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Stiles wasn't sure what to think of the official-looking envelope that was sitting on the table when he got home from a day of classes. College was fun, even if Cora wasn't going to the same college as him since she had to go to a fancy assed one, even though she hated it. The emails he got daily talked about her missing him, even four years into their degrees. Stiles tried to think of anything that was coming up that would need something official. There wasn't anything. Derek's birthday was coming up, but Stiles never went to the official celebrations of that. No, Stiles went to the unofficial party that was put on somewhere in town, Derek's choosing based on what he wanted.
Snagging the envelope, Stiles headed toward the kitchen to check on the food he had put in the crockpot before classes. He looked to see that it looked good. Dinner would be on time tonight, which was always a good thing. He grabbed the needed items to make the salad from the fridge, leaving the envelope beside the crockpot. He tried to ignore it while cutting everything up. He heard the front door open and smiled as he tossed the last bit of vegetables into the bowl with the salad.
"Something smells good," Noah said as he entered the kitchen.
Stiles turned to look at his father to see that he was looking at the envelope. He looked shocked, but Stiles figured that he had been the one to set it where it was.
"Where did that come from?" Noah asked.
"What do you mean?" Stiles set aside the knife after washing it.
"The envelope. Who dropped it off?"
"Dad, you didn't set it on the table inside the door?"
"No."
"It was there when I got home from classes."
"What is it?" Noah picked it up and frowned when he saw that it hadn't been opened up. "Why haven't you opened it?"
"I don't know what it is. I mean, I hate Derek's stuffy parties for his birthday, and I always crash the Halloween one, so why an invite."
"Son," Noah said.
"I know. Ignoring a problem until it goes away won't work here." Stiles dried off his hands before taking the letter. He cracked the wax seal, smiling at the triskele in the wax. He had known it hadn't come in the normal mail given the no return address and no stamp from the post office. He figured that it was Peter who had got inside the house and dropped it off. It was just like him. For years, Peter had been breaking into the house, leaving things for Stiles from the four Hale siblings. It was normal, and while Noah had tried to arrest him for it a few times, nothing ever came of it.
Stiles glared at his full name on the inside of the letter. It was an invitation to the Halloween Ball. Stiles already had his costume made, and he was going to be grand looking when he entered. The guards never tried to stop him. Stiles looked at the bottom and froze when he saw that it was just Derek who had invited him. Usually, Talia and Greg did it, and then the rest of the Hales wrote their names as well. At least for anything that was official. This was something different.
"Maybe we need to go over your costume?" Noah asked.
"Nah, I'm good. It's better than any other I've done before." It was still a week before the ball. Stiles looked forward to it every single year, and this year he had a wonderfully kick-ass costume to wear. His father went every year as the closest high ranking cop.
The Hales had lived in Beacon Hills before it was even Beacon Hills. They were the highest Werewolf Pack on the West Coast and the only one of standing in the United States. Stiles had never understood why they were different until, in fifth grade, everyone learned about when the Supernatural was revealed to the world and how the Werewolves across the globe were outed. They took control of leading their people. Talia Hale was for all intents and purposes a Queen. She didn't like to be treated like it by those she was close to, but this party always brought that out.
Stiles touched Derek's name, and he wondered what was up with the whole only Derek inviting him. He knew a lot about Werewolves, and more than a few of the things were ones he hadn't learned in school. Yet, there was nothing in his head about what this meant. He didn't know if Derek was just done with Stiles inviting himself. The guards always let him in no matter which door he went to. He was pretty sure that Peter made sure he had access to the mansion that they lived in. Peter had been the once to catch him the first time he had snuck onto the grounds. The guards were a mix of human and Werewolf since Mountain Ash was a thing, and it left Werewolf guards too vulnerable.
"Son?" Noah asked.
"Yeah, Dad?" Stiles looked at him and saw that his father was dishing up the salad. "Right. Food."
Noah laughed, and Stiles shoved at him a little bit. It helped Stiles get out of his head, though. He worked on getting the roast and its vegetables served, and they dug into the meal.
Stiles figured out that he wouldn't be allowed to sneak in his normal ways. He was stopped by a guard and told to go in the front. Stiles sighed as that meant he would be announced. He looked at the guard, who just grinned back at him.
"You are dead to me," Stiles said.
The guards who were all in hearing range and Werewolves started to laugh; a few seconds later, the humans were laughing as well. Stiles spun on his heel and headed for the front of the house. He took in the people arriving and grimaced at them. Their costumes were all high end, but Stiles had made his in his spare time at college. It was pretty fucking great compared to many of the ones there.
"Ah, there you are," the head guard said as Stiles stepped up.
Stiles glared at him.
"Don't pout. I wondered which door you were going to try and go in. I'm shocked you chose your normal."
"It's the easiest, and I like the guys you always stick on it, mostly. Tonight I don't."
The head guard laughed and waved Stiles in, despite a line of twenty people waiting to get in.
"HEY!" one of the people shouted, but Stiles just ignored them.
Stiles made his way into the ballroom. He waited in line to be announced and glared at the man who was doing it when his first and last name was said and not his nickname. Usually, it was his nickname that was said. Stile wasn't sure that he liked what was going on. He walked down the stairs and looked around. He knew that Cora had arrived in town for this from college. It was one of the biggest events that the family put on each year, so all of the family was there.
Peter was dancing with Stiles' father already. Their weird friends with benefits relationships had always made Stiles happy. They were both happy with what they had, and as far as he could tell, neither of them wanted more than that.
"May I have this dance?" Derek asked.
Stiles turned to look at Derek, who was dressed to match Stiles' outfit, even though no one knew who Stiles was going as. No one had seen it. Stiles swallowed as he took in the stillsuit that Derek was wearing with the face mask part hanging down. He was also wearing a very detailed Fremen cloak. Stiles let Derek lead him out onto the dance floor. He didn't know what was going on, so he just let himself enjoy the dance.
"You did good on this," Derek said as he ran his hand down Stiles' side.
"Thanks. It took a few tries to remember how to sew and stuff, but I remembered most of what mom taught me. How did you know?"
"I saw you picking out fabric at the store three months ago. I also saw the symbol of the House Atreides. I wasn't sure what you were going for but assumed you would be going as Paul before he became a Fremen."
"So you picked..."
"Chani," Derek said.
There were a million questions in Stiles' head. Most were about why he had chosen Chani, but in the end, none of them came out. Derek tugged Stiles into him a little closer, into a position that spoke of intimacies that they had done only once. Stiles had been drunk, and when he had woken up the next morning, he had been in Derek's bed. Sex had not been had until a little while after Stiles had woken up. The next time that Stiles saw Derek, though, Derek had been exactly the same as he had always been. Stiles had never told Derek that it had been his first time.
"Why?" Stiles asked. He wasn't even sure he knew which why he wanted to know.
"You've heard Mom talk about Mates and how wolves know."
"Yes." Stiles had heard it many times before. Spencer loved to hear it, and it was a familiar bedtime story for him. Stiles had always stayed close to listen since it had been too long since head been told a bedtime story, even if he was too old for it.
"Then tell me," Derek whispered into Stiles' ear as he put them cheek to cheek. It was even more intimate than how they had been before, and it blanked Stiles' mind for a few seconds.
"There is no one way to know. For some, it's meeting the first time; for many, it's sex. Other's its the first full moon with them. Your mother knew the first time your father stood up to her about something. She knew then that she wanted to be with him forever. Laura knew when Jeremy dropped a drink on her. Cora knew the first time that she saw Isaac in second grade, but she kept it from him until high school."
"I knew the first and only time, my mate and I had sex."
Stiles closed his eyes at the words. Derek wasn't cruel, so it wasn't like he was doing this to be cruel. Stiles went to step back, but Derek's hand on his lower back stopped him. Just a little pinprick of claws told him that Derek was not fully in control.
"Think," Derek said.
Stiles tried, but all he could think about was a little hope that Derek would see him that way one day. That he had a chance. Stiles knew that none of the Hales looked down on anyone. They weren't like other royalty around the world. They worked to earn a living. Greg wrote books, which wasn't exactly the biggest money earner, but he did it under an assumed name, so it wasn't like his books were being sold just because of his name. Talia managed the Supernaturals all over the country, so she really didn't earn a lot of money. Laura had stepped in to run the Hale law firm after Peter had stepped down to open a restaurant that was doing well. The law firm had been Talia's before she had stepped up to replace their mother as the Supernaturals leader.
Derek had gone to college and graduated with a good degree. Cora was in college, wanting to be a lawyer as well. Spencer hadn't decided what he wanted to be yet. He was in his final year of high school, and he had time.
Stiles knew that Derek wasn't one for casual sex. The only person that Stiles knew of that Derek hadn't been in a relationship with when he had sex was Stiles. He had been three months out from his last break up with a girl who just wanted him for who he was, Prince Derek. Not Derek, who loved to wear thumbhole sweaters even though he didn't get cold. Who liked to dunk Cora in a river when they were running in the Preserve. Who sat up with Spencer for six weeks after an attack had left him with nightmares. Not the Derek that Stile was pretty sure he was in love with. That had been a year ago, nearly to the dot, a few more weeks, and it would be.
"Stiles," Derek said, and his tone was just like that morning. When Stiles had rolled over and seen Derek lying in bed with him.
"Oh fuck," Stiles said as he got it.
Derek, who had spent the last year getting himself better after not having a good time after his last girlfriend. Who had been doing a lot better at everything and doing things that made him happy. Derek had got himself better, for Stiles.
Stiles moved with Derek as he took them to the edge of the dance floor to where Stiles wouldn't bump into anyone or had less chance of it. Derek kept them pressed cheek to cheek. Stile gripped the edge of Derek cloak, needing something to hold onto. He let out a huge exhale.
"Why?" Stiles asked.
"You...have always been different. You didn't mind hanging with me when I was a grump over yet another girlfriend or boyfriend who was only after my name and not me. You never asked for more than I was willing to give. You tried to get me to sex you up, your words, when you were still drunk, and I told you no, but you didn't get upset. You said it was okay and that we could cuddle all night long and then get to the sex when you were sober."
"I don't remember any of that, but the sex was really good."
Derek laughed, pressing a kiss to the side of Stiles' head as he finally pulled back to where they could look at each other in the eye.
"Oh, my God. Derek Sebastian Hale, if you ask me in front of everyone here, I'm going to cock block you for months."
"I am not going to ask you in front of everyone. I just wanted you here, and Mom said something about making sure you have an invite, unlike every other year. Something about a keepsake."
Stiles nodded his head. He did have the invitation in a book up in his bedroom. He had even made sure the wax seal was saved. He didn't feel so weird about it now.
"Are you going to ask me?" Stiles asked.
"Yes. When I'm ready."
Stiles blew a raspberry at Derek, who swooped in and kissed him. Stiles let Derek move him around to wherever Derek was headed. He felt the wall and then the coolness of it and found that they were outside.
"I mourned when the smell of you left my bed, but I wasn't ready for a serious relationship. Not with you, and especially not with my Mate. Stiles, pleased, will you let me court you and give me the chance to show you that I love you."
"Yes," Stiles said.
Derek's eyes were glowing blue, and Stiles just leaned in and kissed him. Stiles had never worried about Derek's blue eyes. He was the only one in the Hale family who had them, but Stiles knew what they meant. It wasn't just the death of an innocent. Stiles had met a few wolves over the years that had killed innocents that had yellow eyes. No, it was the guilt that turned eyes blue. Stiles had met a few other blue-eyed wolves over the years. He had liked every single one of them.
Stiles grinned and pushed Derek back from him a little. He loved the whine that Derek let out at their lips, breaking apart. Stiles ducked in and kissed him quickly before taking off toward their favorite little area of the gardens. Derek growled and followed him.
Two steps into the little shaded area, Stiles felt Derek wrap an arm around him and take him down to the ground. He rolled to where Derek was on the bottom instead of Stiles but didn't let go.
"Your mother will kill us if we have sex out here," Stiles said, but he made no move to get off of Derek.
"No, she won't. You don't want to know the kind of things that they get up to in here. Sex was the first smell that we all learned to ignore." Derek rolled them to where Stiles was now the bottom. "Besides, I would never do that while there are many strangers here tonight. But we can make out a little."
Stiles hummed in agreement with that and pulled Derek's face down to his. A year, that's how long the courting would last. A year for Derek to prove that he loved Stiles before Stiles would be asked to take the mating bite. A year before everything would be fully official. There would be the talk of another human marrying into the Hale line, but Jeremy had taken the full bite from Talia. Derek knew better than to ask that of Stiles. Stiles was more than happy being human. Talia knew to bite him if he was dying or other serious things but never before. Stiles loved being human. It wouldn't make him more official, being a Werewolf.
"I love you," Derek whispered into Stiles' mouth when they broke the kiss.
"I love you, too." Stiles reached up and carded his fingers through Derek's hair and smiled at him.