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Nothing ever happens the way Derek has planned it. Nothing.
He was supposed to fit in at school, maybe find a girlfriend -- or, as he later amended it, a boyfriend -- at some point during his high school or college years, he was going to play basketball well enough to stand out but not too well so he wouldn't give away being a werewolf, he was meant to graduate and then leave for college. Then he'd come back home and settle down.
What did happen was a complete disaster: Paige, Kate, the fire, Laura, Peter, the pack, the Alpha pack, Scott, Gerard, Kate again, the seemingly never-ending list of supernatural creatures that invaded the small and once quiet town. He didn't plan on becoming an Alpha the first time, and even less the second time -- he's kind of blaming that one on Braeden, because on their mission to track down the Desert Wolf he ended up having to kill an Alpha of a pack that she angered to the point where Derek had no other choice -- and yet here he is.
When he came back to town, he didn't plan on staying. But Scott, even though he is an Alpha, wasn't cut out for what the Hales did: protecting the town quietly, being a steady presence. Sure, he could fight well, he worked hard on maintaining the pack, but Scott was never the kind of leader that the town needed. So when he brought up college, Derek found himself offering to stay in Beacon Hills. Isaac was back, there were pack members who couldn’t leave with Scott, and the town was still home. Or at least it was the only home that Derek has ever known.
He rebuilt the house -- the land still belonged to him, Peter never had a claim on it, and Cora let him know very firmly that she had no intention to return -- and it's now where the pack hangs out almost all of the time when they're in town. Liam, Mason and Hayden are around almost daily, sometimes to train, other times to work on school projects along with Tracy who made it out of the whole chimera chaos. The Sheriff stops by sometimes, and Derek can feel the loneliness left behind now that Stiles is at college. Melissa also tags along to the smaller pack meetings, often popping in other times just to say hello -- Derek is amused a little by how her visits coincide with the Sheriff's.
It's not what he had in mind for his future, though: a pack of strays, of damaged kids who look up to him more than he thinks he deserves. His pack. As much as Scott is technically their Alpha, Derek is the one who effectively leads the pack and trains them, so they're his just as much. He didn't plan on settling down this way, alone.
Being alone is entirely on him, he knows that, but it's not something he thinks he could've changed. As with everything else in his life, nothing about who he ended up falling in love with was planned.
Stiles.
Derek has admitted -- to himself, at least -- that what he feels for Stiles is beyond physical attraction (he lied to himself about that one for a while), and more than just a redirection of his feelings for Paige (though he did notice the similarities, especially the snark). He's in love, has been for longer than he'd ever confess to anyone, mostly because if he did, the Sheriff might find out and would retroactively punish him for contemplating what would've been statutory rape. On the rare occasion that Derek is honest with himself, he is aware that he started falling for Stiles the moment they met.
And because his life is nothing like he planned, he's not even surprised when it happens.
---
The pack is -- somewhat fortunately, because the younger members wouldn't be enough -- in Beacon Hills for summer break. Even Lydia and Jackson are around, which barely happens, and it means that they're at full strength. Scott and Derek have just finally found the rhythm and balance necessary for a pack with two Alphas -- and not Alpha mates, which is pretty common -- and Stiles has finished his Emissary training only a month earlier. With Deaton in the mix as a support, and Chris bringing in the Calaveras cavalry, they're more than ready for the onslaught of a group of rogue Omegas who decided that the former Hale land is prime property.
Obviously, they haven't heard about the Hale -- Hale/McCall now -- pack being rebuilt, but they do have strength in numbers, which is what makes Derek glad that his pack is back in town. Still, it's not an easy fight, especially not because they're trying to keep it out in the Preserve, so none of the humans in town get affected or hurt by the Omegas.
And then, of course -- Derek knows he should've seen it coming -- Stiles is the one who throws himself in the middle of a fight, though he promised to stay away from the physical fighting. Derek freezes when it happens, though he's nowhere near the fight that Stiles is in, and his instincts take over. He's by the Omega who has her claws extended and ready to slash before she can move, and takes her out without hesitation. Only when Derek is confident that she's no longer a threat does he look up at Stiles, who's glaring down, hand clutched around a wolfsbane infused dagger.
"What the fuck, Derek!" Stiles yells, ignoring the remnants of the fights going on around them. "I had this, what are you doing?"
"You promised to stay out of this!" Derek shouts back. "I can't… I love you!"
It's not how he planned to admit his feelings. But then, nothing in Derek's life happens the way he planned.