Work Text:
"Stiles”
“Mmm..”
“Stiles, I know you’re awake”
“No, I’m not.”
Derek huffs a soft laugh, his breath moving the hairs on Stiles’ neck. They spent the better part of the night in a tangle of limbs, wrapped up in each other, in the privacy of their bedroom after having spent the entire day showing the others around their new house.
It was Stiles’ idea to invite the whole pack over to celebrate Christmas. Stiles who was currently faking being asleep in complete denial about the preparations they’d have to do for Christmas Eve.
“So you’re asleep?” Derek asks, burying his face in the crook of Stiles’ neck, whispering in his ear.
“Hm-m” Stiles nods softly.
“That’s too bad..” He drags out a sigh and adds “I had plans involving you in full consciousness. Interesting plans.”
“Wh-what?” Stiles’ eyes bat open and he turns his head to look at Derek. “I think I’m waking up now…” He fakes a yawn as he tries to turn around in the hold of Derek’s arms.
Derek smirks, letting his fingers lightly stroke Stiles’ back. “It’s too late now. We have to decorate the house. Your orders.”
“No, no, no!” Stiles croaks, his throat still dry from sleep, as Derek tried to get up from their bed. “My old orders suck! New orders! We stay right here and cuddle and focus on all your interesting plans” he adds with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Derek makes a last try to convince him even as he wraps his arms around Stiles’ middle all over again. “The others are going to be here in less than five hours”
“Pffft, that’s plenty of time” Stiles’ smile blinds Derek’s judgement and he feels unable to stop himself from chasing Stiles’ lips. He’s so done for.
~.~
“Go faster, Derek!”
“To think those exact words are to blame for this mess”
Stiles rolls his eyes at Derek as he tries to get the tinsel to stay on the car’s console. “We only have two hours to make our house explode with festivity until its taken over by our family and friends!”
“And whose fault is that?” Derek takes a right turn and drives towards Target’s parking lot.
“Don’t blame my irresistible charms, Derek” Stiles winks at him before a string of tinsel lands on his face.
“You won’t put tinsel in the car”
“Oh come on! It deserves to have a taste of the Christmas spirit!”
“You have enough for the three of us” Derek says opening the door of the car. Stiles follows him towards the store’s entrance.
“We should definitely get Isaac a cooking book. Imagine his face, Derek. Forget festivity the house would actually explode.”
Derek chuckles softly not bothering to let the fear that could once cripple him around such words, hold control over him anymore. “I was thinking we could get a cooking book for ourselves..” he admits softly.
Stiles stops on his track. “Derek Hale, the werewolf, wants to cook for me in his den?” the wide smile brightens up his whole face and Derek can hardly stop himself from stealing a peck from his lips. “Yes Stiles, I want to cook for us.”
Stiles will never admit how his heart melts whenever Derek refers to them as an us. He didn’t always used to do so, with such ease. It took a long time for the both of them to stop tiptoeing around their feelings and choose the right words to describe them.
It took them six months to admit to themselves the depth of their feelings for each other. And it took them even longer to admit their feelings to each other. It was fitting for them that it slipped out of Derek’s mouth while they were arguing about Derek being reckless all over again. It has been a long journey, and Stiles wouldn’t change a single thing about it.
~.~
“There’s no way I’m wearing this”
“Come on Derek it’s festive!”
“It’s hideous”
Stiles’ laugh is borderline hysterical as he manages to snap a picture of Derek in the ugliest Christmas sweater ever created. It has a reindeer on the front with actual lights hanging from its antlers. There is even cotton carelessly stuck to the sleeves in what he supposes is a lame attempt to fake snow.
“I’m so buying this as your Christmas gift” he grabs the sweater out of Derek’s hold and starts running around the isle before he can throw it away.
Derek looks around the shop as he sprints after him, catching the glance of disapproving customers. “I’ll withhold sex if you do.” he half whispers, half growls.
Stiles turns around and wiggles his eyebrows, winking “Oh please, like you could ever resist all this.”
“Fine.” Derek’s surrender makes Stiles’ chest almost swell with pride and emotions. “But if I have to get one, you have too”
“That’s not how it works”
“It is now” Derek’s smirk proves there’s no way he’s getting out of that as he storms off on the hunt for an even uglier sweater. If that even exists.
~.~
The cooking book aisle is way bigger than Stiles expected. There’s no way in figuring out which recipes Derek would be more interested in. He knows that Derek’s all for healthy and clean diet, but actually buying him a book filled with healthier options for dinner and providing recipes for all of them means no more junk food for a good couple of months.
He doesn’t exactly know what the perfect Christmas gift for him might be, but he knows that Derek likes cooking. He can see the wrinkles in his corners of his eyes everytime he makes them dinner and Stiles can’t help but flat out moan with every bite.
It’s a good system they’ve built for themselves. Since last year they would always end up sleeping in the same bed, always reluctant to leave the other’s warmth. They were already spending the bigger part of their day in each other’s company. Even if it was just Stiles being bored and following Derek around as he tried to do simple everyday things like grocery shopping. The number of nights they spent apart was slowly decreasing till there wasn’t even a question about the other staying over.
A year later, and they finally have their own apartment. With their names on the doorbell and everything. Sometimes it overwhelms him to think of how far they’ve come. And how Scott and himself trespassing on Derek’s property has now lead to him hiding on an aisle filled with recipes.
His glance catches sight of a book dedicated to recipes based solemnly on ingredients any average garden has. He shakes his head at himself as his fingers close around the book’s spine and he makes his way towards the cashier before Derek can spot him. Junk food be damned if this freaking book makes Derek smile a little wider.
~.~
“You can’t hold the bags and unlock the door, Stiles. It’s physically impossible.”
Stiles is currently trying to unlock their front door while balancing six shopping bags, three on each hand. “You’re physically impossible.” his snarky comeback falls short as his keys slip from his fingers and fall to the ground.
“Are you going to pretend you’d be able to lift them up?”
“No, I think I’d prefer the view if you picked them up for me” Stiles replies with another wiggle of his eyebrows, that’s met with Derek’s unimpressed glare. “Please?” Stiles pouts at him and the amount of things Derek wouldn’t do for him at that exact second pretty much decrease to zero.
Once they finally get inside, they settle the bags on the kitchen counter. “We should light up the fireplace, make sure it works.”
“Of course our fireplace works, Stiles. We’ve checked it three times since we moved in here.”
“But what if the others are cold and we can’t light up the fireplace? We would be the most terrible hosts since Isaac decided to throw a 4th of July party without fireworks!”
“You are aware that the majority of our friends are werewolves, right? Practically, immune to cold weather?”
“Fur can’t protect you from everything Derek! The weather forecast said that there is going to be an extreme decrease in temperature and people should be prepared for a freaking snowstorm!”
“Stiles” Derek’s calm voice breaks Stiles out of his thoughts before panic can get the better hold of him. “There’s not going to be a snowstorm. And even if there is, we have enough supplies to survive for weeks after everything we bought today.” He takes a step closer to Stiles and wraps his arms around his middle under his shirt. “Our friends are going to love our house. And we’ll be great hosts.”
It seems as if all tension drains out of him as he feels Derek’s hand make contact with his skin. He feels a soft smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he gives in and wraps his arms around Derek’s neck. “Thank you for doing this.”
“You know you don’t have to thank me, Stiles.” Derek’s words are followed by a soft smile. It’s a private smile that Stiles is the only one who gets to see it. After everything they’ve been through Derek smiles more and more everyday. But this soft, almost shy smile that brightens his face, filled with a different kind of love, is only for him.
They kiss in front of the fireplace, Stiles’ minor freak out forgotten as they tighten their arms around each other, teeth clacking whenever they can’t contain their smiling.
~.~
“OPEN UP, LOSERS!”
Erica’s voice startles Stiles, from where he’s putting all the presents underneath the Christmas tree.
“Yeah, open the door! It’s freaking freezing out here!”
Isaac joins Erica’s voice as Stiles makes his way to the door. “Alright you greedy werewolves!” he makes a bow as he opens the front door “Welcome to our humble home.”
“This home is anything but humble” Boyd snorts at Isaac words as they all make their way inside. “The only thing missing is a pool.”
“We do plan on getting one, just so you know” comes Derek’s response as he walks down the stairs.
“I’d be surprised if you didn’t. Stiles wouldn’t shut up about it for weeks after you showed him your ultimate plan for the house.” Scott’s reply makes the point of Derek’s ears go red and Stiles’ smile gets a little wider.
“Oh come on Scott” Allison wraps her arm around Scott’s middle “Like you were any different when we first got our house” her dimples make it difficult for Scott to take his eyes off of her for the rest of the afternoon.
~.~
Derek can almost admit he’s lost. There’s no way he’ll be able how to perfect ring woodworking till Christmas. The voice of doubt inside his head makes him worry whether Stiles is ready for that level of commitment just yet. But the smile that brightens up his face every morning as they wake up, tangled up, in their bed gives him hope.
That’s how he ended up in the only room of their house Stiles doesn’t really visit trying to get the curve of the ring exactly right when he hears light footsteps making their way towards him. Scott’s well known scent almost causes him to try and hide all evidence of what he’s doing but it’s pretty pointless as Scott makes his way through the door with a knowing smile on his face.
“I always knew you were quite the handyman” Scott says gesturing at the tools laid out on his workbench. “Let me guess… You’ve already made countless rings and none of them came out quite how you wanted them to?”
Derek sighs heavily, looking away from him and back down at the two wooden rings resting at the table. Truth is, he has made more than a dozen of them and he has ended up throwing them all away. They were never the right size or the right width, or anything his mind could make up.
“You guessed right” he admits with another sigh and runs a hand through his hair. “I just want them to be perfect. I need to make them as perfect as they can be because Stiles deserves the very best.”
“And that’s what you don’t get Derek! You’re the best for him. Those rings right there are the better looking rings I have ever seen and trust me, I spent quite a long time staring at rings before the wedding. They all just look like pointless circles after the first week.” he chuckles at the end of his sentence as he sits down beside Derek.
“Do you think he’s ready?” Derek’s voice is soft, almost vulnerable.
“I think he’s been ready ever since you finally gave in to the tension between you two and kissed. And if I wasn’t his absolute best friend since our childhood I’d might even tell you that he’s been thinking about popping the same question himself.” Scott reveals with a wink. “But you never heard that.”
Derek feels as if a huge weight, he didn’t even know existed, has lifted off his shoulders. “You’re right.”
“I usually am!” Scott smiles widely. “You should really listen to me more often!”
“Shut up” Derek rolls his eyes, shoving at Scott’s shoulder playfully.
~.~
“IT’S SNOWING!! IT’S ACTUALLY SNOWING!! DEREK!!”
Stiles’ excited voices startle Derek as he shoves the ring back into his pocket. “Seems like the weather forecast was right after all.”
“I said it’s snowing Derek! Share my excitement and come outside!”
Derek chuckles and walks outside with Stiles. There is a thin layer of snow covering the grass of their freshly mowed lawn and snowflakes are slowly falling all around them. Derek takes a few steps closer to Stiles and sees little snowflakes caught in his eyelashes, and the thought of how beautiful he is overwhelms him.
“What’s that look for?” Stiles looks away from the snow and back at Derek. The longing look in his eyes filled with love, makes his heart swell. He leans forward capturing Derek’s lips in a soft kiss underneath the snow.
When they finally pull away, Stiles smirks with a playful look on his face and starts running around the snow, preparing snowballs to throw at Derek. “You’ll never catch me!”
“We’ll see about that!” Derek shouts back and he suddenly gets the worst, or the best, he’s not actually sure yet, idea. His fingers close around the wooden ring, still resting forgotten in his pocket. It feels as if its almost vibrating with energy as Derek takes it in his hand with care and hides it in his palm.
That’s when a huge snowball lands right on his face. Stiles’ loud laughter bringing him back to reality as he starts running again. “It’s on!” he shouts and starts making a snowball with his free hand, hiding the ring inside it as he runs after Stiles.
“Bring it on, buddy!” Stiles shouts back trying to hide behind a tree in their garden.
A quite heavy snowball lands on his chest and he catches something that’s falling to his hands as the snow melts. “What..-” he looks down at his fingers and sees a beautiful wooden ring resting on his palm.
He looks down at Derek feeling as if he’s out of breath as he watches him get down on one knee in front of him and take the ring from his palm. “Derek..” all words forgotten as he tries to find the right one to say.
Derek takes a deep breath and looks up at him, “Stiles… I love you more than anything. Even when you frustrate me, and we bicker at each other about the stupidest stuff.. I can not imagine what my life would be without you, and I really don’t want to. I don’t want to imagine a single day when you’re not around and I-..” his words are caught off as Stiles strokes his cheek softly and looks at him through his suspiciously wet eyelashes.
“Will you marry me?” he finally asks and Stiles almost starts jumping up and down from excitement. “YES!” he almost shouts, his wide grin matching the one on Derek’s face as he slides the ring on his finger.
“I freaking love you so much, Derek” he whispers in his ear as he feels strong arms wrap around him, holding him tightly. Hugging Derek back, he feels as if his cheek hurt from smiling too widely. Derek kisses him firmly, feeling as if in that moment they were actually one.