Work Text:
“It just seems like…” Derek hesitated as searched for the right words. “It seems too easy, you know? Like he just forgave me, just like that.” Isaac rolled his eyes and took another sip of coffee.
“You mope around feeling miserable because he won’t talk to you and now you’re unhappy because he forgives you?”
“Well, not exactly, but…” Derek absentmindedly traced his finger through the crumbs on his plate. “I just think…”
“Come on, Derek” Isaac interrupted him. “You can’t be sad because he’s angry and then sad because he’s not angry, that doesn’t make any sense!”
“But I hurt him!” Derek blurted out. “And I feel so guilty for it. I didn’t mean to but I still did and I don’t…”
“You don’t what?” Isaac interrupted again, sharper this time. “Don’t deserve to be forgiven?” He held Derek’s gaze firmly. “After all the shit you’ve been through with crazy bitches and dark druids, if anyone deserves a good relationship it would be you. So, you screwed up. Big time. Acted like a total jerk. Everyone agrees on that. But we also know why you acted like that, and that you never had the intention to hurt Stiles. And if he is ready to see past what you did and forgive you, then maybe you need to forgive yourself as well.”
Derek opened and closed his mouth a few times after Isaac had finished but no sound came out. His friend seemed a bit shocked with himself as well and for a few moments they sat together in a stunned silence.
“Um, Melissa said something like that when we talked as well. That I shouldn’t blame myself too much” Derek said at last and Isaac patted his arm and then stood up to leave.
“Well then, why don’t you listen to her?” he asked as he pulled on his jacket. “She’s a wise woman. And she cares so much about both you and Stiles.” He stilled and looked Derek straight in the eyes.
“Okay, enough with the deep talk about feelings and all that crap, now I’m going to be blunt. I honestly fail to see the problem here. You like him and he likes you. Why don’t you just kiss and make up. Or rather kiss and make out?”
“I don’t even know why I ask you for advice” Derek groaned as he contemplated banging his head against the table. “Ever since you met Cora you’ve started thinking with your cock” he grumbled and Isaac sent him a salacious wink.
“How could I not, considering how nicely she treats it?” he smirked and Derek blushed crimson red.
“I don’t want to know!” he cried out and put his hands over his ears. “Go away!” Isaac only grinned wider and it wasn’t until he was well away from the coffee shop that Derek removed his hands from his ears. He didn’t trust his friend not to drop a risqué comment as a parting gift and he’d rather not hear it.
Still, he thought about what Isaac had said, minus the insinuations about his sister’s sex life, and decided that he really needed to talk some more to Stiles. Since he was still unsure about their relationship he decided to take the easy, and somewhat cowardly, way out and drop by under the pretence that Laura simply couldn’t make it through another day without one of Stiles’ home-cooked meals. That fact that it was in reality her father who couldn’t make it through another day without the creator of said home-cooked meal was no one else’s business.
::
“Sorry” Derek said, adopting a light tone of voice. “I wouldn’t barge in on you like this but you know how it is” he continued, shrugging apologetically and looking over to the table where his daughter was currently devouring a steaming plate of spaghetti.
“Oh, I know precisely” Stiles confirmed as he filled another plate for Derek and handed it to the werewolf. “Big Bad needs an excuse to come here and uses the daughter as a decoy.” Derek almost choked on his mouthful of pasta.
“What? No, I…” he sputtered desperately but Stiles’ was smiling and that eased Derek’s anxiety.
“I’m actually a bit flattered to be honest” he said. “That the big, bad werewolf is too scared to come and see me so he needs to bring his daughter as a human, oh well I guess werewolf, shield.”
“I’m not scared” Derek growled out and then immediately regretted it. How as he supposed to make things up with Stiles if he acted like that? “I mean, I didn’t want to… pressure you or anything” he finished lamely and Stiles laughed.
“I don’t usually do things that I don’t want to, Big Bad, if I wanted you to leave I would have thrown you out myself.” It was voiced as a joke but there was steel hidden behind the playful tone and Derek knew that it was completely true. If Stiles didn’t want him around he would have let Derek know that the second that he set his foot on the front porch.
Later that evening Laura had fallen asleep, belly full of spaghetti and rhubarb crumble, and they were lazily stretched out on the sofa, barely watching whatever show Stiles had decided on after zapping through what must have been all the channels available worldwide. Derek steeled himself and breathed in deeply. This was the perfect opportunity and he couldn’t waste it.
“Um, Stiles?” he said a bit hesitantly. “Can I talk to you about something?” Stiles nodded and shifted in the couch so that he faced Derek. “I, um, I just feel so bad about what I did and I just wanted to say that you don’t have to…”
“No, you listen for a minute here” Stiles interrupted. “Isaac called and warned me earlier so I think I know what you’re going to say.” Derek opened his mouth to interrupt him but Stiles barrelled on, not giving him the chance to take over the conversation. “We have talked about this, what you did and why and I know you didn’t do it to be cruel. What kind of a person would I be if I held it against you? Wouldn’t it be cruel of me to make you crawl and beg for forgiveness when all of this happened because people you loved hurt you in the past? Everyone makes mistakes but it’s what we learn from them that’s important.” Stiles looked at him and Derek felt as if those amber eyes could see right through him, into his soul. “Besides, haven’t we wasted enough time, being oblivious and idiotic and having meltdowns and being angry and sad and whateverthefucknot?” He poked Derek’s shoulder. “Come on, Sourwolf, you know you want to.”
“So we’re doing this? For real? Just like that?” Derek asked him unbelievingly.
“Yes” Stiles smiled and Derek felt as if the weight that he’d carried on his shoulders suddenly just vanished. “Sure, I’ll milk it for a while, make you pick up the check at the restaurant and buy me nice gifts but other than that…” Stiles winked and Derek resisted the urge to jump up and do a happy dance around the coffee table. Because Derek Hale did not dance, ever.
“So can I take you on a date on Friday?” he asked, trying to sound casual but he heard that he sounded more like an eager puppy and Stiles laughed.
“Yes, Sourwolf, I’ll go on a date with you” he said, pulling Derek into a hug.
“Thank god” Derek sighed and slumped into Stiles’ embrace. “I think Laura might have disowned me if you hadn’t said yes.”