Chapter Text
As soon as the interview on Kitsune aired, the internet pretty much blew up. Everyone was trying to find out exactly who Derek Hale had been talking about when he’d said he’d been in love before. And it was very suspicious that he’d said ‘they’ over and over again instead of mentioning a gender.
A lot of people were screaming saying that it obviously was a girl because Derek had only ever been seen with girls before, some were yelling that it had to be a guy because why else would he not use a pronoun, and there was even a couple tried to say something about someone being genderneutral/fluid but no one paid attention to them. The rest were making guesses, throwing out names of every single person he’d ever spent a lot of time around. It was a long list.
Derek’s choice on the whole issue was to basically ignore it. He didn’t talk to the press and he tried his best to avoid walking around the city but considering he needed to get coffee and go to work he still ended up out enough that paparazzi could bother him. Laura took care of the media spin, saying that currently they were giving no comment on who Derek had been talking about but that they should still come to the opening night for Moulin Rouge! and see the performance.
While the one person Derek wanted to call the most still did not call, he did get a message from someone close to both of them. At the end of rehearsals on the Thursday before opening night for the show, he found he had a voicemail from Scott, asking him if he might have time soon to work on a movie with him. Not another Punisher movie but instead was going to make a movie using The Silmarillon, a large collection of stories that were a part of the Lord of the Rings series.
Scott was planning on making the History of the Silmarillion (the story of The First Age of Middle Earth). It would be a series of movies, there was too much information for it not to be, but Scott was hoping Derek would be willing to try out to be one of the characters. Derek, a huge nerd for Tolkien immediately called back and exclaimed that he would for sure try out for a part. Moulin Rouge wouldn’t be done for a few months but after that he could easily move in to working with Scott on the movies.
With the knowledge that he had a chance to play a part in one of his favorite writers works he almost floated home. He didn’t notice anyone yelling at him, the people shoving cameras in his faces, nothing.
That joy didn’t go away, but it was pushed to the back of his mind by Saturday because it was the opening night for his first Broadway show. Usually there would be showings at 6:30 and 8:00 on a Saturday but, as this was a talent filled show, the people in charge had decided that the first night would only have the one show at 8, before continuing the regular timings. The road in front of the theater was blocked off, not letting cars drive through because there were too many people milling about. Lots of cameras and lights could be seen as well.
Thankfully, the actors would not have to go through all of that like a movie premiere at the Chinese Theater. Instead, they were already inside getting ready in their makeups and costumes, double checking lines and stage placements. Derek was starting to feel some gitters of nerves as he sat in final makeup, though those stopped when Lydia turned to him from the chair beside him and said, “Stop worrying. We don’t need you messing this up for us.”
While it might sound harsh, it was actually nice of her to say because, besides the wink she accompanied her words with, it was the fact that she said ‘us’ instead of ‘me’. A reminder that they were all together and would continue to work together as one. He gave her a nod back, his shoulders immediately unclenching from the tight wound they had been in.
In the end, he really needn’t have worried. Everyone was amazing, nothing bad happened, and the very large crowd had stood up to give an enthusiastic ovation. He couldn’t see very far into the crowd while they were taking their bows, thanks to the lights, but he could see his family in the front row. All of them were cheering him on and it felt very good to see his mom and dad again.
When the actors were finally allowed to leave the stage and were able to meet and greet people, Derek found himself engulfed in a tight hug in the middle of his siblings, soon joined by their parents. He let himself just sink into them for a few moments before they moved away enough to actually be able to talk.
His mom still had red eyes from crying but she was grinning proudly. “Oh, darling. You were wonderful. Even better then in your movies, I think.”
“Your mother is right. We’re quite proud of you, Derek,” added in his father before Cora slugged him in the shoulder.
“Not bad at all, Der. Though Laura and I still think anything dealing with you and sex is gross.” Both of his sisters made funny grossed out faces, making him wish that he had his phone out. Oh the amusement he’d get for posting that picture. They talked a bit longer before he had to head back to his dressing room, to get out of costume and makeup, so they could all meet up again in a bit to get some food. He hadn’t eaten since 2, because of last rehearsal and was starving.
He was humming to himself, still happy from seeing his family and getting to spend time with them as he walked into his dressing room and nudging it shut. Derek hadn’t turned to shut the door and so the figure behind it wasn’t noticed at first. The shadow stayed silent, watching as Derek was pulling off the upper layers of the costume but, when the hands started aiming for the waistband, the figure stepped forward and spoke up.
“Wait!”
Derek spun around, almost losing his footing as well as have a heart attack, and gaped as he saw Stiles standing there in front of him. Stiles was in an almost comical position, hands outstretched as if he was about to stop something that was running toward him, and his whiskey colored eyes widened like plates. Derek tried to find words and his lips did flap a bit, but no sound came out.
Which was a good thing because Stiles immediately launched into one of his overwhelming rants. “Look, I know you have to change and your family is out there waiting and I’m acting like a bit of a stalked right now but I knew this would be the only place you and I could have a private word. I mean, even after your interview thing a week ago you still haven’t ‘came out’ came out even though everyone is trying to talk about it and so I didn’t want to ruin your reputation. And speaking of! What even was that? What the flying fuck, Derek? We date for two years, you never say you love me back, you make us stay secret and hide who we are together, you refuse to do any type of interview ever and suddenly you get this urge to go on TV, which Kitsune is a good channel I’m not faulting that and Kira is adorable I’m still trying to get her and Scott together because they would be amazing. But you actually confess that you are in love with this random person and you dated for two years and you feel horrible about it and you ended up doing Broadway which I’d been trying to get you to do since we started dating and you were this horribly heartbroken character and it was so real and I know you had to mean me when you were doing the thing because there is no other option on who it COULD be because the longest relationship you had before me was only like six months and I can’t even believe you, why would you do that? We were broken up and kinda moving on and I was planning to stay mad at you a lot longer but that was really sweet and I am mad about that because I deserve to be mad at you considering what you did and…”
Stiles was barely breathing and Derek knew that, and knew Stiles could go on forever longer so he moved to stand only an inch in front of the other man and spoke quickly, trying to catch his attention. “You do! You do deserve to be mad and I don’t deserve your forgiveness, I should be groveling at your feet. I am so sorry for everything I did wrong to you.”
The spew of words from Stiles puttered out as he listened to Derek. When the actor saw that there was a chance for him to continue, he did. “I am sorry I kept you, kept us a secret. I’m sorry I made you do that and lied to you and came up with stupid excuses because I was scared. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you every single day we were together that I loved you.”
Derek noticed the other man’s posture slowly relaxing, but didn’t stop there because there was so much more he had to say. He’d had it all written out once, planned what he would say and when he would say it. But in the moment, faced with the one person he cared about most, those lines didn’t mean a thing and he’d forgotten them all anyway. “Stiles, I know I don’t deserve a second chance. And if you tell me to leave you alone from now until forever, I promise I will. But, I am asking you. Will you be mine again?”
Soft whiskey eyes turned wary for a moment as a bottom lip was pulled into his mouth and chewed on before Stiles finally replied. “You mean in secret again? Because I’m not doing that. Never again.”
It was unusual to see as he was usually a lot more careful about his movements but Derek frantically waved his hands. He knew he had only this one chance. That was it. “No! No no no no no! I mean my real boyfriend! I’ll shout it off the rooftops, have a skywriter, take out a huge spread on the New York Times, whatever you want! But I am not keeping you a secret ever again.”
Stiles was still a little skeptical, hurt once so twice shy kind of thing, and it showed. His body seemed to waiver between moving closer, and leaving the room. Finally he said, “Prove it. I need you to prove it, Derek.”
Well. It was to be expected, and he couldn’t blame the younger man at all. He’d brought it all upon himself. So, he rolled his shoulders back and, without grabbing a shirt or fixing up his almost undone pants, he gently moved Stiles to the side before stalking quickly down the hallway in order to get to the place where the press was. The media’s cameras saw him within seconds and started rolling right as he started talking. “Today was my first night as a star on the stage for the musical Moulin Rouge as Christian and the character meant a lot to me, as I said in the interview on Kitsune. It means a lot because I was in love with someone who I was stupid enough to try to keep as a secret away from you lot. Well, in order to get them back, I’m done with secrets.”
Stiles gawked in surprise before trying to run after Derek to stop him. It was one thing to declare you were gay, maybe even in a relationship. But being half naked might be a bit much. In the end though, he was too late to stop what was happening and only ended up being dragged into it at the tail end.
The media was holding their breath, listening to every word as Derek continued, even as he grabbed Stiles’ hand and pulled him in close to his side. “I’m bisexual. And this is the man I love. He’s an amazing person who I would do anything and everything for and hopefully, he loves me too.”
For someone who could talk at length about anything, even things he wasn’t sure about but could still fake knowledge for the majority of the time, being speechless was new to Stiles. In the end though, words weren’t needed. He’d told Derek to prove it, that he wouldn’t be a dirty secret anymore, and so Derek had. Stiles grabbed the back of Derek’s neck and hauled him into a passionate kiss, ignoring the eruption of applause from everyone including the other Broadway actors and their families.
It wasn’t until Laura tapped on their shoulders that the broke apart, both blushing. She just grinned at them and said, “Congratulations, guys. Go find some place for yourselves. I’ll take care of the vultures.” With that she turned to the cameras and immediately went into manager mode, while Derek and Stiles ran away, back to the dressing room so they could get Derek’s stuff in order to leave. And to have a few more moments alone.
As soon as they were through the door, Stiles kicked it shut and launched himself at Derek whose reflexes thankfully caught him so he didn’t fall. Derek pressed him back into the door, locking it absentmindedly before focusing all of his attention fully into Stiles. It took a while, a long luxurious while, until Stiles could pull their mouths apart to speak though Derek just slid his lips down to the long neck in front of him and started making marks. Stiles moaned and almost lost his train of thought before catching it again and said “You actually did that for me. You hate the spotlight, you hate them getting into your business, you keep everything private!”
Lips didn’t move far from the neck they were attached to in order to answer. “For you? I’ll stand in as many spotlights as I need to.”
Stiles, giving in completely, smiled softly and pulled Derek’s face from his neck in order to see eye to eye. “Then my answer is yes. I will be yours. I love you, Derek Hale.”
Derek grinned back, kissing him sweetly in return. “And I love you, Stiles Stilinski. Hopefully I get it right this time. But I’m sure you’ll end up telling me if I mess up any.” They chuckled a little bit together before moving back into kissing, needing to reaffirm themselves that this was real. That things had worked out and that neither of them would have to go through life feeling half whole anymore.
And you know what? Only a year later, in the middle of a stage set for Silmarillion and in full Middle Earth Man regalia, got down on one knee and proposed. Stiles, of course, said yes though he did add in the clause that Derek wasn’t allowed to wear his costume at their wedding. However he could wear it, Stiles said, at the honeymoon.