Chapter Text
SIX MONTHS LATER
Easter, just like Thanksgiving and Christmas had been, was a large family dinner at the Hale house.
Stiles refused to have paid “help” so ended up doing most of the cooking along with Laura. Although they did manage to badger Peter enough that he finally caved and helped with the dessert – they’d promised him he could lick the bowl clean when they were finished.
Apparently the Hales never really celebrated Easter, but Stiles felt it was the perfect time to get everyone together as he had something very important to tell them all. Of course, he waited until they had all sat down and started eating before he spoke.
“So I got some acceptance letters through,” he said, making everyone freeze and look at him. Well, everyone but Derek who already knew what Stiles was going to say.
“And?” his Dad finally asked after being made to wait while Stiles took another bite of food.
“Oh, I got into Brown and Columbia,” he told them.
“That’s wonderful!” Deborah said while his Dad got up to clap him on the back.
“But I’m not going,” he added, trying his hardest not to laugh at their horrified faces.
“What do you mean you’re not going?” His Dad asked.
“Well I also got into Standford, UCLA, Berkeley and Davis. And I know they’re not Ivy League, but they’re good schools too.”
“Oh for Christ’s sake, Stiles!” Laura shouted. “Will you just hurry up and tell us what school you’re going to?”
Stiles grinned. “I chose Davis.”
Again a round of congratulations went around the table and his Dad pulled him into a hug. Stiles himself was relieved that no one was making a big deal about the fact that he was declining his entry to Columbia and instead staying in state.
“You gonna look for an apartment in Sacramento?” the sheriff asked.
Stiles started to nod but was stopped as Derek spoke. “Uh no, not unless Stiles is going to have a problem with commuting.”
Stiles whipped his head round to stare at him. “You want me to commute from here to Davis? Are you insane?”
“Not here,” Derek said before dumping a key in front of Stiles’ plate. “Our house.”
Stiles stared down at the key and the little surfboard key ring attached to it. “We have a house?”
“Yeah, you know that inheritance I was due to get?”
“You bought a house with it?”
“No, this is it.”
Stiles frowned and picked up the key. “Your Dad left you a house?”
“Yup.”
“I got the yacht,” Laura interjected.
Stiles glanced up at her having momentarily forgot the rest of them were there, before turning back to Derek. “Um, okay… so where is this house?”
Derek grinned and leaned in to kiss him. “Finish your dinner. I’ll take you there when we’re done.”
“I’m not sure I like all this sudden secrecy,” Stiles told him with narrowed eyes, ignoring the sniggers of amusement from the others. “But fine,” he added turning back to the others. “Oh and I’m going to major in History. I decided I want to be a teacher.”
Stiles didn’t need to look at Derek to know he was smiling so instead concentrated on the relieved look his father was sporting.
“Not a cop then?” the sheriff asked.
Stiles shook his head. “Nah. I don’t really think that would be the best use of my talents.”
“You’re going to be a great teacher,” Derek told him, squeezing his knee gently before they all turned back to their meal.
As soon as Stiles had taken the last bite of his dessert he pushed himself up from the table. “I’m ready to see the house now,” he told the room at large.
Derek snorted and took one more mouthful of his own dessert before standing too. “Go wait in the car and I’ll be out in a minute.”
Again, Stiles narrowed his eyes suspiciously but did as he was told, hastily waving goodbye to everyone as he did so. Thankfully they were all used to his eccentricities by now and just waved back.
In the past six months he had grown very close to the Hales, and not just in name only. A week after they eloped and it had been all over the news, Kate Argent had popped up again, stating that she had a video of Derek promising all of his inheritance to her. The video didn’t exist, she just wanted the Governor to pay her off. Of course, that didn’t happen as the Hale lawyers demanded a copy of the video before they would even consider talking to her in regards to a settlement. The video never appeared and Kate Argent went back to doing whatever it was evil witches did. But in the three days in which all of this happened, the Hales had been very impressed by the way in which Stiles vehemently defended Derek and was ready to join Laura and Peter when they threatened to go shoot her in the knees. He even offered to let them “borrow” his father’s gun.
Of course, a lot of people in school gave him shit for marrying the town weirdo, a lot of them saying more than unsavoury things about Derek and what he liked to do in bed. But Stiles just ignored them, doing as Derek asked and instead made sure that everyone knew that he was no longer a Stilinski but a Hale, even going so far as to make the coach get him a new lacrosse uniform and pointedly telling Harris that his name was Hale when he tried to belittle Stiles in class, using his surname to address him.
And of course, the fact that Derek’s family stuck so closely to him and supported Stiles in his decisions too helped Stiles adapt to having them in his life. And he was thankful that they were there as now that he was definitely going to be leaving Beacon Hills, he knew that they would keep a close eye on his Dad for him.
Although Lydia was going to be staying in Beacon Hills now instead of going to college so she too could keep an eye on the sheriff. When Stiles had suggested she let Jackson get her pregnant, she’d actually thought it was a good idea. Naturally, the wedding between her and Danny had been called off, which they were all over the moon about. But her parents had disowned her and left her with nowhere to go but to Jackson’s house.
His parents were too afraid of losing Jackson to turn her away. They’d even given her and Jackson a loan so that they could by their own house and supported Jackson’s decision to not go to college either but to stay in Beacon Hills and support his family. Apparently he was planning on joining the sheriff’s department in lieu of becoming a lawyer and enforcing the law that way. Lydia meanwhile had decided to become a stay at home Mom and be the best housewife in all of America, which Stiles had no doubt she would be.
As he sat and waited for Derek to join him in the car, Stiles couldn't help but smile at how much his life had changed in a year. He was actually going to college, was married to the most amazing man to walk the earth and would become an uncle in a few months' time.
"What are you so happy about?" Derek asked as he finally slid into the driver's seat, tossing a large duffel into the back seat.
"Nothing. Everything. You," Stiles said with a grin, earning himself a quick kiss before Derek turned back to the wheel and started the engine. "So, how far away is our new home anyway?
"A couple of hours from here. About ninety minutes from Davis."
"Cool. You gonna tell me anything more about it?"
"Hmmm, well I can tell you that I helped build it. Well, some of it. My Dad had actual construction workers actually build it, but there were a few things he wanted to do himself and I helped," Derek explained. "It's not too big, just two bedrooms and open plan down stairs. But there's an office you can use for studying and a garage I can use for my woodwork. And we can always build an extension later if we need it."
Stiles stared at Derek contemplatively. This was probably something he'd thought about a lot since his father died and he knew he'd be given the house, but probably even more so since he and Stiles first met.
Sparing him a small smile, Stiles reached out and took hold of Derek's hand. "I can't wait to see it."
~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time they pulled up outside the house, the sun was already starting to set. Stiles however was far too distracted by the impressive white brick house in front of him, standing on the edge of what looked like the most beautiful part of coastline in all of California.
"A beach house?" Stiles asked in somewhat shock. "We're gonna live on the beach?"
Derek grimaced. "You don't like it?"
"Are you kidding me?!" Stiles shouted before jumping on Derek, wrapping his legs tightly around his waist. "It's perfect."
Derek's frown turned into a beaming grin before Stiles leaned in and kissed him as hard as he could. Derek's hands gripped his ass tight as he kissed back with just as much passion. When they finally broke apart, panting and out of breath, Derek let their foreheads rest together and his eyes fell closed. Stiles watched him closely, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore and honestly couldn't imagine his life being any more perfect.
"Come on," he finally said as he lowered himself to the ground, "show me the rest of it."
Taking him by the hand, Derek led him round to the front of the house and up onto a large decking area - probably the part Derek helped build - and in through the sliding doors that looked directly onto the beach and setting sun. Everything inside was covered in dust sheets, but that didn't take away the grandness of it all.
Yes the living room, dining area and kitchen were all open plan, but with the high ceilings and large windows it worked really well. They'd probably need to repaint the walls soon and replace a couple of the broken floor tiles, but it was otherwise in very good condition.
After Derek pointed out all the important features and small office that overlooked the beach, he led them both towards the large helix designed staircase - most likely also made by Derek and his father - so that they could make their way up to the bedrooms.
The "guest" bedroom was currently empty and looked out onto the driveway where the camaro sat in the dwindling sunlight, but it was definitely big enough to fit twin beds in, which Stiles assumed Derek and Laura had previously.
"We can put a double in here until we need to change it," Derek said, being not so subtle about their plans to start a family when Stiles finished college.
"Sounds good," Stiles nodded, sharing a small smile with him. "Now, how about you show me our room?"
"If you insist," Derek said with a nod before making his way out into the hallway and through the opposite door.
Stiles quickly followed but stopped short as soon as he entered, unable to take his eyes off of Derek who had laid himself out in the most exquisite, hand carved, oak bed. He knew his mouth was hanging open in shock, but he really couldn't care as it was the only suitable reaction to the site before him.
"I know it's a bit late, but I wanted to give you something special as a wedding gift, something no one else has," Derek said, which explained the massive white bow attached to the headboard.
"You made this?" Stiles asked, ignoring his squeaky voice.
Derek nodded. "Put the finishing touches to it last week."
Stiles couldn't stop himself and all but ran onto the bed, bouncing as he landed next to Derek before he clambered on top of him. “You’re amazing, you know that right?”
Derek blushed and smiled up at him. “I wouldn’t say amazing...”
“No. You are. And my word is law so there,” Stiles told him before leaning in for a kiss. Derek’s arms immediately came up to wrap around him, pulling him closer as Stiles deepened the kiss. “Hey,” Stiles whispered as he pulled apart for a second and rubbed his nose along Derek’s jaw. “How about we break in this bad boy?”
Derek groaned, his hips pushing up against Stiles’ for a second before he gently pushed at his shoulders. “Not yet.”
“Not yet?” Stiles asked in shock. “What? Why not yet?”
Derek smiled and climbed off the bed. “Come on. I want to show you something else,” he said, taking Stiles’ hand and pulling him back down the stairs. When they got to the doors leading to the decking, Derek pushed them open and made sure Stiles had stepped through before he let go of his hand. “Go find us a good spot. I’ll be down in a second.”
Stiles turned towards the beach where Derek had nodded his head at and frowned. “I’m not having sex on the beach,” he called after him. “That shit gets everywhere.”
“Just do it Stiles!” Derek called from the depths of the house.
Mumbling to himself about cryptic and bossy husbands, Stiles did as instructed and made his way down the stairs of the decking and onto the beach. The sun was now hanging low in the sky as it made it’s way towards the horizon, lighting the beach and a bright orange glow. Sitting himself down on the sand, Stiles couldn’t help but notice just how peaceful it was with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and absolute lack of any other noise. Not a car, or neighbours or any animals. Just the water. Not even the Hale house up in the woods was this quiet.
“Okay?” Derek asked as he sat down next to him.
“Yeah, just enjoying the view,” Stiles told him, turning to see Derek holding a glass of champagne in each hand, the bottle standing tall in the sand next to him. Stiles couldn’t stop his eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. “What’s this?”
“I’d thought we’d celebrate,” Derek said.
“Celebrate what exactly?” Stiles asked as he accepted his glass from Derek with a smile.
“It’s been eight months exactly since our first date,” Derek explained. “And as disastrous as it was, it was the start of the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You turned my world upside down, Stiles and I am the happiest man alive because of it. So yes, I want to celebrate.”
Stiles felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him. “I am so in love with you.”
Derek’s small smile burst into a full out grin before he pulled Stiles into a quick, soft kiss. “I’m glad you said that,” he said.
“Yeah?” Stiles asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“Yeah, ‘cause then if you hadn’t I would feel like an idiot when I gave you this.”
Stiles watched as Derek reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small velvet pouch and handed it over to him. Curiously, Stiles pulled it open with his teeth and shook the contents out onto his palm. “Is this an engagement ring?” he asked in astonishment, holding the thick gold ring up to his eyes.
“Not quite,” Derek smiled. “It’s my senior class ring.”
Suddenly, everything clicked and Stiles grinned. “You want to go steady with me?”
Derek’s blush was barely visible in the dimming light, but the fact that it was there was enough to have Stiles throwing himself at Derek.
“Is that a yes?” Derek laughed, somehow managing to hold them both up and stop them from spilling their drinks.
“Of course it is, you big dope!” Stiles tells him before kissing him once more and pushing until Derek takes the hint and lays down in the sand with Stiles on top of him.
Champagne forgotten, things quickly become heated between the two of them, hips moving to grind against each other while hands pushed and explored each other’s bodies.
“Hey,” Derek said as Stiles’ hand when for his belt buckle, “thought you didn’t want to have sex on the beach?”
“Hmmm, well I could be persuaded.”
“Or we could go break in the bed?”
Stiles smiled. “I like the way you think, Mr Hale.”
“Why thank you, Mr Hale,” Derek replied with a smile of his own.
“I love it when you call me that,” Stiles said as he climbed off of Derek and helped him up. “Now, he said as he handed Derek his champagne glass and slipped the ring onto his finger. “Race ya!”
Stiles laughed to himself as he heard Derek splutter before he quickly chased after him.
He may not have planned to have gotten married to someone he hardly knew, or move with them to a town far away from his father before he even graduated high school. But as Derek caught him at the bottom of the stairs, strong arms wrapping around his body and pulling him back against a hard chest, he couldn’t imagine being happy with anyone else.
THE END