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September seventh and she's heading for school,
She'll probably leave me for some college fool
And I know that's just the way it goes
It was late when Derek hears someone banging on the loft’s door. When he looks over at the clock that sits on top of his nightstand, he notes the time is 12:00 a.m.
He rolls on his side with a groan contemplating if he should pretend like no one is home.
His enhanced hearing picks up a familiar voice, “Derek, I know you’re home.” Stiles says from the outside. “I saw your car outside.”
Derek rolls out his bed and makes his way down the spiral staircases, wondering why exactly Stiles hadn’t used the key he had given out to the pack.
When he finally slides the door open, he is face to face with a wide-eyed Stiles, while he himself is wearing a very displeased face, “Oh don’t give me that grumpy face,” Stiles tells him, brushing through the threshold as if she hadn’t come at an indecent time.
“You’d be grumpy too if someone came to your house at 12 in the morning waking you up from a good sleep,” Derek points out, closing the door.
Stiles plops on the couch that finally replaced the metal table that also stood in the middle of the loft, “Well, I recall a certain someone sneaking through my window at 1 in the morning on multiple occasions,” Stiles replies with a smirk. “And there was also that time-”
Derek holds his hands up in surrender, “Yeah, I get it.” He tells her, taking a seat next to her. “Is there another rogue creature roaming through Beacon Hills that I need to know about?”
“Oh, no it’s not that,” Stiles tells him, earning herself a set of daggers thrown in her direction. “It’s just that...I got in.” She unfolds a piece of paper, from what Derek finally realizes in her pajama bottoms, and hands it over.
It takes him two reads to realize that it’s Stiles’ acceptance letter. He knew the first read that what it was, but some part of him had hoped that he was dreaming, but when he reads it the second time and sees Stiles’ eager face waiting for his reaction he knew it was the real deal.
“Oh wow,” He says, clearly surprised by the announcement. “You actually got in.”
Stiles gives him a mock facial expression of offense, “Hey if I can hack, fight and research supernatural creatures in the dead of night, I can sure as hell get into the pre-FBI program at George Washington.”
“Didn’t hack your way through their system, did you?” Derek jokes, earning himself a punch in the arm.
“Don’t be an ass,” Stiles tell him with a smile on her face.
A silence falls over them. Something that has never happened in the entirety of their relationship. Derek can smell Stiles’ nervousness and hear her heartbeat picking up speed.
And he doesn't blame her, he is feeling the same way, “Did you come over to have the talk?” Derek questions silently, not even looking at Stiles, but at his hands.
Stiles quickly shakes her head, “No, I just found out and got really excited.” She tells him, getting his attention. Derek sees that she is biting her lower lip. A habit, she developed when she gets nervous, “You were the first person I wanted to tell.”
Derek doesn’t have to listen to her heart to know that she is telling the truth. The pack had spent three weeks over at Derek’s loft applying for all colleges across the states and internationally as well. It had been a month of the waiting game before anyone had gotten a response.
Erica and Boyd were going to Berkeley, Scott was going to UC Davis, Lydia was starting MIT as a junior, Jackson was joining a lacrosse team in London, Isaac and Allison were going to France to help establish a new code for the hunters. Everyone had a place to go, except Stiles. At least until now.
“I’m proud of you, you know,” Derek tells her, hoping to switch the conversation. They didn’t need to have the talk now. That could wait.
Stiles places her hand in his, “Thanks.”
In front of your place under the street light,
Face to face here on our last night
You should know, one thing before you go
Derek and Stiles stand silently together hand-in-hand. The acceptance letter came in weeks ago and so far the talk had never happened. There had been multiple attempts on Stiles’ part in trying to talk about the status of their relationship, but Derek somehow managed to change the subject every time.
But now here they are. Standing under a streetlight, the night before Stiles leaves. Everyone else had already left. There were lots of tears, farewells, and promises to write. Those were the things that Derek could handle. He loved the entire pack, but Stiles was different…is different.
“I guess the Talk starts now,” Stiles tells him, breaking the uncomfortable silence that happened between them. She looks up at the sky, squeezing his hand, “And after all the times of trying to start the conversation, I have no idea what to say.” She admits to him.
Through the course of their relationship, Stiles had always been the talker. Especially when it came to tough subjects for Derek, like how he finally revealed his true feelings for her or how scared he was when he thought he was going to lose her to the Nogitsune.
Tonight is different because Derek knew exactly what he wanted to tell Stiles. What he had to tell Stiles.
“Well, I guess tonight would be the night we would switch personalities,” Derek tells her. Stiles furrows her eyebrows at him, “I’ve been thinking about us.”
She gives him a suspicious glance, “You wouldn’t even talk about us.”
Derek gives an acknowledging head tilt, “I know, but there’s something you need to know.” He says, “We've gone too far to give up now…” He starts to say, but when he sees the look in Stiles’ eyes, the look that changed everything, it all comes out. “You look at me like nobody else, like nobody's ever done. You make me feel like nobody else, like nobody's ever done.” He gives her a knowing smile, “It’s okay.”
Stiles shakes her head, "No, it's not. Not after you just said all that," She tells him, but Derek doesn’t remove the smile on his face. "Not with me trying to break up with you."
"I know. That’s why I’m going to walk away,” He whispers, “And then it’ll be okay." He places one last kiss on top of her head just before leaving her under the streetlight.
By the twenty-seventh she's been gone for weeks
I'm terrified she won't remember me
And I know, that's just the way it goes
Stiles had been gone for weeks. Through that time, she hasn’t tried to reach to Derek. Not that he blamed her. He got updates from the Sheriff every now and then about how the program was going, but Derek could tell that the Sheriff was also holding some things back.
But despite Stiles not contacting him, there was still that sense of longing that he had. They had gone through so much from stopping Peter during his psychotic break to stopping the Ghost Riders from taking everyone in Beacon Hills.
None of those had been easy. Their relationship was tested constantly, especially when they stood on opposites sides. But when it really came down to it, they were always still together.
As he places his leftover dinner in the fridge, Derek’s eye catches a photograph of Stiles on the fridge. She is in her lacrosse uniform the night, Beacon Hills finally won state. She had been a scoring machine that night and only that night for some reason.
Derek continues looking at the picture. Face to face with the one he misses. The lonely feeling, he had been fighting continues to grow, because this loneliness was different. It wasn’t something that he hadn’t chosen on purpose. Not this time. He reaches for the phone and dials a number.
“Hey! This is Stiles, please leave a message after the beep,” The automated machine directs him.
“We've gone too far to give up now,” He starts on the machine, just as he done weeks before. “You look at me like nobody else, like nobody's ever done. You make feel like nobody else, like nobody's ever done.” He recites, just before taking a deep breath, “And I wanna make you feel like nobody else, like nobody's ever done.”
He doesn’t hear back from Stiles. Not that he expected to, but he would be lying to himself he said he wasn't kind of hoping that she would’ve at least given him some indication that she had gotten his message. He didn’t want to bother the Sheriff about it either. Not after the last time he talked to him. So, Derek figures he should attempt to move on.
However, the day Derek decides that he was going to put himself out there, a big storm comes through. The rain falls hard, pattering against the large window of the loft. He sees the lightning and feels thunder all through the loft. Observing the area, something odd catches his eye as he sees a figure, standing in the rain under the now broken streetlight. He tries to see who or what it is with his Alpha eyes, but due to the strength of the rain, it works to no avail.
Just as he is about to turn away, Derek’s hears a familiar, faint heartbeat. He looks back outside and sees that figure has remained unmoved, but when lightning fills the sky, he sees it takes shape of a person. Without thinking, Derek rushes out the loft without stopping.
He stops in the middle of the street when he sees that it is Stiles. In an instant, the rain lets up and the thunder begins rolling off the distance, taking the lightning with it.
She gives him a contemplated smile and says nothing to him. Though her silence spoke volumes on what he can hear and faintly smell from her, Derek still wanted to know, “Are you going back again?”
Stiles bites her lower lip and takes a step forward, “No.” She tells him, walking steadily towards him until she stands in the street with him. “This time I’m staying home.”
The declaration alone causes Derek to place his hands on both of Stiles’ face and pull her into a deep kiss. Derek feels Stiles wrap her arms around his body as she tries to steady herself.
“You’re going back,” He tells her, breaking off their kiss. He sees an instant frown on Stiles’ face, but before Stiles can protest, Derek places his finger on her lips. “And I’m coming with you.”
"But I thought you never want to leave Beacon," She reminds him.
"I will for you," Derek answers easily. "Because I love you like nobody else."