Chapter Text
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Epilogue - One Year Later
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Derek stepped out of the passenger side of Erica’s car onto the gravel driveway of the Hale House. He smiled gently as he looked up at the structure, squinting slightly in the sun, and catalogued all the changes over the years. The porch with a new swing, the flowerbeds that had just been planted, the bags of cement piled on the side of the house.
“You guys going to pave over the driveway soon?” he asked over his shoulder, gesturing to the bags.
The driver’s side door slammed shut and Erica walked around the front of the car, her sneakers kicking up little puffs of dust as she walked.
“Yep, that’s the plan,” she said. “There’s no good place for kids to ride bikes here. Is that okay?”
“The house is yours , Erica.”
“Well, not officially . I still can’t believe you’re selling it.”
“I can’t believe I’m selling it to you ,” Derek teased, as he leaned into her shoulder and smirked. Erica playfully punched his arm back, and he grabbed it in fake pain. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her close. “We close in 20 days, Erica. You can do whatever you want to the house. In my mind, it’s been yours for a while anyway.”
“Well, I’m keeping your carvings in the door, you know. I can’t wait to tell Alicia about how her Uncle Derek was a big fat sap when it came to love.”
“I’ll blame it on her Uncle Stiles. It’s his fault I’m a sap.” Derek felt his face flush. It had been a year since the exhibit opening, and things between the two of them had been better than even Derek could have imagined them being. They had both kept their jobs in their own towns for a while, committing to just getting to know each other better, with lots of weekend visits thrown in. But with Lydia recommending his work around town, and his business gaining momentum, Derek was getting more and more work in San Francisco. So when Stiles suggested getting a place together, it seemed like the perfect time to sell the place in Beacon Hills and move. Leaving Erica and Boyd was going to be the hardest part, but with Stiles’ dad still in town, they’d be visiting often.
“Thank you again,” Erica said with a smile.
“You know, you don’t have to thank me every time we come here.”
“ I know , dork. But the fact is you wildly under-priced this house for us, and...I’m just grateful, that’s all.”
“Noted. Now, if you really want to show your gratitude, you can help me finish packing up the attic.”
“ There’s the catch I was waiting for! Look, I would simply love to help you, Der Bear, but Alicia needs to be fed in about…” She squeezed her arms around her chest and appeared deep in thought for a moment, then continued, “...20 minutes. Unless you think Boyd can breastfeed our daughter, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for a packing buddy until Stiles gets here.”
“Lazy bum,” Derek teased. “It’s fine, I don’t need you anyway. He’ll be here in an hour or so. There’s only a few boxes left.”
They walked arm-in-arm up to the house together, Derek holding the door for her as they walked in. There were boxes scattered around the first floor—a mixture of Derek’s final items and Boyd and Erica’s first few loads—and they weaved around the small piles in the entryway before ascending the steps.
“How is the apartment looking in San Fran?” Erica asked him.
“Stiles said it looks good. The renovations finished just before my boxes arrived last week, and between those and the ones that he’s brought over from his apartment, we won’t even be able to move around in there for a few days. We’ll have to unload boxes just to get in the door.”
“Moving is a bitch. I’m so glad Boyd insisted on a moving company for us.”
“It has nothing to do with the fact that you’re pregnant again, and he won’t let you lift a finger, right?”
“I mean, that was a bonus!” she smirked. Derek rounded the corner to take the steps up to the attic, and Erica followed him. “Though, the nausea with this pregnancy combined with a 5-month-old was definitely not in the plan.”
“So it’s true that you two are making your own wolfpack?” Derek eyed her and couldn’t help his snort of laughter.
Erica shouted at the ceiling, “Isaac Lahey, I am going to kill you!”
Derek chuckled. “Give the kid a break, he’s just excited to have more responsibilities in the office while you’re out on maternity leave again.”
“I’m going to confine him to a copier for the rest of his life . Just because I’m the SheWolf doesn’t mean I’m making a wolfpack , for the love of God.”
“Eh, you kind of are,” Derek teased. She smacked his butt as they continued upwards.
They finally reached the top of the stairs in the attic, and Derek flipped on the light. Only a few random boxes remained, as well as his parent’s trunk. He looked around, the light through the window making swirling dust patterns in the air as he walked around.
“Is it weird?” Erica asked him quietly. “Having everything out of the house?”
Derek shrugged. “Not really. This hasn’t been home for me in such a long time. I’m not even keeping a lot of the stuff that was here. Sold most of the furniture already to a staging company.”
“What about that?” Erica nodded toward the trunk.
Derek exhaled. “ That is coming with me. Some of my parent’s stuff is still in there. I want to show it to Stiles.”
Erica stepped toward the trunk and gently opened the lid. “Not to mention this.” She bent down and pulled out the Ouija board box.
Derek groaned. “And that thing.”
Erica shook the box gently, wagging her eyebrows at Derek. “Whaddya say, Der Bear? Play a game for old time’s sake?”
Derek’s eyebrows were probably in his hairline by now. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Aww, what’s the problem, Der? Worried about what it’ll say now that you found your perfect man and your perfect job and your perfect apartment?” She gave him a challenging look.
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” she continued. “It doesn’t do anything anyway, we’ll just have fun with it for old time’s sake.” She started sitting down on the dusty floor, and Derek rolled his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m playing the game , Derek. And you are, too. Don’t you know you don’t argue with a pregnant woman? It’s not good for the baby.”
Derek gave an exasperated sigh and sat down next to her, crossing his legs across from the board she had already begun to set up between them. “I think it’s interesting that I only heard about that rule after you became pregnant.”
“Well, it’s true. Don’t argue.” She flipped her hair behind her shoulders. “So, what should we ask it?”
“I’m not asking it anything . I’ve had enough run-ins with that heebie-jeebie hocus-pocus shit for my entire lifetime. You can ask it something if you want.”
“Fine, I will.” She put her fingertips on the indicator. When Derek made no move to join her, she gave a pointed throat-clearing noise, and raised her eyebrows at him. Then she looked down to the indicator and back up at Derek. He rolled his eyes and put his fingertips on the indicator with hers.
“Now, relax,” Erica stated in a low tone. “We must get in tune with the spirits.”
“Oh, for the—”
“ Shhhh! ” Erica interrupted. “Close your eyes, Derek. The spirits won’t come unless your eyes are closed.”
Derek was beginning to wonder why he put up with Erica’s nonsense at all. He was looking around the attic, taking stock of how many trips it would take to get all of the remaining boxes down to the first floor, when he felt Erica’s eyes on him. She reached out her index finger and placed it on top of his own, her fingernail pressing just harder than necessary into his skin.
Oh, for god’s sake.
He rolled his eyes pointedly at her, then closed his eyes with an exaggerated huff. He raised his eyelids at her as if to say, okay?
“Thank you.” She removed her nail from his finger and continued to speak in an overly-exaggerated dramatic voice.
“Oh, great spirits of the beyond! Show us the answers we seek! Give us the name of Derek’s One True Love!”
Derek’s eyes flew open and he pulled back like the indicator was on fire. “ What the fuck , Erica!?”
Erica started cackling. “Oh, come on, Derek! It’s just silliness! The thing doesn’t work anyway, remember? Plus, you and Stiles are perfect. Not even the Ouija board would mess with the two of you. Let’s just prove that this is broken once and for all!”
He really shouldn’t. He should throw the Ouija board back into the box, walk it immediately outside and into the trash can. But Erica was giving him a “dare ya” look, and he knew she would never let it go. Plus, she was right. He and Stiles were rock solid. No answer from the dumb board at this point would change anything. Especially since it wouldn’t even do anything in the first place.
So what could it hurt?
He exhaled through his nose, and put his fingertips back on the indicator. “ Fine ,” he huffed. “But you are definitely buying us lunch for this one.” He closed his eyes and waited.
There was quiet for a few moments. Derek was just about to get up when the indicator started moving. Haha, Erica. So funny. He didn’t even want to know what she was doing, so he rolled his eyes under his lids, but kept them closed. He wasn’t interested in what she was using the board to say. He felt it move a bit and pause, move a bit and pause again, then move a longer distance and stop.
Really, Erica? Only two letters?
The room was quiet, the indicator still, and he felt Erica move her hands away. Derek slowly opened his eyes to the indicator, which was lying on the word goodbye . He looked up at Erica, who was staring at the board, her eyes wide and a little glazed over.
“Well?” Derek asked her. “Did you see what it said?”
At his words, Erica shook her head minutely, then moved to pick up the board. “See?” Derek noticed her voice was a little higher than usual. That’s weird . “This thing really is stupid, because you and Stiles are perfect and getting married and it’s still giving out bogus answers.”
Derek put his hand gently on her knee and she stopped moving. “Erica, come on, I know you were moving the piece around. What two letters did you pick? Was it J.W. again? Or something new this time?” He smirked at her.
Erica’s voice was definitely breathy when she answered. “You weren’t pushing the thing?”
“Are you kidding me? No , I wasn’t moving it! You were!” Derek noticed that Erica’s face didn’t have the slightest hint of a joke to it anymore. The earlier lightness in her expression was gone. She was staring at the indicator that she had picked up, turning it over and over in her hands. Derek started to get worried. “Hey, Erica. What’d you make it say?”
“Derek,” she said softly. She looked up into his eyes. “I didn’t make it say anything, I swear. I thought you were moving it to fuck with me. You really didn’t move it?”
“Come on, Erica.” When she didn’t blink, Derek’s mouth dropped open for a moment. He stared at the indicator in her hands. “Okay, then. What did it say?”
Erica shook her head wildly at that, and started to grab for the box again.
Suddenly, a head popped up into the attic. “Hey guys!”
Erica jumped in fright from her spot on the floor. “ Jesus! Stiles, what the fuck? Are you trying to scare this baby out of me?”
Stiles threw his head back and laughed. “I’ve been yelling for you guys! Derek, I— Wait...what’cha doin’ up here?”
Derek and Erica stared at each other in silence just long enough for Stiles to look at them with confusion. He hopped up the last few steps into the attic and looked around them to see what was happening.
“Are you kidding me with the Ouija board? Didn’t it cause enough trouble already?”
Derek nodded. “That’s what I said.”
Erica swallowed heavily. “We were just being stupid! We didn’t mean anything by it. It’s totally broken anyway.”
Stiles noticed the indicator in her hand and his eyes bugged in shock. “ You asked it a question?!”
Erica and Derek looked at each other guiltily.
Stiles laughed out loud again and plopped down on the floor between the two of them. “And you guys told me that investing in Bitcoin was crazy! I don’t have anything on you two!”
He looked back and forth between Erica and Derek, his eyes expectant. “Well? What did it say?”
“I don’t know,” Derek said. “ Erica won’t tell me.”
Erica sighed. “I asked who Derek’s one true love is.”
“And did it say me?” Stiles smiled at Derek. “It totally said me, didn’t it? You and I are peas and carrots, baby.”
“Erica?” Derek asked. “Did it give Stiles’ initials?”
He was afraid of the answer. If Erica was trying that hard to deflect the answer earlier, there’s no way the board had said Stiles’ name. Her voice came out in a bare whisper. “No.”
Stiles flailed a bit. “Not mine? Are you sure?”
Erica rolled her eyes. “I’m sure, Stiles. It said M.S.”
Stiles’ jaw dropped.
“M.S?” Derek asked. “What the fuck does M.S. stand for?”
“ I don’t know, Derek! ” Erica glared at him. “How the fuck am I supposed to know? I thought you were messing with me!”
“I wouldn’t mess with this thing even if you paid me a million dollars, Erica!” Derek’s voice was slowly rising. He was frustrated and angry at her, and also scared of what Stiles was going to think. “Don’t you think I’ve learned my lesson? I didn’t even want to do anything with it in the first place!”
Derek grabbed the indicator out of Erica’s hands and threw it into the box. He grabbed the board and was about to throw it when Stiles cleared his throat, drawing both of their attentions.
“Erica, tell the truth, okay? Did you push the piece?”
Erica slumped a bit in frustration, looking at Stiles. “ No . I know you and Derek are together. Why would I have it say M.S. when those aren’t your initials?”
Derek dropped the board between them again and chimed in, his irritation, “Because you basically live to fuck around with me?”
Erica was indignant. “Not with this, Derek! Not after last time! I would never do something like that, are you crazy?”
“Yes!” Derek ran his hands through his hair in frustration. How was this happening to him again ? He should have known not to give in to Erica on this. Now he was going to have these letters running through his head yet again because of that stupid game .
No.
No, fuck that.
Derek turned to Stiles and grabbed both of his hands. “Listen to me, okay? I don’t give a fuck what that stupid board said. I am yours. This has been the best year of my entire life, and if you think for one second that I’m going to go and search for some moron with different initials than you, then you can get that out of your head right now. I love you, Stiles. And I’m not going to let a damn board game try to take you away from me.”
Stiles’ eyes were soft and he had a slight smile on his face. It was one of Derek’s favorite facial expressions that Stiles made, and he had catalogued in his mind under the ‘ I love him and he’s a big dork face ’ tab. It threw Derek for a loop, actually. He was expecting Stiles to be upset or scared, but instead he was looking at Derek like he wanted to laugh. Stiles reached forward and put one of his hands on Derek’s jaw.
“What?”
“I love you too, big guy.” He pulled Derek gently toward him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “And I’m glad you’re not letting me go. I’m not letting you go, either.”
Derek felt the resolve flow through him. He was throwing the damn Ouija board away after this. “Good.” He rested his forehead against Stiles’, and just breathed for a moment. It was okay. They were going to be okay.
Stiles pulled back gently and looked again between him and Erica. “Also, I think it’s time that the both of you knew something really important.”
Erica raised her eyebrows. Derek was sure his matched hers. “Yeah?”
“My initials aren’t S.S. Well, not my real ones anyways.”
Derek blinked with confusion. “What do you mean, your initials aren’t S.S?”
“My real name isn’t Stiles.” He chucked a bit. “Didn’t you ever wonder what in the hell is a Stiles?”
Derek was flabbergasted. “I...I guess I... no! I thought maybe your mom was just into weird names or something! How did I not know this?”
Erica huffed. “I still don’t know your middle name, Derek Michael Hale, and I’ve known you since age 5.”
“Still not it.”
Erica slammed the ground. “Dammit!”
Stiles chuckled. “Wait. You don’t know his middle name? It’s—”
Derek slapped his hand over Stiles’ mouth, drowning the sound. “Don’t. You. Dare.”
Stiles’ laughter bled through Derek’s fingertips before he pressed a kiss into his palm.
Derek pulled his hand away. “What’s your real name, Stiles?”
“It’s Miecyslaw.”
“Bless you!” Erica joked.
Stiles rolled his eyes at her. “Haha. Funny.” He turned back to Derek. “It was my great-grandfather’s name. It’s a mouthful, so I’ve gone by Stiles ever since I was little.”
“Miecyslaw,” Derek tested out.
“Nicely done! My dad can’t even pronounce it that well.”
Derek eyed him carefully. “Your last name is Stilinski, right?”
Stiles chuckled again. “As far as I know.”
“Miecyslaw Stilinski.” Derek said with wonder.
Stiles sat upright and pointed to himself. “M.S.”
Derek turned to look at Erica again. “You really didn’t know this?”
Erica’s eyes drifted to the board between them. “Derek, I swear. I had no idea.”
He looked down at the board, as well, picking it up gently. “And I didn’t know.”
Stiles looked at the board as well, realization setting in. “Are you guys telling me that this board really works? ”
They stared at it for a few long moments.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” Stiles started bouncing in place, and he grabbed the board and held it close. “We have got to think of something else to ask it!”
Derek groaned. “Absolutely not!”
“Come on, Derek! Think of what we could learn! This thing could be the key to our future!”
Derek rolled his eyes and pulled the board out of Stiles’ arms. “Actually, the key to our future is literally in your pocket, so I think we’re good.”
Derek warily put the board back in the box and shut it. He heard Stiles muttering under his breath, “..wasted opportunity...could be sitting on a gold mine....” and he chuckled and shook his head.
Derek pushed himself off the ground, the box in one hand, the other hand extending to help Erica off the ground. Once she was up, he reached for Stiles.
“Aw, thanks dear,” Stiles joked. When he was upright, Derek slid his arm around Stiles’ waist and pulled him close, nuzzling into the side of his neck and pressing kisses just under his ear.
“I’m glad you’re here. I’ve missed you,” Derek whispered huskily.
“And that’s my cue to get out of here!” Erica teased, stepping back to the stairway. “I’m going to go home and feed Alicia. I’ll see you guys for lunch?”
Derek didn’t lift his head from Stiles’ neck. He was enjoying kissing all the goosebumps that had erupted on Stiles’ skin. His voice was muffled as he called to Erica, “You’re buying!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Derek heard the smile in her voice. “Catch you lovers later.”
Derek wrapped his other arm behind Stiles, pressing the Ouija board box against Stiles’ back as he laid more kisses against Stiles’ skin, tracing a pattern along his jaw to his mouth.
“How was the drive?” he asked.
Stiles’ voice was breathy. “Oh, the usual. Didn’t go fast enough. It never goes fast enough when I’m trying to get to you.”
Stiles’ hands were trapped between their bodies, and so he slid them upward to slide behind Derek’s neck, his long fingers combing into Derek’s hair and scratching slightly with his stubby nails. He moved so his lips were hovering just off of Derek’s, placing feather-light kisses as Derek talked.
“Well, soon there won’t be any four-hour drives,” Derek said against Stiles’ lips. “We’ll have our own place, and then you’ll drive here to get away from me because my cleanliness will drive you crazy.”
Stiles smiled against his lips. “Pretty sure you’ll be the one driving away from me. I have an inherent inability to put my dirty socks in the hamper. I’m pretty sure it’s genetic.” Stiles tugged Derek so that he could lay a kiss on his ear. “I’m going to drive you crazy.”
The shiver that ran up Derek’s spine made his eyes roll back and he groaned as Stiles began to suck a mark just under his earlobe. “You already drive me crazy, Stiles.”
“You love it.”
Derek nodded and pulled back. “I love you .”
Stiles grinned. Derek was in awe. Stiles’ lips were a brighter pink from trailing along the midday stubble on Derek’s jawline, his cheeks flushed a gorgeous shade of pink. His eyes were a lighter shade of whiskey from the afternoon sun that shone through the attic window. Derek had never seen someone so beautiful.
Then Stiles made a strange expression, pulled back and sneezed. Loudly.
“Babe, I have got to get out of here. The dust is gonna make me…” Another loud sneeze escaped from his lips, and Stiles struggled to cover his mouth before another one could follow.
Derek chuckled. “Okay. I’ll come back up for this stuff later.”
Stiles reluctantly turned away from him, tapping on the Ouija board box as he did so. “Keep this thing.”
He shook his head, but he placed the Ouija board back in the trunk anyway. “I’m going to regret that.”
Stiles smirked and held out his hand. “Come on. I have something to show you.”
He allowed himself to be led down the stairs and out the front door. “What is it, Stiles?”
“Just hold on, impatient!” Stiles pulled him along the gravel drive until they were standing next to the mailbox. Stiles gestured to it with a dramatic wave of his arm. “Ta da!”
Derek’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “What? The mailbox?”
Stiles nodded. “Yep!”
“I don’t get any mail here, Stiles.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know, you dork. Just look, okay?”
Derek hesitated for a moment before pulling the box open. He fished his hand inside, pulling out a magazine. He gave Stiles a confused look. Stiles simply looked gleeful.
Then he remembered.
“Oh my god, is this what I think it is?”
Derek flipped over the magazine. A white-bordered cover stared back at him, with the large letters of AD blazoned along the top. Beneath that was written the title, The Architecture Issue .
Stiles scrunched his eyebrows together. “Now, why exactly do they call it The Architecture Issue? It’s literally Architectural Digest . Isn’t every issue the architecture issue?”
Beneath the text is a picture that Mason took of the front of the Lorraine Martin Mental Health and Education Building. Derek’s building.
“B-b-but,” Derek stammered, “this isn’t supposed to be out until next month!”
“Yeah, well,” Stiles was smirking. Derek could tell from his foot-shuffling and his barely-contained smile that he was just buzzing with excitement. “I made a few calls, pulled a few strings, worked my magic...”
“Lydia got it for you, didn’t she?”
“Yep.”
Derek smiled broadly. He looked back down at the magazine, running his hand gently over the glossy cover. It was amazing. He never in a million years thought his work would be seen by anyone outside of Beacon Hills, much less have it appear in print. But here it was, in full-color glory, on the biggest architectural magazine in the world. It was wildly exciting, and also humbling. He didn’t feel worthy of the honor.
“I still can’t believe it.”
“I can.” Stiles grasped Derek’s elbow. “God, Derek, the work you did on that building was truly inspired. Lydia won’t stop talking about it. And everyone who goes inside talks about how beautiful it is, but also how needed that building was. Lydia only had to talk to the editor once to get them to feature you.”
Derek shook his head with disbelief. The whole thing was so surreal. He flipped through the pages, finding the article in the middle. The picture of himself standing in the middle of the completed atrium of the building—wearing Stiles’ jacket—was blown up across two pages. The title, “The New Future of Health Care” styled elegantly across the bottom of the page.
“Will you read it to me?” Stiles asked gently.
The lump in Derek’s throat prevented him from speaking, but he nodded and took Stiles’ hand again, placing a kiss on it gently before walking back to the porch. He climbed the few steps and seated himself on the porch swing, angling his body so that Stiles could curl in next to him, resting his head on Derek’s shoulder. He unfolded the magazine, resting it on his lap so that Stiles could see the pictures.
The story highlighted Derek’s rise to fame as a designer on the West Coast. It featured his wing at the hospital, but also mentioned some of his other projects, as well as his team that helped him. Lydia was prominently featured in the article (“Big surprise there,” Stiles joked.), and even Stiles was mentioned as his “artistic director” for securing the art pieces that hung throughout the new building. The article called Derek “an exciting new face in the world of health care architectural innovation”.
Stiles beamed through the entire article, his thumb skimming over the corner of the page as Derek read aloud.
It felt right that he would reading this article here, where both his life and his design career began. He was closing out this chapter of his life, and moving on to a new and exciting one in a different city. It was an excellent bookend to this section of his career. And with Erica and Boyd set to turn the house into a home again, there was no better time to do it.
Derek finished the article with a sigh and turned to Stiles, who was looking at him with the look that Derek had categorized under the ‘ I’m so fucking proud of you’ tab in his brain. Derek tilted Stiles’ chin towards him and kissed him softly.
“Thank you for this.”
Stiles blinked rapidly. “Thank me? What did I do?”
“If you hadn’t told Lydia about me, none of this would have happened.” Stiles started to shake his head, but Derek interrupted. “No, I’m serious. Whoever Lydia picked for this project would have gotten this article. The only reason it’s me is because of you.”
Stiles pushed himself up and put his hand on Derek’s chest. “Derek. Stop it. No self-doubting with me, you promised.” Stiles grabbed the magazine from Derek’s hand and held it close. “Didn’t you just read what Lydia said in the article? This project was dead in the water before you came along. No one could have done what you did with it. Your work got you on this cover. You think Architectural Digest is going to feature it if you’re a one-off? There’s a reason they visited this house and five other projects you’ve done this year. It’s all your work combined that impressed them enough to feature you.”
Derek’s head dropped. It was still unbelievable to imagine that he had become this successful architect. He always figured he’d have steady work in Beacon Hills, maybe some towns around it, but this? Designing in San Francisco, with contracts in Seattle and San Diego and LA, too? It was almost too much to wrap his brain around.
“It’s been a crazy year. So much has happened in my career, it’s been overwhelming.”
Stiles set the magazine on the seat next to him and turned to straddle Derek’s lap. He smirked at Derek’s look of surprise. “And you got me on top of all of that!”
Derek saw Stiles’ teasing, but also saw through it to the underlying worry in Stiles’ eyes. Derek brushed the hair off of Stiles’ forehead, placing a gentle kiss to his lips. He wanted to soothe that worry out of him. “Yeah, I did. But hey—no self-doubt from you either. You’re the best part of this year.” He felt Stiles’ tension ebb from his body with the words, and Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles’ back and held him close.
So much about their new relationship had worked remarkably well. Even with their... unusual start, they found the compatibility that they shared to be nothing short of incredible. Derek loved Stiles’ zest for life and how he filled Derek’s life with laughter and jokes and teasing sarcasm. He loved Stiles’ commitment to the museum, but also to making everything around him beautiful. Stiles turned out to be quite a talented artist himself, and the paintings he made for Derek’s minimalist-style loft (“Having nothing on the walls isn’t a design choice, Derek. Your loft just looks bleak.”) warmed his heart whenever he looked at them.
They loved arguing together. Derek particularly got a thrill whenever he could get Stiles on one of his long-winded rants about the latest comic book news (“I would love to think of myself as Iron Man, but I’m totally Deadpool.”), or how he felt about a potential Han Solo trilogy (“ Why are they making it into three movies? Han Solo is literally a dead property now!”). And Stiles loved challenging Derek’s stubbornness and what Stiles lovingly called “his old man sensibilities”. Stiles got Derek addicted to Snapchat, and it thrilled Stiles whenever he would get a snap of Derek wearing a flower crown or antlers.
And, considering the electricity that had sizzled between them since they first met, it was no surprise that the physical intimacy between them worked, too. “We are hot as fuck !” Stiles had exclaimed one night, fist-pumping into the air and making Derek laugh so hard that tears had come out of his eyes. Derek loved exploring Stiles’ body, cataloguing all of his reactions as carefully as he had catalogued Stiles’ facial expressions. He wasn’t shy about what he liked, and Derek relished every squeak and sigh and moan that he could draw out of him with his fingers and his tongue.
The year hadn’t always been easy, though. Every relationship took work, and theirs, with the mistrust at the beginning, seemed to take more work sometimes than most. Stiles was impulsive and...non-traditionally organized (“Derek, I can find anything in here in 2 minutes or less. Try me.” “You’ll have to unbury yourself from the pile first.”) and always had some lingering worry that Derek would change his mind and run off. And for Derek? The years of independence and emotional guardedness got frustrating for Stiles. They had to build up trust in each other slowly, with whispered promises in the dark and honesty pressed into their skin.
Stiles took Derek’s face in his hands, his thumb rubbing patterns into the stubble on his cheeks. He pressed kisses to Derek’s face one at a time, punctuating each of his words. “I have...one other...surprise...for you.” He ended by kissing the tip of Derek’s nose, grinning as Derek scrunched it in response.
“More surprises? You showing up here early wasn’t surprise enough?”
Derek’s hands rested on Stiles’ hips, his fingertips slipping gently under the hem of his shirt, loving the feeling of his smooth skin. He couldn’t get enough of Stiles on a regular day, but here, with the excitement of the magazine, and the Ouija board revelation, and the way Stiles looked curled up with him on the porch? Derek wanted to remember this moment forever.
Stiles sat back on Derek’s knees, practically bouncing with excitement. “So, you know how I’ve been working with Schnabel since his exhibit at the museum?” Derek nodded. Schnabel’s work had been exceedingly well-accepted at the Legion of Honor, and the artist had been particularly impressed with Stiles’ work with the project. He had hired Stiles to help him get his exhibits in more locations around the country—apparently Schnabel wasn’t “a people person” or something, and wanted Stiles’ PR work. “Well, the Punta della Dogana in Venice just accepted Schnabel’s proposal for their gallery, and he heads there in two months!”
Derek beamed. “Stiles, that’s amazing! Julian must be so excited.”
Stiles grinned. “Yeah, he is. He said he wouldn’t have been able to do it without me. In fact, the Dogana wants me to come along to help with the gallery setup.”
“Wow, Stiles, that’s incredible!”
“And I want you to come with me.”
Derek tightened his grip on Stiles’ hips slightly. “What?”
Stiles rested his hands on Derek’s chest. “I checked with Mason, you only have that project in Seattle right now, and you’re way ahead on your work for the hospital in LA. It’s perfect timing, and I want you to come with me.”
“To Venice.”
Stiles nodded. “To Venice. I thought we could do it right this time.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be looking for anyone else while I was there, so it’d be better than last time already.”
Stiles chuckled. “You looked for someone else, but you found me.”
“Thank god I did.” Derek leaned forward and kissed Stiles on his upturned nose.
“So what do you think? Will you come to Venice with me, Derek Hale?”
Derek looked into Stiles’ expectant eyes. He’d left Italy with such a terrible taste in his mouth the last time, and it had hurt him to think that the country would always be soured by negative memories. But now, he allowed himself to think of spending time there again, this time with Stiles on his arm. They’d snuggle on a canal boat together, walk the cobblestone streets hand-in-hand, feed each other over candlelight, and hopefully dance under the stars in St. Mark’s Square again. As the images flew through his imagination, he smiled, knowing it would be the perfect opportunity to ask Stiles to marry him. He’d had the ring for a few weeks, but had been waiting for the perfect moment. Proposing in the city where they had first met felt like....destiny.
Derek lifted one of his hands up to the side of Stiles’ face, and he drank in the face of the man he was excited to spend the rest of his life with. “I’d love nothing more, Stiles Stilinski.”
Footsteps on the porch steps drew their attention, and Derek leaned over to look past Stiles. Standing at the top of the steps were a smiling Boyd and Erica, little Alicia in her arms. Boyd held a diaper bag in one hand and lunch bags in the other. Erica leaned down to Alicia and pointed at Stiles and Derek, smiling.
“See, Alicia? I told you. Your Uncle Derek is a total sap.”
****************