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"I can't believe they put us in one cage," Stiles grumbled, trying to get into a more comfortable position. However, it was made impossible because of how small the cage was and considering the fact that Derek was pushed against him. "They couldn't spare the money to buy another one?"
"The cage is what you're complaining about?" Derek said, and Stiles could feel him rolling his stupidly beautiful eyes. "What about the fact that we have been kidnapped!"
"Well, excuse me for wanting to be comfortable."
Derek let out a prolonged sigh, sounding annoyed and tired. "I don't think they care about the level of comfort you're in, Stiles."
Stiles decided to ignore the comment and try to move again, which just resulted in an even more uncomfortable position. Hearing a growl by his ear, Stiles' movements stopped.
"Dude, what do you expect me to do?" Stiles snapped before Derek could lecture him about moving. "I'm uncomfortable, your knee is digging into my calf, I haven't taken my Adderall since yesterday and, oh yeah! We're stuck in a fucking cage, we have no idea if anyone even knows we're missing, and we have no idea where the hell we are or who took us!"
It was quiet for a few moments then Stiles felt Derek squirming around, making Stiles frown in confusion. Before Stiles could ask what the beta was doing, there was an arm snaking around his waist. Stiles' body went completely still (which never happened), and he was pretty sure his brain short-circuited from having Derek touch him like that.
"W-what are you doing?" Stiles stuttered, voice quieter than before.
Derek didn't answer right away, instead, he pulled Stiles closer so that his back was against Derek's chest. "You were close to a panic attack. Is this more comfortable?"
Stiles nodded minutely, wishing Derek couldn't hear his heartbeat, cause at the moment it was beating a mile a minute because of a certain werewolf. But Derek could hear his heartbeat and it wasn't like Stiles has hidden his attraction to the older man in the past. So, really, what was the difference with this situation?
He's literally cuddling you, Stiles' brain filled in his own question. Derek noticed Stiles on the brink of a panic attack and helped him calm down.
"Is...there any way you could break this cage?" Stiles asked, ignoring the slight shake in his voice.
Stiles felt Derek shake his head. "There's not enough room for me to get leverage, and even if I had room this metal feels way too strong to be natural."
"What do you mean, like magic?" Stiles was thankful to be able to think about something other than Derek's body against his. "Are you saying, something magic kidnapped us?"
"I really don't know, Stiles," Derek responded. "Look, I don't think we're getting out any time soon, so how about we try to sleep or something?"
Stiles nodded. "Good, that sounds...good."
Before Stiles went to sleep, though, he wanted to do something.
"Derek?"
"What?"
"Thanks for...calming me down."
Derek was quiet for a few seconds. "No need to thank me. It's my pleasure."
Stiles smiled and cuddled closer to Derek, who tightened his hold on Stiles. He knew that they would have to talk about this when they were rescued, but for the moment Stiles just wanted to enjoy what was happening. He was going to fall asleep while Derek Hale was cuddling him in a tiny cage. Not for the first time and certainly not the last, Stiles wondered how this was his life.
***
Stiles woke up extremely disoriented, and very grumpy. Groaning, he sat up and-
Wait.
He was sitting up.
There was nothing above him and he was sitting up. He was not in a cage.
Stiles' eyes snapped open and he frantically looked around. There was an empty Moving Truck in front of him, with a single open cage in the back. That must have been where Derek and he were trapped.
Speaking of Derek, where the hell was he?
Standing up, Stiles heard commotion to his left, making his head spin around. Before thinking too much, Stiles ran toward the noise, which sounded eerily like a fight. After a few seconds of running, he saw Derek and Scott fighting a hoard of...were those bees? Stiles looked around and noticed a woman behind a tree, her eyes trained on the bees. Her eyes were glowing a dark purple and Stiles would bet on his life that she was controlling the bees. No one noticed him, which he took to his advantage. Making his way toward the woman, a witch he was guessing, he picked up a large rock. He tried to be as quiet as he could as he snuck up behind her. Without any preamble, he swung the rock down onto her head. The woman crumpled to the ground, no sound uttered.
Stiles looked up to where Scott and Derek were and was relieved to see that the bees were buzzing away. Walking out into the clearing, Stiles let out a long breath.
"Well, that was exciting," Stiles said when neither Scott nor Derek said anything.
"Where's the witch?" Scott asked.
Stiles cocked his head toward where the woman was crumpled on the ground. "There. She's knocked out."
Scott walked over to the woman, but Derek stayed next to Stiles.
Stiles looked down and scuffed his sneakers against the ground. "So...um, about the cage-"
Derek grabbed Stiles' hand, threading their fingers together. "Let's talk later, at the loft?"
His voice was so quiet that Stiles had to strain to hear him. But, Stiles understood that Derek didn't want to talk about it in front of Scott and, to be honest, he didn't either. So, he nodded at Derek's request and Derek let go of Stiles' hand when Scott turned around, with the witch in his arms.
"Alright, we should go back to Deaton's and figure what to do with her."
***
Stiles stood just outside of Derek's loft, trying to muster up the courage to knock on the door. He was slightly scared, okay? Stiles has had a crush on Derek for years and he never thought once that Derek could feel the same. Yet, Derek cuddled him in the cage and, yeah, it wasn't a normal situation but it felt like more than just a 'friend' thing. Stiles hoped he wasn't reading too much into it like he usually did.
The door opened, breaking Stiles out of his thoughts. Derek stood there, a white tank top on with black sweatpants.
"Are you gonna come in or not?" Derek asked, amusement lacing his voice.
Stiles stuck his tongue out at Derek and walked into the loft, fully understanding that Derek could probably smell the anxiety on him. Whatever, that's what he gets for being so hot and wanting to talk at the loft. Derek closed the door and faced Stiles. For about a minute they just stood there and stared at each other.
"Dude, I don't know what to say or even what to think, because to be honest, my mind is a mess 90% of the time and this is even worse than normal." Stiles finally said, not being able to handle silence very well.
Derek smirked. "Only 90% of the time?"
Stiles glared at the beta. "Alright, asshole, I thought you wanted to talk about our feelings and shit?"
Rolling his eyes, Derek said, "we both know we suck at talking about our feelings."
And with that Derek placed his hands on either side of Stiles' face and kissed him. It wasn't extraordinary, there were no stars in Stiles eyes or fireworks in his stomach. Instead, Stiles felt light-headed as he kissed Derek back with all his might. It was the best kind of light-headedness Stiles has ever experienced.