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"Are you sure that you can’t go out there?”
Derek gives Stiles a Bitch Face that falls on a high six as he deadpans, “Yes, because going out in the middle of a snowstorm that literally has hail the size of a basketball with zero visibility is perfectly reasonable.”
"I doubt that it’s that bad."
The howling storm decides to use that moment to release a new torrent of hail that thunders against the roof of the cottage that they barricaded themselves in, making Stiles jump nearly a foot in the air and for Derek’s lips to twitch up into a satisfied smirk.
"You were saying?"
"Why don’t you leave the sarcastic remarks to me, huh, Sourwolf?"
The only response he gets is a low growl as Derek looks out the window as if he can make the snowstorm stop by sheer force of will.
No such luck.
"You know, this entire thing is your fault."
"What."
"You’re the one that provoked those fairies! I told you that the polite thing would be to decline their offer of being a Royal Consort, but nooooooo! You had to threaten them like you do everyone else, making them promise to ‘cover the world with a cold as deep as your heart’.”
Stiles even throws in some air quotes to demonstrate just how pissed off he is that Derek’s shitty attitude has completely ruined his Christmas plans and has caused him to be stuck for the foreseeable future with the emotionally constipated dick.
Halfway through his rant, Derek has turned from the window to Stiles and is shooting him his trademark scowl, beautiful face twisted in irritation as a heavy sigh pushes its way out from between Derek’s lips.
Good, better he be angry then realize the change in Stiles’ scent that gives away how relieved he was that Derek didn’t go with the fairies, despite the fact that it was looking like the set of Wendigo Wailing 3 outside.
"You should know by now that any offer from a fairy comes with a price attached, even one like that,” Derek’s ears go a little red, making Stiles blink because he’s noticed that as a sign whenever Derek’s feeling embarrassed. “And my heart isn’t as cold as they claimed, it just… belonged to someone else.”
There’s absolute silence in the room, the only noise is the wind blowing outside as Stiles tries to keep his heart steady as he comes to terms with the fact that Derek is in love with someone.
"She’s not an evil psychopath, is she?"
Apparently, his way of coping is being a shit, and he winces as Derek’s face darkens a little as he snaps, “No, he’s not a psychopath!”
…He?
"Says who?" It’s the safest question he can ask, steering away from topics that include ‘since when do you like guys?’ to the one that will only end in heartbreak for Stiles; ‘did you ever feel that way about me?’
"Well, Scott seems to like him," Stiles swallows as Derek’s face softens into that peaceful expression that Stiles now knows means he’s thinking about this new guy of his. "Although, there are times when I really question his judgement…"
"Hey, Scotty is the coolest, so whoever this ‘guy’ is, he must be pretty awesome."
"Yeah, he is."
Derek’s voice is so fond that Stiles has to move, has to get away from the suffocating feeling in his chest, so he heads toward the door he saw on the other side of the room and grits out, “I’m going to see if there is some way of contacting the others, since my phone is dead and yours is a Stone Age relic. We wouldn’t want your boyfriend to worry.”
He makes it to the other side of the room, cutting off Derek’s confused, “Stiles, wait-!” before he can say something stupid.
It’s good that Derek has someone, that there is somebody that Scott has apparently given his stamp of approval of, and he shouldn’t feel hurt at all that neither man thought to ask him to meet this guy…
And it has nothing to do with the sinking feeling in his chest that said all the times that he thought Derek was looking at him with something other than annoyance was just his mind making things up.
Shivering with more than just the chill that has started creep over him, Stiles makes his way back to the room he started in, shocked at the sudden wave of warmth that greets him.
Blinking, Stiles can only stare as Derek tosses another log on the roaring fire going in the fireplace that he completely missed on his way out, taking in the way that the flames cast long shadows over his face.
Derek must hear the way his heart has started trying pound of his chest, because he turns to him with a frown and says, “You look like you’re a second away from turning into an icicle, get over here where it’s warm.”
Stiles wants to protest-he really does-but the heat has reminded him of the tips of his fingers and how very numb they are, so he wanders over without a fuss and sits down with his hands outstretched.
That seems to make Derek even more of a Grumpywolf, as he immediately sits himself down next to him and wraps his arm around Stiles’ shoulders.
Several things in Stiles relax at the touch before he remembers why he stormed out of the room in first place and he tenses again. “Derek-“
"I never said that I was dating someone, I just said that there was already someone that I cared about."
Stiles is grateful for the fact that Derek’s arm is blocking his view as he feels his entire face flush at what he thinks Derek said, and what that means to the way they’re sitting, "Oh. Okay."
Outside, unknown to either of them, the storm finally starts to let up.