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Derek couldn’t sleep. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get himself to just slip off into sleep, and he knew why.
Stiles.
After a fantastic round of truly amazing sex, with toes curling and hands bunched in the sheets in pleasure and eyes rolling back into their head and everything, Stiles had cleaned them up, and then had turned off the light and then leaned over and gave Derek a kiss on the cheek and a “’night.”
Derek had returned the sentiment and then had rolled over to go to sleep, only five minutes later, Derek had heard Stiles shift around and then open up his laptop, the light filling the room, no matter how low Stiles turned the brightness down on it.
He’d been doing who knows what on the thing for a good forty-five minutes. And Derek was getting close to just giving up, rolling over, taking the damn laptop and chucking it on the floor.
Derek was seriously contemplating this, muscles bunching up in preparation of turning over, but then Stiles’ voice stopped him.
“Hmm, I wouldn’t mind that,” Stiles murmured, and Derek furrowed his brow, opening his eyes. “Hey Derek, what do you think about getting married one day soon?” Stiles whispered, and Derek froze, eyes widening, body frozen. What.
“Oh, I don’t know, Stiles, that’s an awfully big step,” Stiles whisper-grunted, and Derek realized he was trying to imitate Derek. What. “I don’t know if I’m ready for such a commitment. I mean, we’ve been dating for five years, yes, but marriage is just too big a step,” Stiles continued, and Derek couldn’t move, could barely breathe, especially as he realized that he had said something along those lines a couple weeks back, hadn’t even really thought of about the words or how they would affect Stiles.
Stiles snorted softly. “But Derek, we love each other. Why can’t we do this thing that says ‘i’m fully committed to this, to you, to us, and I’m in it forever’?” Stiles said in his own whispered voice.
“Marriage is just a piece of paper, Stiles, nothing more. We already know we love each other, we don’t need a piece of paper to tell us that,” Stiles did his whisper-grunt imitation of Derek. “Now let me get back to fuckin’ you, all right?”
Stiles sighed, and Derek closed his eyes as he felt the bed shift, and the click of the laptop closing. Then he felt Stiles come up behind him, not touching, just laying there, and then he whispered, “I love you, Derek Hale. Even if you are a big butthead.”
Derek had to fight not to smile, and then he frowned, opening his eyes as he felt Stiles carefully sling an arm around his waist.
Derek couldn’t believe what he’d just heard, and then he felt like a complete idiot. He’d had no idea that Stiles had felt that way, none at all. And if he’d known that, he wouldn’t have said those things to Stiles either. Stiles had seemed to cool with it at the time, too. He’d just grinned, nodded and kissed Derek, saying, “if that’s how you want it,” and that had been that.
If that’s how you want it.
Stiles didn’t want it that way.
The thought struck Derek, and he couldn’t have fallen asleep for the rest of the night even if he’d tried.
~*~
When Derek proposed two months later, Stiles gaped at Derek, a look of disbelief on his face.
“But…but you don’t want to get married!” Stiles had protested with a gasp as he looked down at where Derek was kneeling on the floor.
Derek just smiled. “But you do, Stiles. And I figure, I’m going to be with you for the rest of my life, no question, so yeah…why not let people know that?”
Stiles let out a shaky laugh, hand going over his mouth in his shock.
“Stiles,” Derek smiled, standing up from his kneeling position on the floor. “I’m so in love with you, and I’ve never stopped being in love with you. And I want the world to know that. I do.”
Stiles dropped his hand, grinning. “Already ready to say ‘I do,’ huh?”
Derek chuckled, realizing what he’d said. “I’d go down to the courthouse right now with you and say it again, if you wanted.”
“You…you’re serious?” Stiles asked.
“I’ve never been more serious,” Derek said, and then he stepped into Stiles’ space, holding the ring up. “Marry me. Please.”
Stiles shook his head, a smile of wonder slowly forming on his face. “Yes. Yes yes yes, fuck yes,” Stiles said, and then kissed Derek, hard, and Derek grinned as he pulled back and put the ring on Stiles’ finger.
“So…” Derek said, grinning from ear to ear as Stiles stared at the ring happily. “I was pretty serious about going to the courthouse and doing it right now. You wanna?”
Stiles gaped at Derek for a long moment before he laughed and threw his arms around Derek. “Yeah, yeah, let’s do it!”
Stiles called his dad, and then Scott as their two witnesses, as they were all they really needed at their wedding anyway.
It was one of the best days of Derek’s life.
~*~
When Derek admitted to having heard what Stiles said when he thought Derek had been sleeping, Stiles groaned and covered his face in embarrassment, but Derek laughed and pulled his hands away from his face and kissed him all over until Stiles ended up shoving Derek’s face away as he laughed, the gold ring on his finger glinting in the bedroom light.