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Being the Sheriff's kid, Stiles probably should've anticipated that his dad would find out about him and Derek eventually.
Sadly, during the first few short months of relationship bliss, he gets too distracted, and the thought literally doesn't occur to him, so when Derek asks him to buy condoms this time, he doesn't bat an eyelid. Sure, Derek usually gets them, but he's at the store, so why not? He doesn't pay attention to the guy behind the counter, doesn't really consider the possibility that this random cashier could mention that the Sheriff's son was buying condoms, and it could spread far enough to reach his dad.
That, of course, is exactly what happens.
A week or so later, he's grabbing his jacket just before he heads off to Derek's loft, and his dad stops him, placing a hand on his arm as he reaches for the door.
"Stiles, can I ask where you're going?"
"Derek's. It's a pack meeting," he lies, frowning at his dad's hesitation.
"Can it wait a minute? I'd like to talk to you about something."
"Um. Sure?"
"I... I heard from one of my deputies the other day that you were seen buying condoms," his dad blurts out, running a hand over his face in exasperation. "I'm glad you're being safe, I guess, I don't want you getting some poor girl pregnant-"
"Heteronormativity in action," Stiles cuts off. "Pregnancy is not gonna be a problem, believe me."
"Oh...I- you're dating a guy?"
"Yeah. Does that bother you?"
"No, no of course not," his dad says hurriedly. "I just always thought you were into girls, I suppose. Was Lydia just a phase?"
"Nope. I like girls too. I'm bisexual," Stiles explains.
"Fair enough," the Sheriff says. "Well, it's fine, believe me. But I'd feel a lot better if I knew who it was."
"I'd...prefer not to say."
"Oh, come on. Is it someone in the pack?" His dad probes.
Stiles' face has always been easy to read, especially by his dad.
"It is! Are you dating Danny?"
"No!"
"The Lahey kid?"
"No, Dad. Isaac's dating Scott and Allison."
"Both of them?" His dad asks incredulously.
"Yep. It sounds weird, but it's actually super cute," he remarks.
"So who else could it be? It's not Danny, it's not Isaac. It's obviously not Scott, and definitely not Jackson..." his dad ticks them off, but his frown suddenly turns into an expression of extreme distress, as the truth of the situation dawns on him. "No. No. Please don't tell me you're dating Derek Hale!"
"Pff, no..." Stiles splutters.
"You're dating Derek Hale!" His dad accuses.
"I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" He wails.
"You're dating Derek Hale by accident?"
"I'm sorry, it just happened, okay. If it makes you feel any better, it's only been going on a few months."
"A few months? Oh my god, my seventeen year old son is having sex with an accused murderer in his twenties."
"What? No. He's never touched me ever, anywhere. Ever," Stiles babbles. "And come on, you know the details about the whole accused murderer thing now."
"Stiles, you were buying condoms. And... Oh. Oh Jesus, I saw him in the store last month, and he was buying them then," his dad realises. "We had a conversation! He talked to me, knowing full well that the condoms in my direct line of sight were going to be used later with my underage son!"
"Okay dad, calm down," Stiles pleads.
"You know what? Fine," his dad says, a sense of unwavering finality entering his voice. "I'm okay with you two dating, under one condition."
The strain of conflict in the air shifts into one of ominous, impending horror.
"What?" He breathes, already regretting the question.
"Family dinner."
"My dad knows," Stiles admits as soon as he reaches the loft, throwing the door open.
"Oh. God. No," Derek says, but then looks up at Stiles, stricken and backtracking. "I mean, if you wanted to tell him, then that's your choice-"
"He found out by accident."
"Oh, um," Derek starts. "It's awkward, but, um, I'm pretty sure he saw the condoms I was buying in the store last month."
"He definitely saw them."
"Shit."
"Hey, I'll-" Isaac begins.
"No. Stay, Isaac. This involves you, apparently," he declares.
"What is it?" Derek asks.
"My dad has invited you both to family dinner, tomorrow at eight," Stiles announces, and snorts when he sees them both blanch. "I know, I know. Something about getting to know each other, it's ridiculous."
"Jesus. Am I really required to go to this?" Isaac says.
"Yes! We both need you there for moral support!" Stiles begs, and Isaac relents.
"Fine," he mutters under his breath.
Derek, on the other hand, looks far more than just inconvenienced.
"I- no. No, Stiles, I'll mess this up, I will."
"You won't. You'll be fine," Stiles reassures. "If it makes you feel any better, my dad actually invited Peter, too. Said something about giving people second chances. So even if you do mess up, that tells you how well he was expecting the evening to go anyway."
A deadly silence falls across the room. Derek's eyes widen, and flick to Isaac, who looks equally as panicked, clenching his jaw, eyes closed and shaking his head.
"What? We don't actually have to invite him, we'll just tell my dad he declined-"
"Stiles," Derek interrupts. "It's not that, it's..."
That is, of course, the moment that Stiles hears a door shut from upstairs, and footsteps getting closer.
"No," he whispers.
"Yes," Peter says, descending the staircase. "Hello, Stiles. I look forward to tomorrow. I'll see you then." Peter gives him his trademark creepy smile and walks past him, leaving the loft.
"Unbelievable."
Tomorrow comes way too fast for Stiles' liking, and it's eight before he knows it.
"Come on, Dad! You can call it off! There's still time!"
"No, Stiles."
Stiles is about to protest more, but is cut off by the doorbell ringing. He pouts at his dad and leaves the room, heading to the door, he opens it, and feels his heart sink.
Peter.
Of course he got there first.
"Stiles," he greets. He sounds warm, but Stiles knows better. Peter has always been a good actor.
"Hale," his dad says from behind him, having come out into the hallway. He sticks his hand out and Peter shakes it, a wide smile on his face.
"Please, call me Peter."
"Peter, then," his dad amends. "This way."
Peter follows him into the dining room, and Stiles groans in frustration, leaning against the wall, dropping his head back. Derek and Isaac was one thing, and that would've been hard enough. But Peter being here means that it's definite that the evening will be a disaster. Anything involving Peter is a disaster.
He's shaken from his thoughts by the doorbell ringing again, and this time, it's Derek and Isaac that stand the other side of the door.
"Hey," Derek says, and Stiles can tell immediately how nervous he is, standing tense. He leans in, briefly kissing Stiles, before stepping back, and gesturing at the bottle of wine in his hand. "I, uh. I brought this."
"Sure," Stiles waves them in toward the dining room. "My dad and Peter are in there."
"He's here already?" Isaac whines. "Damn. We also brought brownies, by the way." He slightly lifts up the container in his hands.
"Can I kiss you too?" Stiles asks, and Isaac makes a kissy face and leans in, before Derek rolls his eyes, and grabs Isaac by the collar, hauling him back.
"Aw, Derek, don't get jealous. I'm already dating two people, I won't take Stiles too."
"I'm not jealous."
"You are a bit," Stiles jokes, and Derek's face softens.
"A bit," he admits, and Isaac pretends to retch.
"You guys are disgusting," he says, pushing past them and walking into the dining room.
Derek takes a deep breath, and Stiles snatches up his hand, dangling at his side.
"Hey, it'll be okay," he soothes.
"I just, I've never," Derek starts. "This is a lot, for me. I've never done this before."
"Neither have I. Come on, it's gonna be okay. I'll be there the whole time."
"It's not just that. I... I really care about you, and this is important. I can't mess it up."
"Derek. The only real problem my dad has is the age difference, he doesn't actually care about the whole accused murderer thing, he knows what went on. This is just about us dating, he already liked you before, I know you guys got on. This is just him being protective, you have nothing to worry about, I swear."
"Okay. I'm sorry I'm so nervous," Derek says, shuffling awkwardly, staring at his toes.
"What? No, don't apologise, it's adorable."
Derek looks up to glare at him, and Stiles can't resist the urge to lean in and kiss him again, resting his other hand on Derek's waist. They're interrupted however, by his dad returning to the hall, and crossing his arms, looking disapproving.
"Are you gonna stand out here kissing all night or are you gonna come and have dinner with us?"
They both mutter apologies and meekly scurry into the dining room, reluctantly taking their places at the table. Stiles sits next to Derek, smiling at him reassuringly, while his dad takes the seat at the head of the table. He clears his throat and looks at everyone.
"Thank you all for coming," his dad says, and Stiles clings to the small hope that the night might go okay. "And thank you, Derek, for having sex with my underage son."
Stiles groans, and drops his forehead onto the table.
Dinner goes exactly how Stiles had feared it would.
Peter is creepy, Derek is guilty, his dad is annoyed. Isaac is just entertained, which leaves Stiles to try and patch things up. At one point, the Sheriff questions Derek about the wine that he brought, asking if he thinks it's okay to give alcohol to minors, as well as have sex with them.
"I- no, no," Derek rambles. "I thought- I just..."
"Dad," Stiles says sharply. "Don't. Wine is customary to bring to dinners. You know it wasn't like that."
"I suppose," his dad murmurs, still staring at Derek appraisingly, before looking down do his dinner again.
That was incident 1.
Incidents 2, 3 and 4, all involve Peter, and his urge to bait the Sheriff by casually dropping hints to what Stiles and Derek's sex life could be like. Then, of course, there's incident 5, which shouldn't really count as an incident at all, but Stiles feels like anything that has Peter included should be.
"John, we need to organise something with all five of us," Peter says. "Camping? Fishing? A holid-"
"No," Stiles warns, through a mouthful of brownie.
"What? I'm just-"
"No, Peter," Derek confirms.
"Fine," he mutters.
Ridiculous.
Peter sitting at the table makes the dinner seem like an absurd dream that Stiles has thought up, and he can't stop himself from discreetly pinching his arm a few times, just to make sure it isn't. Isaac notices this during another 'Peter' incident, and hastily looks away, biting down on his lip to stop himself from laughing. Nobody else sees - they're all too busy acting like children.
As the dinner drags on, Peter gets weirder and weirder, while Derek seems to get more uncomfortable by the second. Finally, the conversation trails to a standstill after yet another comment about Stiles' and Derek's evening activities - which usually include dealing with the supernatural, not just having sex, thank you very much, Stiles grumbles to himself - and Derek stands up to leave, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"We, uh. We better go," he mumbles, beckoning to Isaac. "Thank you for having us, Sheriff."
"Oh, it's no problem at all. You should call me John, by the way. We are family now after all."
"Um, yeah, okay. Thanks... John."
"Yes, I'd better leave too," Peter agrees, pushing his chair back as he rises. "Thank you, John. We should do this again sometime." It's all he says before smirking at Stiles, Derek and Isaac, and leaving the house, not even allowing Stiles' dad to show him out.
"Such a weirdo," Isaac mutters, and Stiles snorts. Isaac and Stiles stand up from the table too, and as they go toward the door in the hall, the Sheriff puts a hand on Derek's arm, to stop him from following.
"Do you mind if I have a word, Derek?" He asks.
Derek looks terrified.
"Sure," he says, in his usual gruff voice, but Stiles knows him well enough to tell that it's practically a squeak.
His dad smiles in something that looks like triumph, and shoos Stiles and Isaac put into the hall, shutting the door to muffle their voices. Isaac will know what they're saying because of his stupid werewolf ears, but now Stiles won't be able to hear anything. He leans against the door, pressing his ear up against it, desperately trying to listen in, but all he can hear are the low rumbles of two voices.
"What are they saying?" He hisses to Isaac, who's leaning nonchalantly against the wall, fingertips dancing along the shelf.
He shrugs, a distant smile on his face, "I'm sure you'll find out anyway."
"Does that mean it's good or bad?"
Isaac gives him a long look; considering, and eventually, huffing, he relents. "Good," he admits, and Stiles grins in relief, putting his ear to the door again.
Sadly, he doesn't notice the footsteps coming towards the door until it's too late, and jerks backwards conspicuously as it opens, trying to act innocent. Derek and his dad both know exactly what he had been doing, and roll their eyes. Wow. A minute ago his dad hated Derek and now he's using him to gang up on Stiles? Rude.
"Thank you for coming, Derek," his dad says, sounding genuine, and this time, it isn't accompanied by a passive aggressive mention of Stiles and Derek's sex life.
Derek smiles at him, shakes his hand, and Isaac bounds ahead of him as they walk out of the door. His dad doesn't follow, turning and heading to the dining room, probably giving Stiles and Derek some privacy to say goodbye to each other. Isaac doesn't seem to want to be with them either, looking between them as Stiles stands awkwardly on the doorstep, Derek opposite him.
"See you tomorrow," he says to Stiles, pulling him in for a quick hug and patting his shoulder as he moves away. "I'll wait in the car," he aims at Derek, and walks away towards the Camaro, which is sitting at the end of the driveway.
"So," Derek starts, before Stiles interrupts.
"You better tell me what the hell that was about."
Derek laughs, shifting closer to him, and tangling their fingers together. "He told me he didn't want to scare me, but he just remembered having a dinner that went exactly like that with your mom and her family," he says, and Stiles' chest squeezes. "He said that he didn't have a problem with us, as long as I treat you right. He apologised for the...awkwardness."
"Oh," Stiles murmurs, not sure what to say, and Derek smiles at him, shuffling closer.
"I'll treat you right," he promises, and Stiles stares at him affectionately.
"I know," he says, and makes the decision, mustering up his courage. "I love you."
Derek's breath hitches, and he swallows, eyes wide. "Do you mean it?" He asks.
"Yes," Stiles whispers against Derek's lips, now close, to the point where the cloud of his breath is no longer visible, being swallowed up by Derek's mouth.
"I love you too," Derek admits, and kisses him.
He kisses him, soft and loving, in the cold air underneath the stars, as Stiles entwines his other hand into the hair at the nape of Derek's neck.
This is love, Stiles thinks.
Not the obsessiveness he had felt for Lydia, but this. Awkward family dinners, creepy uncles, and your best friend's boyfriend sitting in the car a few feet away as you kiss on your front doorstep, suddenly not caring about the cold. Most of all, it's a small, cuddly teddy bear sitting upstairs on your dresser, holding a heart and asking you to be his. A warm, content feeling spreads through Stiles' stomach at the thought, and he and Derek beam at each other as they pull away.
"I guess courting really does work," Stiles says playfully, and Derek laughs again, pressing his face into Stiles' neck as he does so.
"Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Nope."
Derek huffs, shaking his head in fond exasperation as he steps back. "I should probably go," he mutters, looking reluctant, and glancing at the car. "Isaac's getting impatient."
"Okay." Stiles nods, smile softening. "I'll see you on Friday?"
"Friday," Derek confirms. "Love you," he whispers again, darting in again to peck Stiles on the cheek.
"Love you too," Stiles replies, and leans against the doorframe as Derek begins to walk off. "Bye."
Derek's goodbye is drowned out by Isaac's, who's rolled down the window and waved at Stiles, shouting down to him as they finally drive away. Stiles stays where he is for a while, encompassed by a rare calmness, staring into the distance at where the car had disappeared. The cold eventually gets too much for him though, and he steps back indoors, shutting the door behind him, and finds his dad in the kitchen, drying up.
"Oh, sorry I didn't help, I was-"
"Making out with your boyfriend, I know, Stiles. It's okay." His dad sighs, continuing, "I'm guessing he told you what I said afterwards?"
"Yeah. Thanks, dad."
Stiles stumbles forward and throws his arms around his dad, all of a sudden feeling so incredibly lucky, because look at his life. He has his father, arguably the best dad in the whole world, who now accepts his relationship. His gorgeous boyfriend, who he loves, and who loves him, and a goddamn pack, who Stiles wouldn't trade anything for. He's seventeen and in love - real, messy, perfect, love, and it's so much better than anything he could ever have imagined.
His dad chuckles, hugging him back, and Stiles stares over his shoulder through the window, looking at the dark sky, cluttered with stars.
Maybe good things happen at night too.