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Stiles wipes his sweaty palms on the front of his jeans and looks around the clearing, catching Derek doing the same thing out of the corner of his eye and wondering what the guy is seeing.
It was a nice spot, somewhere that he had stumbled upon when he was doing one of his perimeter runs and checking for weak spots in their defenses. He would do random patterns through the woods, trying to see it from an attacker’s perspective and see if he could preempt any moves they might make.
The clearing is pretty open, aside from a few bushes here and there. There’s this nice lake off to one side that’s being fed by a mini waterfall that’s only a few feet high, so the area has a nice background noise of running water, and Stiles can also hear a few birds flittering around as well.
Derek lets out a low noise, drawing Stiles’ attention and making his heart give a little leap when he sees that the wolf is smiling slightly, either happy with the area or smelling Stiles’ anxiety and trying to reassure him that everything was alright.
Hoping for the former but knowing that it was more likely to be the latter, Stiles hitches up a grin and the picnic basket on his arm as he quips, “I hope you brought your appetite, because this thing is about to take my arm off with all of the food in it!"
Derek frowns at that, moving forward before Stiles can think and lifting the basket off of him with one hand, the other reaching out and taking a hold of Stiles' arm. He gently turns it, making another low noise - this one decidedly less happy - when he sees where the wicker band has dug into Stiles’ arm.
“You should have told me that this was too heavy, Stiles. I would have carried it for you.”
“Hey, the whole purpose of this picnic was for me to woo you, not the other way around!” Stiles knows that his voice is a little shrill and harsher than he intends, but it was so much easier letting Derek know how he felt when the man was under a magic sleep. Every step he made today has felt like one disaster after the other, making him feel jumpy and like he’s one step away from completely breaking down.
First, he almost ruins their lunch, having to remake his stuffed chicken breasts after burning the first batch. Then, because he took so much time cooking, he was late getting cleaned up and out the door, making him nearly run Derek over when he got to his house.
Now, he can’t even carry a damn picnic basket without Derek worrying that he needs help!
“Stiles...? What’s wrong?”
And that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back; Derek’s voice, soft and a little worried, asking him that has Stiles just blurting out all the ways that the day has gone sour and his worries that it’s an omen on their relationship and if he should check if he’s been cursed and-
“Look at me, Stiles... Come on, look at me.”
A few years ago, if someone told him that Derek Hale could be comforting, Stiles would have laughed at them. He would have laughed at them if they said the same thing about him as well, but that’s not the point.
The point is, now, when Derek tells Stiles to look up with that soft tone, he does.
“Everything still came together, didn’t it?” At Stiles’ nod, Derek smiles in the way that never fails to make Stiles’ stomach to do a little flip. “Then we’re fine and you don’t need to worry. I’m here, you’re here, and we got a basket full of food to share.”
Laughing a little, and ignoring that it has a slightly wet edge, Stiles mumbles, “I just wanted everything to be perfect.”
“And it is perfect.” Derek insists, a light blush on his cheeks that means he’s going to say something sweet. “It’s perfect because you’re here. With me.”
Stiles can’t help the way that he coos at that, even as Derek starts to tug him towards the lake. He hopes that it’s because he wants them to have their picnic there, but if Derek ends up throwing him in, it still would have been worth it.