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When Stiles and Derek get together it’s a long time coming, at least that’s what they think. Every road they’ve been on has been leading them here. They both know it was just a matter of time. Never a question of if it would happen but when.
When they finally get together it’s not suspenseful, a big moment built on all the years of pent up emotion, ending with one of them getting hurt and then confessing their feelings in a flurry of frantic kisses. Though neither one would deny how likely that was.
No, when they get together it’s much softer. A slow progression that suits where they are now, safe and happy and comfortable around each other. Stiles is back from his last year of college, staying with Derek as he goes through his training to become a deputy. Derek helps him out when he can since he’d been through the same thing a few years before.
The mornings are early, something Stiles is still getting used to. But Derek is there like always, coffee in hand and breakfast waiting on the table. Stiles gives Derek a grateful smile, leaning in to place a soft kiss to his lips as he breathes out a quiet “thank you.”
Stiles walks away with his coffee, only realizing what happened when he reaches the table. He turns around to find Derek watching him with a fond smile on his face. Stiles hides his smile in his coffee, wondering if it’s really that easy. When Derek pulls him in for a longer, tenderer kiss, his hands caressing Stiles’ cheeks reverently, Stiles has to think ‘Yeah it really is this easy.’
And it is. Nothing much changes about their relationship. They’d already been living together, spending most nights cuddling on the couch or in bed. Once Stiles found out just how comfortable Derek’s bed was and how good he slept whenever he was next to Derek he vowed never to leave. Derek had given him a long look before telling him he didn’t have to, pulling Stiles further into his warmth. So when the kiss happens it’s something they had been heading towards for a while. It’s just another thing they do.
The only person they actually tell about the change in their relationship is the Sheriff, who gives them a confused look, “Not that I’m not happy you’re together, because I am. But I was under the impression you two had been dating for months and just weren’t saying anything.”
Stiles and Derek share a look before Stiles looks back towards his dad, “You’re really not surprised by this?”
“Why would I be?” John asks, “You two have been dancing around each other for years. It was only a matter of time before this happened. I really think you two have been dating this whole time and haven’t even realized it.”
Stiles thinks back to the past few months he’s spent with Derek, most of it just the two of them, before he turns to Derek with wide eyes, “Holy shit we really have been dating this whole time, haven’t we?”
“Seems like it,” Derek says, “not that it matters.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Not to me,” Derek shrugs, “all I care about is that we’re together. That we’re happy and safe.”
Stiles smiles, leaning in to place a kiss to Derek’s lips, “Me too.”
“Oh Hell, I think I liked it better when you two weren’t aware you were dating,” the Sheriff sighs.
“Don’t worry John,” Derek laughs, “we’ll try to keep the PDA to a minimal.”
“It was never you I was worried about Derek,” John tells him, chuckling at the offended look that appears on Stiles’ face.
“Hey! I can keep my hands to myself when I need to!”
“We’ll see about that. Are you going to tell the rest of the pack?”
“Wait, you think they don’t know?” Stiles asks.
“Son, the rest of the pack maybe, but do you really think Scott will have caught on?”
Derek snorts, “Probably not. He’s going to be in for a big shock.”
“You two could make out in front of the kid and he’d think one of you was giving the other CPR,” John jokes.
“Oh come on,” Stiles says, trying and failing to fight back a smile, “it won’t be that bad.”
“I guess we’ll find out at the pack night tomorrow,” Derek says.
Pack night is being held at Derek’s place in the preserve. When he’d made the decision to return to Beacon Hills he decided he needed an actual place to live, or Stiles told him he did and Derek had listened. He built a house not too far from where his old family home once stood, putting in enough rooms for the pack to sleep in if they chose to.
Derek never said so but Stiles is the only one that Derek made an official room for. He’d hoped to one day share a room but at the time he settled for making sure Stiles had a room to call his. Stiles had been delighted, choosing to stay at Derek’s whenever he came home on breaks, letting his Dad turn his old room into an office for himself without having to feel guilty about it. The Sheriff still kept a small bed in the corner in case Stiles ever needed it. Stiles never did.
The downside to Derek and Stiles hosting pack night is that they can’t make an actual entrance as a couple. Derek wanted to make a real dinner for tonight but Stiles had talked him out of it, saying that he’d be better off ordering pizza since the wolves were just going to scarf all the food down. Derek is out picking up the pizzas when the pack starts arriving, leaving Stiles to greet everyone. Isaac is already there, having been staying with Derek the past few weeks. The Sheriff is the first to arrive, saying he didn’t want to miss the big reveal. Scott arrives soon after that with Malia and Lydia, followed by Liam, Theo, Mason, and Corey a few minutes later. Peter and Chris are the last to arrive, walking in just before Derek shows up with the pizza.
When Derek arrives with the pizza Stiles meets him at the door, leaning in to place a kiss to his lips as he takes some of the boxes from Derek’s arms. No one seems to notice except for Peter and Chris. Peter smiles smugly, holding out his hand to Chris who reluctantly places money into Peter’s open palm.
“Did you seriously bet on us?” Stiles asks, knowing that Peter can hear him. Peter just grins back in a way that makes Stiles hurry after Derek into the kitchen.
“Neither Peter or Chris seemed all that surprised,” Stiles tells him, placing the boxes down on the table, “in fact they seem to have been betting on us.”
“Of course they were,” Derek rolls his eyes, peeking his head into the living room where everyone else is gathered, “Pizza’s here. You’re all going to come in here slowly and calmly to get it or I’ll put it away and leave it for Stiles and I to eat later, understood?”
There are grumbles of assent before the others form a line leading into the kitchen.
“Is there sausage? You know that’s my favorite,” Isaac says when he reaches them.
Derek looks to the almost empty box of sausage, surprised until he sees Stiles standing in front of a plate of sausage pizza. His heart does a little flip as he meets Stiles eyes. Stiles grins, picking the plate up and handing it to Isaac who grins back, thanking Stiles before heading into the living room.
“Did you really hide pizza for Isaac?” Derek asks, stepping back to stand closer to Stiles.
Stiles shrugs, “I know how much he likes it and he was pretty far back in the line. I didn’t want to risk it being gone by the time he got up here.”
Derek grins, leaning in to bring their foreheads together as one of his hands cups Stiles chin, “I love you, you know that?”
“Yeah I know,” Stiles places a kiss on Derek’s nose, “I love you too big guy.”
“What?!” Scott’s shocked voice reaches them from the living room.
Stiles and Derek pull back to see the others gaping at them. Lydia simply looks a little surprised while Malia looks at them for a moment before shrugging and going back to her pizza. The pizza in Scott’s hand hangs limply in his grasp as he stares at the pair in the kitchen.
“Surprise?” Stiles gives a helpless shrug.
Derek snorts, “I really don’t see how it is.”
“Well neither do I,” Stiles says, “Apparently they all do. Which, really you guys? I’ve liked Derek for years. How did you not know that?” Stiles turns to Scott, “I spent at least an hour on the phone one night waxing poetic about Derek’s abs and stubble, how do you not remember that?”
Scott looks even more confused, “That was about Derek?”
“Who else would I have been talking about? There is literally no one else in Beacon Hills with stubble as perfect as Derek’s.”
“Well he’s right about that,” Lydia agrees, “but this is still surprising.”
“You two argue all the time,” Liam says from his spot in between Mason and Theo.
“So do you and Theo!” Stiles says, throwing his hands up in frustration, “that didn’t stop you two from fucking.”
“He has a point there,” Theo agrees, earning a glare from Liam.
“But that’s not the point,” Stiles decides now would be a good time to walk into the living room, pulling Derek along with him. Stiles goes willingly when Derek sits down in his huge recliner and pulls Stiles down with him.
“What is the point?” Scott asks, “Because right now this seems like a big prank or something. There’s no way you two are together. Not when you barely get along.”
Stiles looks at Derek who looks just as confused as he does. He’s honestly feeling a little put out. Derek must sense this because he wraps an arm around Stiles, pressing a kiss to the top of his head as he speaks to him quietly, “It’s okay, Stiles.”
“How?” Stiles asks, just as quietly. He knows the wolves can hear him but right now he just doesn’t care. Let them listen. “We should not have to defend our relationship.”
“Is this…” Scott begins, his brow furrowed as he works through his thoughts, “you two really are together?”
“Yeah we are. And I’ve been in love with him for years. Just because none of you caught on to what was happening between us doesn’t mean it’s not there,” Stiles tells them, his tone leaving no room for argument, “We care about each other. Sure we argued in the beginning but that was because we didn’t know we could trust each other. Once that trust was there things shifted. We’ve saved each other's lives and have been there for each other when no one else was. Maybe that’s the problem and why none of you seem to realize just how big this thing is between us. Maybe if you saw even a little bit of what was happening you would understand. But you didn’t and I can’t change that. I love Derek and he loves me, and all of you are just going to have to accept that.”
Lydia stands up and walks over to them, wrapping both Stiles and Derek into a hug. She pulls back with a smile, running a hand through Stiles’ hair, “Of course we accept it Stiles. There was never a doubt we would, at least not for me. As long as the two of you are happy that’s all that matters.”
“I’m just wondering how thick these walls are,” Isaac chimes in, “as happy as I am that you two are together I really don’t want to know what Stiles sounds like when he’s having sex.”
“Why just Stiles?” Mason asks.
“Because he’s Stiles and of the two of them he’s most likely the one that’s going to be loud,” Isaac responds.
“Challenge accepted,” Stiles grins.
“Wait… what? How was that a challenge?”
“You think I’ll be the loud one in the bedroom, so now I’m going to prove you wrong and see just how much I can make Derek scream.”
Derek hides his face in Stiles’ back, partly to hide the blush coating his face, “I’m regretting this already.”
“I don’t see why. It’d be for your benefit as well as mine to find out,” Stiles says, winking at Derek.
John groans, shaking his head and hiding his face in his hands, “Hello. Father in the room that really does not want to be hearing this.”
Derek blushes even harder at that, earning a laugh from Stiles, “You knew we were going to be having sex.”
“It’s one thing to know it’s happening, it’s another thing completely to hear about it. I don’t go around telling you about my sex life.”
Both Stiles and Scott’s faces go pinched, Scott looking a little worse than Stiles, “That’s my Mom!”
“Can we just watch the movie already?” Malia asks, taking a bite of her pizza.
Derek sighs in relief, “Yes please. Someone start the movie.”
“I need to get my pizza!” Stiles says, shooting up from his seat, glancing back at Derek, “want me to grab yours?”
Derek nods, watching as Stiles walks into the kitchen, a fond smile on his face. He’s brought out of his thoughts when Lydia speaks, “God how did we not see this coming? Just look at the lovesick look on his face!”
“Is he doing that goofy look again?” Stiles asks, walking back into the room with two plates of pizza. He hands one to Derek before taking his place. He sits sideways with his legs across Derek’s lap, allowing them both to place their plates on Stiles’ legs.
“Don’t act like you don’t look the same way when you look at him,” John says.
“Of course I do,” Stiles agrees, reaching up to pinch Derek’s cheeks. He laughs when Derek playfully snaps his teeth at him, “you’ve seen this face though. The look is far cuter on his face than on mine.”
“I disagree,” Derek says, “I like it better on you.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“Because it means you love me.”
Stiles grins, “That goes both ways Der.”
“Seriously? How did we miss this?” Scott asks, staring between the two of them with a look of wonder on his face.
Stiles just laughs, pulling Derek in for a quick kiss, eyes not leaving Derek’s when he speaks, “I don’t know. It seems obvious enough to me.”