Work Text:
“What are you doing?” Stiles asks as he enters what is going to be the room of the baby.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Jackson shrugs. “I’m painting—”
“Yeah, I can see that?”
“Then why do you ask?” A frown crinkles Jackson’s forehead.
“Because you're not supposed to do it obviously. Scott is coming over to help me. So, we are doing it—not you. You should be…” Stiles waves his right hand, “I don’t know… resting—”
“Sitting on my ass, you mean. Just because I’m pregnant, it doesn’t mean I have to be sitting all day.”
“Yeah, but you shouldn’t be doing that either,” Stiles says, pointing at the wall.
“I think sometimes you forget I’m a wolf and that I’m stronger than the usual pregnant female… Besides, it was just this wall, I didn’t plan on painting the whole room. You two can finish everything else.”
“Do you really think I could forget? It’s right there, in front of me every day.” Stiles points at Jackson’s belly. “How many pregnant men do you know about?”
Jackson rolls his eyes dramatically and smirks, staying silent.
“Exactly. Zero-point-zero. So, don’t tell me I could actually forget. But I worry, okay? I know you’ve done this before but I haven’t… this is all new for me.”
“Fine.” Jackson nods. “Sorry. You’re right, sometimes I forget you don’t remember…” It’s hard to admit it, but that’s the truth. Jackson imagines that in a few months he won’t forget Stiles’s amnesia anymore but at the moment, it’s still too early to remember it all the time.
“You like this color better, right?” Jackson looks both at his husband and at the wall. “I’m sorry I changed my mind and we have to paint it again but I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when we chose this…” Jackson points at the current light blue of the walls. It feels too boring now and for some reason, green feels absolutely right now. The only inconvenience is that he’s not in the best shape to help painting the whole room.
Stiles takes two steps until he’s standing next to Jackson and looks at the painted part of the wall in front of them.
“Yeah, I agree, babe.” Stiles nods. “It looks much better.”
“Wait, what did you just say?” Jackson raises his eyebrows.
“I said I prefer it too, it looks cool… I mean, I like both but this looks ‘happier’ I guess, more—”
“No.” Jackson shakes his head. “Not that part. Did you just call me ‘babe’?”
Stiles licks his lips, confused. “Yes, I guess I did. Why?” Stiles furrows his brow. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem?” Jackson asks, looking at Stiles in that way that Stiles hasn’t learned to decipher yet.
Stiles just shrugs and frowns.
“The problem is that we’ve never… ever... said that word or any other version of it to each other.”
“Really?” Stiles says, raising his eyebrows.
“Never,” Jackson says again.
“Why not?” Stiles waves his right arm.
“Why not? Why do you think?—Because we don’t like it. It just… it’s not us. I guess it’s not who we are. We don’t have any nicknames for each other… that’s how it is,” Jackson shrugs, licking his lips.
Stiles obviously doesn’t remember any of their conversations and he feels kind of embarrassed right now. It’s stupid to feel that way, he knows there’s nothing he can do about it but it’s one of those uncomfortable moments he always dreads having to go through. They are less frequent as times goes by and he spends more time with Jackson and Daniel, but inevitably, something still comes up from time to time.
“Why did you say it? I mean, did it just occur to you?” Jackson is not sure if he is supposed to just let it go and forget about it, but he’s not lying when he says he doesn’t like it because he actually hates it.
“I don’t know. Maybe…” Stiles hesitates. “I guess that I see Scott using it all the time and since we… you know…” Stiles shakes his head and smiles briefly, lowering his eyes.
The happiness and shyness of that flash of teeth fill Jackson with warmth, tenderness and a little bit of amusement. His wolf wants to hug him and his human side wants to tease him.
“Had sex?” Jackson suggests, raising his eyebrows and trying not to smile but failing miserably.
“Well, yeah…” Stiles finds Jackson’s gaze again.
Jackson bites his lower lip and rolls his eyes at his husband’s adorable embarrassment.
“I don’t know… Maybe I felt like that’s what couples do… But yeah, it’s stupid… I’m new at this ‘relationship’ thing, remember? What do I know?” Stiles shrugs.
Jackson sighs. “Look, I’m not saying it’s stupid, but we don’t like or need that shit. You’re Stiles. You’re you and that’s it. I’ve never felt like I need to call you anything else.”
“So... you never…” Stiles stops himself just in time.
“I never what?” Jackson narrows his eyes.
Stiles runs a hand through his hair but doesn’t say anything.
“Come on. Never what?” Jackson insists.
“You never called Lydia anything?”
“Are you serious?” Jackson frowns. “You’re asking me about Lydia now?”
“You insisted!” Stiles waves his right arm.
“Yeah, because I didn’t know it was about that!” Jackson shakes his head. “Look, that was a million years ago. I don’t know what the hell I called her… and most importantly, I don’t fucking care. Why do you care?”
Jackson leaves the paintbrush on the floor and looks at his hands, checking how much paint he’s got on them.
“It’s not that I care. I was just wondering.”
Jackson snorts. “Sure. Like you ever just wonder anything…” He knows there’s a mixture of insecurities and jealousy behind that question but that’s just to be expected since he’s married to this teenage version of Stiles right now. “But okay… well. I don’t remember what I said when I was a teenager but I think that ‘baby’, ‘babe’ or whatever is cheesy… and Scott and Allison are cheesy, all right? So it suits them. They’ve always had a cheesy side which is the opposite of us, thank god… Just don’t tell them I said that.”
Stiles nods and doesn’t say anything.
“Did that… upset you or something?” Jackson hesitates. “I mean… I don’t like it but you—”
“What? No—of course, not. I like to know this stuff. It’s just…” Stiles clears his throat. “You know, having amnesia really sucks sometimes.” Even if he’s accepted that it’s a process that it’s gonna take time to deal with, there’s a difference between accepting it and living with it on a daily basis.
“Sometimes?” Jackson smirks.
“You know what I mean.” Stiles waves his left hand.
“Well, in case you haven’t figured it out, I love it when you say my name.”
“You do?” Like so many other things, this is one of those that would never have occurred to him.
“I do. I always have.”
The sincerity in Jackson’s voice touches Stiles’s heart in a way that Stiles is still getting used to. He’s able to feel it deep inside in a way that he never expected and it’s still new and fascinating.
Stiles smirks, taking a step further until he’s standing close enough to rest both hands in Jackson’s shoulders. “Always?”
“Yeah, so if you wanna call me something—”
“I just say your name?” Stiles asks, smiling as he leans in.
Jackson feels Stiles’s breath brush against his ear as he whispers, “You know… Jackson... I want to kiss you right now.”
It’s just a whisper. Soft-spoken but full of longing… the kind of thing that Jackson’s wolf reacts to immediately and Stiles knows it.
Jackson’s heart starts beating faster and he shudders as Stiles’s scent fills his nostrils and his whole body responds to his mate’s proximity.
The sweetness of Stiles’s hazel eyes and his mouth, curving into a delicious smile is that look that he missed so much when Stiles came back home after the accident. Because that’s the look that says exactly how Stiles feels about him—how he always felt about him before.
Stiles pushes his left hand under Jackson’s shirt to slide it down the smooth skin of his belly as he glides his other hand to the back of Jackson's neck, holding him in place, ready to kiss him.
“Careful, you’re gonna get paint on yourself,” Jackson says, restraining himself from touching Stiles.
Stiles doesn’t reply, he just shakes his head and snorts softly. His eyes drift down to Jackson’s mouth, leaning in even closer and Jackson’s hands grip Stiles’s hips, regardless of the consequences.
Stiles kisses him tenderly at first, just making contact with Jackson’s soft lips. But soon Stiles’s tongue slips between Jackson’s mouth, and Jackson finds it with his own, sliding them together, closing his eyes. There’s moaning coming from Stiles who moves his hand to cup Jackson’s cheek, rubbing his thumb against his clean shaven skin. The warmth of Stiles’s mouth and the scent of want and need coming from him fills his senses and it feels like time stops and everything around them disappears. It’s like the accident never happened—like if this connection that they share was never broken.
And it’s moments like this when Jackson can feel his wolf’s absolute contentment. He can feel his joyfulness and hunger in equal measure. And it was weird at first, all those years ago, but now he can’t imagine not having this side of him that craves Stiles as much as he does—not having that feeling tangled up with his.
Jackson tilts his head and the sweep of the tip of Stiles’s tongue along the top of Jackson’s mouth feels so good that he is hard in a matter of seconds, pressing against his tracksuit bottoms. Jackson’s pulse increases and his cock aches. And soon everything is about Stiles’s scent and taste, and that unavoidable need to take things further because just kissing is not enough.
Jackson cups his cleanest hand around Stiles’s ear and breaks the kiss, panting lightly.
“I’m done painting,” Jackson breaths against Stiles’s slightly swollen lips.
“You are?” Stiles licks his lips, sliding his hand slowly once again under Jackson’s t-shirt and enjoying the identical reaction he gets from him.
“Yeah…” Jackson gasps. “I’d rather you fucked me before Scott gets here,” Jackson says resting his forehead against Stiles's.
“Shit”, Stiles chews on his lower lip, smiling. “I fully support that idea.”
Stiles grabs Jackson’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “Come on,” he adds, leading the way to their bedroom.