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Peter Hale dies on a Wednesday and it is not the joyous occasion, everyone would have thought it would be a few years ago.
It is sad. There were actual tears at the funeral and even most of the pack showed up.
The surprise comes a few days later, when Derek summons them to a pack meeting and Peter's lawyer turns up to divide the inheritance between them all.
They get money. So much money, that most of the pack wouldn't have any worries for the foreseeable future, if they would accept. But of course it wouldn't be Peter, if there wasn't some kind of twist.
"What does he want," Derek asks the lawyer, when the man had continued with the 'but'.
"Mr Hale," the lawyer says, and Stiles thinks, he should really find his name out. Just to know that there's nothing hinky. "The will says, that each of the listed beneficiaries will get the assets we discussed, if they are also willing to accept one of the deceased's IOU's."
"What?" This time Stiles can't keep quiet. "Like for real? IOU's?"
"Yes," the lawyer says again, "in the will..."
"Do we get to know the IOU before we accept?" Stiles interrupts. "Or are we flying blind? I don't want to owe someone something creepy. Or more money than I get."
Scott nods in agreement. He needs the money sure, but blindly taking a Peter Hale IOU? No way, they hadn't been that far in the whole rebuilding relationships thing.
Lydia and Jackson aren't paying attention, Stiles notices. It's probably because they have enough money, and don't need the gamble. He wonders, if he should ask for their part.
"You have a week to either accept or decline," the lawyer speaks up again. "Of course you have complete access in that time, to everything you would inherit."
No one says anything, so the lawyer leaves his card and sighs.
"One week."
And then he is gone.
Stiles wants to go with Scott to his office three days later to check everything out, but Scott explains he already went with Isaac.
"I'm gonna accept," Scott says.
"Really?"
"Yeah." There is a short pause on the phone, before Scott continues. "My IOU is chill, and it's not like I would reject a lot of money just because it's from Peter."
"What's your IOU?" Stiles is suddenly more curious than before. He would have thought they would be either weird or really hard things, not something that Scott would describe as 'chill'.
"I just owe some girl five pennies," he exclaims, "and before you say anything, yes I checked her out. She lives in Beacon Hills, human, nothing weird! You really should look up yours, Isaac's is totally okay too. I think Peter just wanted to give us one last scare."
Scott is excited, and Stiles doesn't want to ruin it, but he thinks there is something more going on. Still, he wishes Scott good luck and hangs up.
Time to see for himself.
The lawyer, who's name he has already forgotten again, leaves him behind in one of the rooms with just some papers and the IOU. Stiles reads over it twice.
It doesn't change.
Peter Hale owes Derek Hale a mate.
It's signed and dated, but there is no other information. No explanation and no end date, and Stiles is more confused than before.
A mate. How would he even be able to find Derek a mate, not even considering that he would be ripping his own heart out with the whole thing.
He needs answers.
The loft is empty when Stiles gets there, so he searches for some chips and flops onto the couch. Derek finally has Netflix and a TV, so waiting is not the torture it once was.
He's halfway through the first episode of Elementary, when the door opens again and Derek walks in with at least two bags on each arm. Grocery shopping,- he should have figured.
"Hey Derek," Stiles calls from his place on the couch. Derek only grumbles a quiet hello back, while he puts the food away. Apparently he's coming over too often, if his presence doesn't even get a proper reaction from Derek. It's irritating, because Stiles kind of wants that reaction.
"So," he starts again, "why am I owing you a mate?"
It's so satisfying hearing the cans falling to the ground, when he finally gets Derek's attention. Stupid, needy, attention-seeking heart, that's annoyingly gone on the alpha.
"What are you talking about," Derek asks, without turning around to look at him. Stiles can see, that his hands are trembling.
"You know," he says casually as he steps closer to Derek, "I've got this piece of paper that's saying, that one Peter Hale is owing one Derek Hale a mate. What's that all about?"
It's hard to read Derek sometimes. Stiles got kinda good at it, probably only because Derek has finally let him in after all these years, but he's good at it. Today he's not getting anything. Or if he's getting anything, it's just too confusing to interpret.
"Nothing!"
Stiles can see, how Derek forces himself to relax, how his tightly clenched fists slowly uncurl and especially how deep of a breath he takes. It's making him even more curious than before.
"It's nothing," Derek says after a short pause. "You know, just an old joke. Peter, always a funny guy, haha."
There's no inflection, not even on the stiltedly added 'haha', and Stiles is getting more and more convinced that he somehow got involved in something big. Something really important.
"So I'll get Peter's money, even if I don't find you a mate? Because I kinda need that money."
It's his trump card, Stiles knows it, because Derek cares about him. At least enough to not want him destitute.
He waits for a minute, looking at Derek with big imploring eyes that would have worked on Peter even, and gives him the time to reveal what this is all about.
It doesn't take long.
"It's a Kate thing," Derek finally whispers, and before Stiles can decide if he want to prod or not, Derek sinks down on the couch next to him and adds, "you know most of the story already. What you don't know, is that she did something to her scent when we met, so I would think she was my mate."
Anger burns through him and Stiles nearly starts to curse up a storm about Kate, but he knows that won't actually help Derek. So instead he leans into Derek's side and offers up his hand, glad that they're close enough for him to do so.
Derek squeezes it once, only to let it go again. Stiles tries not to be disappointed.
"Peter found out." Derek starts up again. "Told me, there was no way she was my mate, and made me break it off. I was being a teenage brat about it, so he made me that 'I owe you'. Promised me I had an actual mate somewhere out there, and he would find them."
"Didn't make much of a difference, since Kate killed my whole family anyway." Derek adds with a self-deprecating scoff, "at least I wasn't being a brat about the break-up any longer."
They sit in silence for a moment, Stiles desperate to find words, any words, that would make the whole thing better, but he know there are none. Instead he reaches out and grasps Derek's hand in his once more.
This time Derek allows it.
"You know...I don't hate myself for it anymore." Derek finally turns to face him, catching his gaze, as if he's trying to make Stiles see the truth in them. "It's just hard to talk about. Thanks for listening."
And with that Derek smiles, destroying the somber mood completely.
"Thank you for telling me all that," Stiles answers with a smile on his own. "You didn't have to. Trust Peter to mastermind something like this, from beyond the grave."
That tickles a laugh out of Derek and a shake of his head.
"I don't think that's what Peter actually wanted to accomplish with this IOU," Derek says with a chuckle. "I...I guess he wanted me to tell you the other thing."
"What other thing?"
Derek looks down at their hands in response and lifting them up between them. There's a slight tremble in both of Derek's hands, that Stiles is only noticing because of how close they are sitting.
"That I already found my mate." Derek says, his voice not betraying how nervous he is and his eyes never leaving Stiles'. "And that I'm in love with him. That's probably what he wanted me to tell you."
"Oh," Stiles feels breathless, feels like someone kicked him in the chest, and like he's drifting on water. "Oh my god, that bastard. Fuck! Holy crap, please give me a minute. I...Wow!"
He's breathing hard, like he's just run a mile, instead of Derek confessing his undying love to him. And holy shit, how did he get this lucky. And...he needs to answer Derek, he suddenly realizes, because there is a hand that is trying to weasel out of his. Fuck that, Stiles grips as hard as he can, as he feels the weight of the last few months disappear. Derek loves him.
"He's lucky, I fucking love you too, or else we'd have to resurrect and kill him for that stunt."
Stiles still feels breathless, but now it's more of the giddy kind. The kind that Derek mirrors with his smile and his...
"And stop being insecure right this second, because I know what mates mean, Derek Hale, and I want that. You hear me? I want that."
He shows how absolute serious he is with a kiss. And then he just keeps kissing Derek, because sometimes you just have to kiss the insecurity out of Derek, Stiles guesses.
Scott was right – best IOU ever.