really he couldn't even properly blame Stiles.

But he probably still would have made an effort to seem like he was blaming Stiles, if not for the fact that he woke up the next morning with a plate full of bacon presented to him in bed. He'd had dreams like this before, but this smelled too real to be a dream. Stiles was also straddling him since he was the one holding the plate in front of Derek's face like a batch of smelling salts, and that was a new addition to the bacon dream.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked, sleep still sticking to him but reaching for the bacon anyway. Stiles let him finish the whole piece and grab another one before he started speaking, which was a surprising amount of self control for so early in the morning.

"I wanted to apologize for not consulting you before throwing our relationship out on live television," Stiles said and turned the plate so Derek could better grab slices. "I told dad I was gonna do it, but no one else, so it's not like you were the only one left out. Literally everyone was left out."

"Stiles," Derek groaned. He couldn't even sit up.

"Yeah?" Stiles asked, leaning forward and making Derek's inability to move even worse.

"Do you realize you're pinning me to the bed?" Derek could only move one arm, the one he was eating with. Stiles had effectively trapped every other part of him. Not to say Derek couldn't force his way up, but that would upset the bacon as well as Stiles, and he didn't think the bacon could be salvaged afterward.

"Yeah." Stiles smiled. "I figured you would be less inclined to kill me if you couldn't move."

A tired laugh escaped Derek's throat and then he sighed. "Stiles, you brought me a plate of bacon for breakfast. I'm not going to kill you. Although it is five a.m. and even you should be asleep."

"Too much energy," Stiles said and grabbed a piece of bacon. He set the plate on Derek's chest before extricating himself from the position he'd gotten into. It only took a little more effort than normal, but the bacon remained on the plate, so it was a win.

Sitting up in bed, Derek noticed that making bacon was not the only thing Stiles had done at five a.m.

They were at Stiles' loft apartment in New York and had been for several days. Being head of Stiles' permanent security now meant he always had to be in the same city and sometimes the same building, but because of their relationship, he was often in the same apartment or the same room. Derek had been in this room every night, but this morning things were different.

"You cleaned," Derek muttered, but it was more than that. The apartment was spotless, and there were flowers in a vase that Derek recalled Stiles getting after the concert from the sponsor, and there was a single candle burning and filling the air with rustic wood cabin, or whatever scent Stiles had picked at random, but the most notable thing was Derek's stuff.

Even after a week, Derek's travel bags had not been fully unpacked. His bags sat in a corner, waiting for him to search through them for whatever he needed. But not anymore. In fact he didn't see the bags anywhere. He did see his stuff though. The closet door was open, showing that his button down shirts had been washed, ironed, and hung up. His pants too, except for his backup pajama bottoms, which were folded neatly on top of the dresser.

The photo of the immediate Hale family that Derek always traveled with was sitting next to the photo of Stiles and his father on top of the short bookcase. And although Derek was a good distance away from the bathroom, he thought he could see some of his bathroom supplies lined up neatly on the counter through the open door.

Before he could do much more than take note of these changes, Stiles was back, sitting calmly beside Derek on the mattress. It was such a controlled movement that it instantly seized Derek's full attention.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, setting the bacon aside.

"What? Yeah, of course," Stiles said, but Derek didn't believe him. "Give me your hand."

Obediently, Derek held his hand out, and Stiles turned it palm side up. Without explanation, he dropped something light but metallic into Derek's palm. Then he pulled away and put his hands on his knees while he waited for Derek to fully comprehend what had just happened.

A key. Stiles had given Derek a key. Which was silly, because Derek already had a key, since he was Stiles' head of security and Stiles had agreed to let Derek have a copy of just about every key important to Stiles' life, including his apartment key.

"That's yours," Stiles said. "I know you already have like a billion keys to my life, but this one's different." He pressed his lips together for a moment and then licked them. "This one isn't a just key. But it's yours… if you want it."

Derek frowned curiously down at the key, which definitely looked like just a key. He held it closer to his face and turned it over in his hand. On the other side, the key had been engraved, but instead of a company logo or name, it was a set of words.

Carved into the soft metal of the key, hard to read in the lamp light, were the words "Move In. Stay Forever."

Derek reached over and pulled one of Stiles' hands into his own. "Are you proposing to me now?" he asked, a teasing lilt to his tone, and Stiles chuckled.

"Like father, like son, right?" he asked and Derek just smiled.

Slowly but without hesitation, Derek closed the distance between them and kissed Stiles in the tender way the early hour demanded. "Then I guess my answer is yes. But now you have to tell me something."

"What?" Stiles asked, and his face was breaking into a grin.

"How did Jordan know?" Derek asked, voice dead serious as he remembered his friend's comment in the car.

A laugh burst out of Stiles like an air balloon popping. "Because I asked him for advice, duh! Who else could tell me you always dreamed of waking up to a plate of bacon in bed?"

With a noise of acceptance, Derek wrapped Stiles up in his arms and pulled them both back down onto the mattress. "So your father is engaged," Derek murmured, closing his eyes as he relaxed. Stiles grunted affirmation. "And now you're engaged." The noise Stiles gave in response was a delusional sort of approval, like his brain was having trouble accepting that Derek had said yes. "And half of your friends are all dating each other. Sounds exhausting. We should go back to bed."

"But what about the bacon?" Stiles asked, although he didn't struggle to get out of Derek's arms or sit up.

"We can try the bacon thing again in at least two hours," Derek said. "For now, Stiles, shut up and sleep."

And Stiles did shut up. For about two minutes.

Then, in the darkness of the morning hours, Stiles said, "I love you." It was clear and strong in the otherwise silent apartment, and Derek smiled into the back of Stiles' shoulder as they spooned on the bed.

When Stiles had been on the burning bus, Derek had sent him a message saying he needed to tell Stiles something important, and yet he hadn't done so in all this time. And now, Stiles had said it first. And those words that Derek should have said months ago filled Derek with a contentedness he'd never felt before. Because they were real and they were from his soul mate and because-

"I love you too," he said.

The End