Chapter Text
For some reason, it didn’t surprise Stiles that Isaac was waiting at the airport, holding up a sign that said ‘CUTEST GIRL IN THE WORLD (and dad).’ Zoe was a dead weight on his hip, drooling slightly into his chest. He was pretty sure he’d run over the feet of at least twelve people with his suitcase, but he still smiled when he saw Isaac’s bright grin. His brain was so tired that he couldn’t focus. He knew there was something wrong with the fact that Isaac was standing there, but he couldn’t quite put it together.
“Hiya!”
Stiles began to reply but yawned instead, his jaw cracking. Isaac reached forward to take his suitcase, crumpling up the paper sign and tossing it into the trash can.
“Rough trip?”
“Three-no. Wait. I forgot about Atlanta. Four stopovers.”
Isaac did that thing where he seemed three sizes bigger, forcing the rest of the exhausted travelers to give them a fairly wide berth of space. Frankly, right now? Stiles thought that was more impressive than the super-healing and turning furry once a month. He shifted Zoe a little and sighed.
“You must have really pissed off the Airport gods.”
Stiles smirked a little, remembering the nasty trick he’d pulled on Derek when they’d flown out to California. Isaac gave him a weird look but didn’t ask as they went to claim all of Stiles’ baggage and go to the parking lot. Stiles may or may not have drooled on the window, so tired that it didn’t occur to him that Harper was supposed to be picking him up from the airport until they were through all of the Logan traffic and on I-93.
“Hey... not that I’m complaining or anything, but why isn’t Harper here?”
“Oh. Well, I could tell you....”
Stiles looked over at him, frowning at the fact his sunglasses hid Isaac’s eyes. He couldn’t tell anything from Isaac’s face. “Yeah. That would be why I asked.”
“Hm. But then I’d have to kill you. And not even joking, man, Harper’s girl is like ten times scarier than you will ever be. She wanted it to be a surprise... so it’s a surprise.”
Stiles contemplated pouting but was afraid he’d look too much like Zoe if he did. Traffic was a bitch, as it often was, and it took half an hour to get to Stiles’ neighborhood. To say that he was shocked that Isaac didn’t take the right exit was somewhat of an understatement. But when he pulled up to a completely unfamiliar house, confusion warred with his shock. Curiosity won, though, and when Harper and Jenna jogged down the steps after Isaac turned off the car, he was willing enough to be led around.
The three-way hug (four when Zoe wormed her way towards her Harper, attacking her kneecaps with no mercy) was slightly hysterical. Jenna wasn’t much for hugging, but Harper was all but crying, having to pull away and sniff every few seconds until she got ahold of herself.
“So. Um. Is this your new place?” Stiles hadn’t heard of Harper and Jenna moving, but to be fair, he’d been a little bit out of it lately.
“Nope. It’s yours.” Harper’s grin was as wide as she stared at him.
Stiles gaped at her.
“Come on... you didn’t think that we’d - or that Alpha of yours- would let you go back to the creeperville version of Amityville Horror, did you?”
That Alpha of--? Stiles looked from Harper to Jenna, down to Zoe, and over to Isaac. His eyes narrowed. “You’re here.”
“Yeah...”
“No. I mean, you’re here.” Stiles flashed back to Derek’s absence from his life during the week after Zoe was found. To the way, he’d just sort of stood there, making sure that Stiles saw him as he left. Stiles huffed out a sigh, looking up at the sky. “Hypothetically, how long would it take to negotiate a Beta from another pack to come into a local pack’s territory... across the country?”
Jenna snorted.
“About as long as it takes to fly someone from a rival pack across the country, have them pack up another person’s house and move them into a rental property. Is question time done? ‘Cuz Sherlock is on, and I’m not missing it for your crazy-ass drama. Plus, I made a sausage dip.”
Stiles shook his head, ignoring the matching snorts from Isaac and Harper. Somehow the idea of the two of them working together was just .... terrifying. Utterly terrifying.
His brain and his heart gave a funny sort of hiccup when he thought of Derek out here, helping Isaac pack up his house and move his stuff so that everything would be settled for his and Zoe’s return. Stiles reached down for Zoe’s hand and started towards his new house. “Thanks, Jen. You know how much I love that stuff. It’s like a heart attack and an orgasm in my mouth.” Stiles sighed, his stomach growling a little.
“Daddy? What’s an orgasm?”
***
The light from the monitor cast a creepy glow over the bed. Stiles sat with his back propped up against the headboard, staring down at the blank email. Stiles took a deep breath, listening to the almost silent sounds of the small rental house. He read over what he had written, deleted a few words, then frowned and changed ‘definitely’ to ‘definitely.’ He was twenty-one years old, had a small child, had an IQ that was off the charts, had created and designed his own ap, but couldn’t spell ‘definitely.’
Maybe an email wasn’t the best medium for communication. But it was the one that he felt most comfortable with, so that was what he was using.
From: [email protected]
June 24th, 2018 14:53
Derek,
Okay so, maybe I’m a little confused. No. That’s not true. I’m definitely confused. You are very confusing. I guess that I should start by saying ‘thank you.’ Well, typing, thank you. I guess my dad or someone told you that I was nervous about coming back here. It’s a weird feeling. I was pretty happy here before. But now I don’t know. I guess you’ve already heard that my dad was planning on moving across the country with me- but now I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel right here anymore. I expected everything to just go back to normal, but it hasn’t.
Zoe misses you. Would it be okay if she called you sometime?
Stiles bit his lip again, and read the last paragraph, deleted it, then undid his action and brought it back. Shit. Shit, this was so. Why was this so hard?
Zoe misses you. Would it be okay if she called you sometime? She’s settled in pretty well. The house is different, but we go to Harper, and Jenna’s a lot. I think she’s confused by Isaac being here, but she’s doing okay. I’ve started back with her playgroups. She’s playing with some local werewolf cubs. There are some humans there too- which I have to say is a little weird for everyone involved, but Ethel put her foot down, and that was pretty much that. Isaac and Harper both take turns going with me just in case. Zoe is fine- the other weres can smell that she’s powerful. So we’re keeping busy, but she talks about ‘her friend Derek’ a lot.
I don’t know if you want to read this or not. Hell, I’m not even sure that I want to type it, but she’s not the only one that misses you. I was so hurt that you didn’t call me or come to see me, that it didn’t occur to me that I could have just as easily picked up a phone and called you. Anyway. We do need to talk. Or email, if you’re more comfortable. Hope to talk to you soon.
PS- Sourwolf? I can’t believe you remember that!
Stiles
From: [email protected]
June 24th, 2018 15:29
Stiles,
You don’t need to thank me, Stiles. I was glad that I could help but sorry that I couldn’t do more for you while you were recovering at Argent’s place. I thought that it would be better to stay out of the way so that I didn’t screw things up any further. What do you mean by not going back to normal? The house is just a rental. We can find another one if you and Zoe if it’s uncomfortable. If you decide you want to live somewhere else, please just let Isaac know. He will be there for the rest of the month. Zoe is amazing. Beautiful. So fucking smart. She’s so amazing, Stiles. I would say that I can’t believe how great you are with her, but I don’t want to sound like an ass. I can believe it because I got the (forgive the pun) beta version. You took care of all of us. I think we were all surprised at how quickly it all fell apart when you weren’t there to take care of us anymore. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I will follow your lead on this. I’ve been trying not to get in your way. We never got a chance to talk about a lot of things. When should I call Zoe? I haven’t exactly been around a lot of cubs before, but she makes it pretty easy. Honestly, I feel lucky that you’re even letting me be in her life at all. As for the sourwolf thing- of course, I remember. I remember everything about you. And as nicknames go, it beats the hell out of fang face.
Derek
From: [email protected]
June 24th, 2018 15:50
Fangface,
You have my number, so call me, maybe? You can call anytime, but I think she’d like to hear your voice before she goes to bed, after I give her her story. Is 7:30 okay?
Stiles
From: [email protected]
June 24th, 2018 15: 58
I think that you’re just supposed to delete it. If I get that song stuck in my head, then I might have to rip your throat out. I’ll call tonight.
***
(Three months later....)
“And then Michael told me that only babies cry! I didn’t mean to bite him, but he was a big... a big... stupid meanie head!”
“Language, Zoe.”
Stiles hid his grin behind his hand. Even from across the country and through the tinny speakerphone, Derek’s voice had just the right amount of a disapproving lilt that if Zoe had had a tail, it would have curled in a little at hearing it.
“But!”
“No buts. I know your daddy doesn’t let you use bad language like that. Now take a deep breath and tell me why this... Michael made you cry.”
Stiles bit his lip, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Because.” Zoe’s chin jutted out in her mini-Derek impression. She sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed, holding the phone in her lap. The Tiana doll that Derek had bought her never left her bed. She slept with that, and the bunny Stiles’ dad had bought her every night.
“Because...?”
Zoe growled low in her throat. Sure, it was more Simba than Mufassa, but it still held an edge of frustration that made the fine hairs on the back of Stiles’ neck stand up. “Because! He called my daddy a breeder!”
There were a few beats of silence from the other end of the phone. Derek cleared his throat. “And where does this boy live? Do you happen to know his parents’ names?”
Stiles started to open his mouth, but Zoe jumped in with the rest, and for just a second, Stiles couldn’t make himself move. He shut his eyes.
“--and then he called daddy a really bad word, and I bit him. Hard. And I’m not sorry!”
There was another silence on the other end of the phone.
“Derek?” Zoe’s hand crept up to curl one strand of hair around her finger.
“Yes, Zoe?”
“Can I ask you a question?”
Stiles grimaced a little, wanting to step out of earshot but figuring that would be really, really cowardly.
“Of course you can.”
“If you’re my dad, then why don’t you live with us?”
Stiles winced at the crash on the other end, mouthing ‘surprise!’ at the phone.
“Uh--” Derek’s voice sounded choked.
“Don’t you love me?”
Okay, this was just painful. Stiles took a step forward and made grabby hands for the phone. “Of course Derek loves you, Zoe. That’s what daddies do. Now you know it’s past your bedtime. We can call Derek tomorrow.”
Zoe’s grin was pure Stilinski. She kissed the phone, the same way that she did for her grandpa. “Goodnight... dad. I love you.” Derek made another strangled-sounding sound. She hung up before Stiles could get to her. Her tiny features were completely smug when she handed her dad the phone with a little tick of her eyebrow that clearly said, ‘well? Now that’s set up. It’s your turn.’ Stiles was caught between laughter, tears, and applauding at the manipulative way his daughter was able to completely wrap everyone in her life around her little finger.
He tucked her in, shut off the light, and made himself wait an extra half an hour until he was sure that Zoe was asleep before calling Derek back. In the three months that they’d been communicating, they’d gotten in this habit of Derek calling Zoe, then he and Stiles talking for a bit before hanging up. It had started out at a rather stilted once a week, then three times, then almost every night at 7:30 on the dot, Stiles’ cell would ring.
“Hey.”
“You. You...”
“Okay, I just want to say in my defense that I probably could have handled that better. But she was upset. I guess that little toerag asked her why if she was so special, didn’t she have two parents and she was crying so much that I couldn’t help but just tell her because she loves you so much and she didn’t even know that you were her other dad so I just. I just told her even though I know that we haven’t really talked about that at all, and oh my god, okay, I’m shutting up now.”
“Thank you, Stiles.”
Stiles flopped down on his bed, staring up at his ceiling, sighing. “Don’t thank me, Derek. I should have done it sooner.”
“No... actually, considering everything, you really didn’t have to do it at all.”
They were quiet at each end of the phone. Usually, they talked about everything that had been happening - Derek’s attempts to change his pack dynamics; Stiles telling him about his new game and the buzz it had created from the production company- but now they were both quiet. There was something that Stiles needed to tell Derek, but this wasn’t the time. He couldn’t exactly say when their silences had gone from awkward to comfortable, but it was nice enough that he didn’t want to screw it up.
“Stiles?”
“Hmm?” Stiles shifted a little on the bed, restless.
“Your heartbeat just spiked. What’s wrong?”
“You can hear?!--- What am I saying. Of course, you can hear that. On a cell phone. From across the country.” Stiles huffed out a breath. “It’s nothing. I didn’t want to ruin your hallmark moment there.”
“You’re hilarious.” Derek waited for a few beats. Stiles could picture him maybe glaring at the phone, wanting to just order Stiles to tell him what was wrong, but forcing himself to be patient. Actually, that probably wasn’t very fair. According to both Isaac and his dad, Derek had been doing really well lately. He’d been calmer—more in control.
“It doesn’t... matter, really.”
Derek was silent.
Stiles huffed another breath. “It’s just... my heat. Ethel had me see a doctor, and they did some bloodwork to see what was wrong. My cycle was all over the place as.. er.. you may remember.” Stiles coughed, awkwardly.
Derek did a terrible job of trying to sound casual when he asked, “Oh?”
“Yeah. I guess that I did a number on myself with the suppressants. Mixing that with what that dickhead gave me was.. uh. He thinks that my next few heats will be really intense, then eventually I’ll sort of calm down and be “normal. “ Whatever normal is.” Stiles paused, waiting to see if Derek would say anything.
“Oh? How often do they occur? If uh. If you don’t mind my asking.”
“About once every month and a half. My last one was.. jeez.”
Derek was strangely silent.
“Derek? Did I lose you?”
“No,” he bit out.
Stiles frowned at his phone, then went back over his conversation in his head. He rolled his eyes. “My last heat was... well. Ethel has this room, right? And I had them lock me in until it was over.” Stiles waited a second. “Just... me.”
The whoosh of breath couldn’t have been more obvious. “Oh. Okay... that’s uh.”
Stiles shook his head. “I have to thank you. For the idea, I mean. Of flying solo, as it were. It’s not the most comfortable thing- and oh my god, the jokes from Harper are fucking annoying as hell, but. I don’t want anyone right now.” That was a lie. Stiles frowned, his heart thumping in his chest. He knew that Derek could hear it, and somehow that made it worse. Or better. He wasn’t exactly sure. “Well... that’s not ....entirely....true. Mostly. The person I want isn’t available.”
“The... person?” Derek’s voice was low.
“You live three thousand miles away from me, Derek. That’s kind of far to er.. come. For a booty call.”
Stiles winced again, wishing that he had grown out of the neverending awkwardness that was his mouth when he just blurted things out.
Derek swallowed so hard that Stiles could hear the click in his throat. “If you want me.... to help with. To get you through your uh. Thing.”
Stiles licked his lips. “They have vibrators for that. To-” he mimicked Derek- “‘get me thru my..uh. Thing.’ I kind of want more than that, Derek.” He paused for a moment, still not sure what was coming out of his mouth. “But don’t get me wrong. Your dick is very nice.”
Derek snorted.
The silence stretched again between them, filling up the miles. Stiles tried to ignore his stupid heartbeat, tried to ignore the eight hundred other ways he could have told Derek what he wanted. It was so scary, so absolutely fucking terrifying to put himself out there after everything that had happened. Derek had been almost militantly cautious about waiting for Stiles to decide what Stiles wanted. He hadn’t pushed. He hadn’t insisted, or demanded, or done anything else but do his very best to rebuild some of the trust he’d shattered so long ago.
When Derek finally spoke, his voice was so low that Stiles almost didn’t hear it. “I’ve had two relationships in my life, Stiles. My first was... it was bad. Kate made sure that I knew that it was my fault... that my family was killed. That I was the reason, they were murdered. She would laugh about it.” He trailed off for a few minutes, obviously gathering his thoughts. “What I did to you? That couple of months after you got shot was. I’d never... been like that. It was.. sweet. Laura always said that my heart was too big not to fall in love with someone. And until then, I thought she was full of shit. Then Morel happened. Oh yeah... it was easy enough to tell me that I had a ‘reason.’ That I was doing the right thing by getting rid of you in a way that... that would be sure you were safe. That your dad would be okay, and Scott’s mom and everyone would be perfectly a-ok because of my ‘brilliant plan.’ I was stupid and twisted and jealous... so fucking jealous at even the thought that you would.” Derek cut himself off mid-sentence like he couldn’t even think of finishing the thought.
Stiles was gripping the phone so hard that he was surprised that it didn’t crack.
Derek took a deep breath. “So the idea. Even the chance of an idea that somehow you would forgive me enough to even allow me to touch you again... it’s a lot to process. That you might forgive me... when I haven’t forgiven myself... It’s unreal. ”
Stiles was silent.
“Stiles?”
Stiles took a shaky breath.. aware that his smile was so big that it was actually hurting his jaw.
“Uh. Stiles? You know that I only admit to emotions once every ten years or so, so...”
“Yeah. I’ve seen you with your daughter, buddy. Gonna have to call bullshit on the ten years or so thing.” Stiles knew he sounded ridiculous like his birthday and Christmas had all come at once.
“My daughter. Jesus, Stiles. Unreal doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Derek was quiet for a minute or so. “So.. now what?”
“Hmm. Well, now we go to plan B.”
“Plan... B?”
Stiles nodded, then realized that Derek couldn’t hear him nod and shook his head at his own stupidity. “Yep. I have... actually. I have a couple of calls to make. Do you mind if I let you go?”
Stiles could almost hear the what the fuck emanating from the other end of the phone and winced again. “Er. I know that my timing isn’t the best after our Oprah moment, but I promise that it’s relevant to this conversation.”
“Oh. Well, do you want me to call--”
“Tomorrow? Of course! Zoe would be crushed if you didn’t. Look, I really have to. To go. Oh my god!! Holy shit, I can’t believe this. It’s perfect. It’s actual perfection, and I can’t even believe that. But only if I call like, now. Oh my god, I have to go, Derek. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Bye!!”
Stiles hung up quickly- ignoring the slightly high-pitched squawk of complaint from Derek’s end of the line. It only took him a few minutes to get ahold of himself. For the first time in forever, Stiles knew exactly what he wanted.
***
Stiles:
-Hey. How’s the aftershave?
Dad:
-Hilarious. How’s your.. well, I was trying to think of some kind of dog joke, but It wasn’t working for me. What’s up?
Stiles:
-Need your help with something. It’s a surprise. A big surprise. An epic surprise of awesomeness that will shock and stun all who know of it. Which would be you. And me. And possibly your aftershave.
Dad:
-Oh, dear god.
Stiles:
-Remember how I told you I was making a new game?
Dad:
-The kids game?
Stiles:
-Yeah. Well, the company is based about forty-five minutes from Beacon Hills. They... they want to pay to move Zoe and me out there. Um. They offered me a job, dad.
Dad:
-HOLY SHIT.
-AL:SKSDL:KASD
-Yes, I just keysmashed. Don’t judge me.
Stiles:
-Well, the secret part is...
Dad:
-Trained in investigative methods, remember? I gotcha, kid. You’re... sure about this? Chris and I had things in place to move out there. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do something crazy.
Stiles:
-Yep. Completely sure. Dad... I want this. It will be a good thing. For all of us.
Dad:
-This is Chris. I’m not sure what you just said, but Mark is blubbing and generally jumping around like my daughter when she was asked to prom. I should thank you. You know I’m the one that gets to kiss it all better, right?
- ;-)
Stiles:
-oh my fucking god. I’m done.
***
Stiles licked his lips, taking one last glance around the house. Zoe’s toys? Check. Put away in her own playroom. Food? Check. He was too nervous to cook, but he ordered enough Chinese food to feed... well. A wolf. He’d already called and wished Zoe goodnight, cautioning her not to eat all of Grandpa’s ice cream in one night.
They’d been back in California for two months. In all of that time, Derek and Stiles hadn’t been alone. There’d been some hugs and a few kisses that had broken off a little awkwardly when Zoe had caught them, but neither of them had any real desire to move too quickly.
Stiles had been through one heat. It turned out that one of the things Isaac had been asked to do while he was in Massachusetts was to pick Ethel’s brain on how to contain an Omega in heat. The result was a room in Stiles’ house that was doubly enforced and sound-proof. That hadn’t been his best week. The doctors had been right about his physiology being more intense after his attempt to stifle it for so long. Zoe had stayed with Derek for the week. Stiles’ dad and Chris had elected to stay with Stiles, although even with the sound-proofing, the two of them had looked a little wild-eyed when Stiles had emerged from the panic room, shaking and blurry-eyed with his need for sleep.
It was something that none of them talked about. A non-week. Poof. It didn’t exist. Stiles shivered. He wasn’t even close to his heat now, though. Now? He just wanted Derek.
Probably he should be more embarrassed by his plan to jump Derek’s body three seconds after he walked in the door- but this ‘slow and easy’ shit was for the birds. Stiles was sick of taking things slowly. Derek had made it clear that them having sex again was Stiles’ decision. Well? He’d made his damn decision about three seconds after he’d heard his daughter ask Derek if he loved her or not.
The doorbell rang, startling Stiles into knocking over the bottle of soda he’d put in the fridge. He cursed, caught it, and stuck it in the back, making a mental note to let it settle before trying to open it. He took a deep, calming breath and went to answer his door.
“Hi, Derek!”
“Stiles.” Derek stepped inside, cocking his head. “Where’s Zoe?”
“Zoe is with her grandfather.” Stiles took a small step forward, nervously licking his lips. “For the whole weekend.”
“Oh? Well, I brought a few DVDs if you wanted to wa---mmmmmph!”
Stiles liked a lot of things about Derek. He knew that Derek might be kind of emotionally stunted, but for the most part (and those exceptions were huge and glaring and.. usually scary.), he was a nice guy. He made a mean salsa. He could dance the macarena, although Stiles was assured that if he ever showed anyone the video of that- no one would ever find his body. He was absolutely, fiercely loyal to his pack, Stiles and Zoe.
And when he made up his mind about something, there was no shaking it.
Stiles back hit the door with a muffled thunk, Derek pressing so closely that Stiles could feel the heat of him through his clothes. The DVDs went flying with a muffled clatter. Derek’s mouth was hot on his, and Stiles couldn’t help the shuddering moan that broke through his throat. Derek made a low, dark sound, hitching his hips so that Stiles’ legs could wrap around his hips.
Stiles broke off the kiss for a second, grinning up at Derek. “So, I guess this is us having sex?”
“You guess?” Derek moved his hips, pressing their cocks together tightly enough that Stiles thought the top of his head might actually explode.
“Well.” He sucked in a deep breath when Derek licked at his throat, slowly moving up to nibble the line of his jaw. “You know. No weird hormones convincing you that you wanted to have sex with me. No weird life-or-death situations keeping us from finishing what we started.” Stiles paused. “Well, I should probably put the food in the refrigerator, but--- oh fuck.” Derek did something to his ear that was probably illegal in at least three states. It made Stiles feel like just rolling over and presenting to move this thing along to its thrilling and messy conclusion.
Derek made that dark sound again, and Stiles tried to get with the program, pulling Derek’s shirt up and off of his chest. He had his hand down Derek’s jeans and was doing his best to map out the inside of Derek’s mouth with his tongue when Derek pulled back, stumbling a little when his jeans pooled around his ankles.
“I put some lube by the end table.”
Derek paused midway through flinging his jeans and underwear off his ankle. Stiles didn’t even know when Derek had lost his shoes. “Classy.” Derek heaved him, turning and setting Stiles down gently on the couch. Derek kept trying to get off Stiles’ clothes, but Stiles wasn’t particularly interested in stopping kissing every inch off Derek’s that he could find, so they had to come to some kind of agreement.
Apparently, that was Derek ripping off Stiles’ t-shirt. Stiles was clever enough to make sure he was barefoot, so it wasn’t too hard to wiggle out of his jeans. He turned, reaching over for the bottle of lube that he had purchased (he’d gotten a kick out of throwing it up there with a pair of Hello Kitty little-girl undies because really. The checkout girls’ face.) when Derek stopped him, cupping Stiles’ jaw in his hands.
“Stiles.”
“Hmm?” He turned back, only to freeze at the look on Derek’s face. “Look, I get that tapping this might not be like, the end all and be all of your dreams, but seriously if you stop now...”
“Don’t say that.” Derek sounded pissed.
“Don’t say--”
“Just... don’t. Make light. Of this. Of.. us, together like this.”
Stiles saw the thoughts crash over Derek’s face. What if this is one-sided? What if I’m reading too much into this? What if... He had to arch his back up to do it, but Stiles tried to put all of what he was feeling into their kiss. He pulled away, resting their foreheads together. They both felt the mood shift from something hurried and kind of hilarious to slower and... utterly perfect.
“Sorry. Self-deprecation is kind of a default for me.”
“Yeah, well. I’m the one that taught it to you.”
And that caused Stiles to stare up at Derek, utterly shocked. Derek smiled back down at him, a faint curve on his lips as he traced Stiles’ slightly gaping mouth with one finger. “What?” Derek bent down and kissed him again. Stiles caught his breath. He’d always thought that there were only so many times that someone could say ‘I’m sorry’ without the words being meaningless, yet every so often, Derek would look like... well. Kind of like this.
It wasn’t that long ago that Stiles would have taken petty, almost fiendish joy in every single flinch, or wince, or outward sign that Derek still felt terrible. Stiles supposed that was a sign that he really had forgiven him. Now it made Stiles want to somehow kiss it better like he did when Zoe skinned her knee.
Which was probably kind of fucked up.
Derek made a move as though he was about to push himself up, and Stiles couldn’t help the protesting sound he made. He curled his body around Derek’s, using Derek’s surprise to flip them so that Stiles was on top.
Somehow he did it without breaking either one of their dicks.
Unfortunately, they ended up more on the floor than on the couch.
Stiles bent down to kiss Derek again. “Okay, so. Let’s sum up. You’re in my head so much that I forgot that you’re not actually in my head, so I can understand your confusion.” He bent down, kissing a little deeper, licking into Derek’s mouth until they were both breathing hard. Stiles reached down to slide his hands over Derek’s shoulders, down his arms, picking up Derek’s hands to place them on his hips. Stiles leaned back a little, watching Derek’s gaze darkened as he looked up at Stiles stretched out above him, completely naked. “One. I love you.” Derek jerked under him, his hands tightening sharply on Stiles’ hips. Derek tried to shove up onto his elbows, but Stiles leaned back against Derek’s knees, reaching down and sliding his thumb over the tip of his cock. Derek’s gaze jerked from Stiles’ face to his dick and back up to his face as he flopped back onto the floor.
Stiles smiled sweetly. “Stay with me here, big guy. Two. I’m pretty sure that you love me.” Stiles reached up and licked the precome off his thumb, watching as Derek’s eyes rolled back in his head before his eyelids drifted shut, only to spring open.
“Yes! Jesus, Stiles... yes.”
“And you...” Stiles trailed off, his voice hitching as he tightened his fist, stroking himself a few times. “...you love...” He let go of his dick, making a face. “Okay, this was a lot sexier in my head, but I can’t actually say ‘you love our daughter’ while touching my cock.”
Derek’s laugh was a burst of sound, shocking him. “Oh my god.. you. I can’t believe that you...”
Stiles never found out what it was that Derek couldn’t believe. Derek folded himself up, wrapping his arms around Stiles and shifting him so that he could wrap his hand around the both of them, stroking. Stiles twisted again to find the lube, and both of them cursed when he used too much, squirting more over their hands than their cocks. Derek kissed Stiles’ shoulder, biting down a little when Stiles moved up onto his knees. They both brought slippery fingers to Stiles’ ass, moving so that Derek could slide between his cheeks, not in... but sliding back and forth until Stiles had pretty much forgotten what they were talking about.
Stiles balanced himself with one hand on Derek’s shoulder, reaching around to open himself up.
“Stiles... God. I can feel you. I can feel your fingers, fuck.”
“Pretty sure... that’s the... idea here.”
Derek picked Stiles up from the floor and pushed him back onto the couch, batting Stiles’ fingers aside and using his own. Stiles cried out. The stretch was enough that he could feel little sparks under his skin, causing him to shake and shiver as Derek spread him open, scissoring and stretching until his three fingers slid inside of his hole. Stiles rocked back on them, biting at his lip, vaguely realizing that perhaps... maybe... teasing Derek while he told him that he loved him for the first time might not have been his best game plan.
But if this was revenge, he was totally for it if he didn’t come all over himself.
“Derek, please--oh. ohhh, that’s, come the fuck on. I want you inside of me.” Stiles pushed up on his elbows, moaning when Derek slid his fingers out of his ass, leaving a slick trail of lube on Stiles’ thigh as he settled back down onto the floor. Stiles took a deep breath and scrambled to his feet, falling forward and positioning himself with one slippery hand around Derek’s dick, keeping it steady as he slowly sank down onto him, impaling himself. Stiles didn’t stop, moving until he was fully seated. Derek’s entire face was still, staring up at Stiles, watching as he slowly relaxed, giving an experimental rock of motion.
Stiles heard Derek’s teeth grind as he moved again. Stiles licked at his dry lips and grabbed Derek’s hands again, putting them on his hips and nodding when he was ready.
Derek didn’t waste any time, arching up and pulling Stiles down onto him in one smooth movement. They started slow, barely rocking. Stiles shut his eyes, moaning when his whole body shivered from the thickness of Derek’s cock stretching him open. Derek moved a little faster, and Stiles fell forward, catching himself with the palm of his hands on Derek’s chest.
The angle made him see stars. He shouted, and Derek moved, changing the rhythm of their thrusts until he was arching up, and Stiles's hips snapped forward, rolling back and forth as Derek showed him what would feel best, how to move. Derek’s cock felt hotter each time he slid back inside, the head rubbing against that spot inside of Stiles that made his vision white out.
After that, it didn’t take long. Derek wrapped one hand around him, the other moving from Stiles’ hip to his chest, and over his back, and down over the trembling, sweaty muscles of his ass, over his thigh and back up, like he couldn’t quite believe that he was allowed to touch. Every way that Stiles moved, Derek was wrapped around him or in him or sliding against him. He came with a shout of Derek’s name, watching with wide eyes as he spurted up over Derek’s hand. Derek groaned, moving his hand over Stiles’ sensitive cock, until Stiles could only shake, collapsing down onto Derek with a muffled moan. Derek growled something, flipping them over and thrusting back inside. It only took a few movements of his hips before he cried out Stiles’ name, panting on Stiles’ shoulder as he came.
They rested there for a few minutes. Stiles couldn’t help but snort. “Not trying to be funny here- but I’m not saying it again.” He kissed Derek’s jaw, sucking at the bead of sweat. “I might give Erica, Boyd, and Scott a few days berth just to be safe.”
Derek froze, then turned so that they were on their sides, both of them grimacing a little as the uncomfortable carpet brushed against sweaty skin. “Then, I’ll say it.” He moved so that his ear was on Stiles’ heart, hugging him tightly. “I love you, Stiles.”
Stiles had to bite his lip to keep from saying anything. He wrapped his shaking fingers in Derek’s hair and slid them through the sweaty strands, sighing a little. It took a few minutes for him to be able to talk without his throat tightening up. “You know... I do have a perfectly good bed.”
“I know. I helped you put it together.”
***
“Mr. Hale? It’s time.”
To say that Stiles was uncomfortable was pretty much the understatement of the year. He felt like Zoe and her entire kindergarten class were jumping on his stomach. He was hot, and sweaty, and so fucking pissed off that some doctor somewhere decided that just because he didn’t have a vagina, it was unnecessary for him to have an epidural because what the fuck what kind of blatant sexism was that he hurt and he wanted drugs and--
Derek rubbed his stomach lightly, leaning over to kiss Stiles’ forehead. Even as miserable as he was, Stiles had to grin a little at the utterly terrified look on Derek’s face warring with his obvious need to try to comfort his mate. Derek’s hand shot out, his reflexes quicker than any of the others in the room, wrapping around the white lab coat of the head Obstetrician, causing the smaller man to squeak in shock. “You. Will. Take. Care of. Them.” Derek’s growl was not particularly subtle, but then again, Derek wasn’t exactly a subtle guy. He let go and turned back to Stiles.
“Of course! Simple procedure, really. We just need to get your husband ready and--”
The doctor trailed off when he realized that neither of the Messieurs Hale was paying him one bit of attention. Derek’s shaking hands cupped Stiles’ jaw as he kissed his forehead, nose, and eyelids. Stiles had his hands locked around Derek’s wrists and was obviously trying to breathe deeply. They pulled apart, and Stiles gave Derek a little smile.
“I’m an old hand at this, you know. And you... make sure you’re nice to the staff, okay? This will be over before you know it.” Another contraction hit, and Stiles’ face crumpled. The doctor watched as Derek failed miserably at trying not to look like his heart was being ripped out of him. “Well! Time to get this show on the road, I would say.” He gestured to the two nurses as they wheeled Stiles into the sterile area of the small clinic. The doctor took a step to the side, allowing Derek an unobstructed view of his mate. “Now, you just need to scrub down and change, and you should get there right about the time things get interesting.”
The doctor stared at Derek, observing the dumbfounded look on his face. “You mean... I can... I can be with...”
The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Of course you can.” What kind of third-rate clinic did he think they ran around here? This was the finest Omega ward in the country! The doctor harumphed under his breath and pushed Derek towards the antibacterial soap and the set of scrubs none to gently, ignoring the utterly goofy smile of delight on the younger man’s face.
***
“Shh, honey. Let your daddy sleep. He worked really hard today.”
“But I want to see! Is the baby out? Did it hurt? Is the baby ugly? It’s okay if he’s ugly. I’ll still love him bunches unless he cries. Then you and daddy can take care of him because you’re his parents. I’m just a big sister.”
Stiles cracked open one eye. The feeling of being hit by a truck, only to have the truck back up and run him over again, was familiar even though he hadn’t felt it in a little over five years. Stiles was glad of his faster healing- because seriously. He didn’t know how women did this shit.
“Imma ‘wake. Hi baby girl. Have you met your brother yet?”
Derek swung Zoe up onto the bed. “You be careful, okay. Don’t touch his belly.” They both watched as Zoe carefully picked her way over to Stiles’ hip, only to burrow under his arm with her head on his chest.
“No. Dad said we should wait until we could all meet him together.”
Stiles jerked his eyes up so that he could meet Derek’s wet gaze. “Oh.”
Derek turned, moving over to the other side of the bed. He kicked off his shoes then carefully curled around Stiles’ body, moving slowly enough that nothing jarred. “Hi.” Stiles stretched a little so that they could kiss.
“Hi.” Stiles grinned. “You ready to meet your son?”
Derek took a deep shuddering breath and nodded, eyes snapping to the door when it opened. The nurse paused for a second with the blue-wrapped bundle, her face morphing through several levels of ‘aww’ before crossing over to the bed and put the smallest Hale into his father’s arms. Stiles kissed the tiny forehead then immediately moved him into Derek’s arms, turning so that he could peek inside the blanket, checking him over as Derek (who was laying there like a statue-obviously afraid to even breathe too heavily) held his son for the first time.
Zoe leaned over, looking suspiciously at her baby brother. “He’s kind of... not completely ugly. Kind of.. squishy.” She looked up at her dads, huffing a little when they did that thing at each other with the eyebrows. “I thought you said he’d be beautiful.” Her deeply suspicious gaze looked over her brother once more before settling back into the side of Stiles’ body.
“He is.” Derek’s strangled voice made Stiles smile sleepily as he settled back down, curling over onto Derek’s chest. “He’s amazing. You’re amazing. It’s. I can’t...”
“Calm down there, big guy. It hasn’t been ten years yet.”
Stiles kissed Derek’s chest and listened to his heartbeat slow down to a less frantic rate. He was almost asleep again when he felt Derek’s hand cup the back of his head, stroking down over his neck, down onto his back. Trust was a funny thing. It took forever to build and seconds to shatter. Trusting again was even more difficult. Once your heart knew that it could be broken, it took a lot of work to fit the shattered bits back together. Stiles felt Zoe sigh behind him as Derek’s hand slid from his back to her hair, tangling gently in her curls. She seemed perfectly content to lie there, curled up with them on the bed.
It had taken them a long time to get here.
But Stiles couldn’t think of anything that was more worth it.
****
THE END!
WHEW.
Okay... so there's the fluffy porny ending of doooooooom! By necessity, this is going to be a rather ridiculously long author's note, so feel free to skip if that's not your thing.
The idea for the "bet" in this fic came from Dianann's Dark Chocolate, from the HP fandom. I thought that by referencing it on the first page, I would be covered for any spoiler type trigger warnings- but I guess I botched that completely. I know that I offended people by not posting specifics on what was going to happen, and I really truly am sorry.
I wanted to write a story where a shitty thing (then several more shitty things) happened to the protagonists, but that neither of them was exactly in the right… nor were they in the wrong. I mean, is it ever okay to do something really terrible if you have a really, really, really good reason? Yes? No? Hmmm. I’m still not sure whether I agree with Derek and Scott’s reasoning… or with some of Stiles’ decisions. About the only thing I was sure about was that I wanted Stiles to grow up before making any rash decisions. Just because he’s a good guy doesn’t mean that he always makes the best decisions… and playing around with that trope was really fun. On the flipside of that, making Derek grovel was pure joy. :D
Playing around with the ethics of this- of what these fictional characters did and didn't do- and seeing people's reactions to what they did... then seeing people's reactions to the reactions of what they did... wow. I still can't believe that people were so completely invested in this story... so much that I received tons and tons of messages on tumblr from people asking about my personal views on some of the terrible things that I put Stiles and Derek and everyone else through on this fic. I can’t tell you how flattering that is. I have several comments to go back and respond to, so if I missed you please don’t be offended. If you’re impatient, then just leave me a msg in my inbox. I did turn the anon off.
Diva0789 and Silvarbelle are actual perfection come to life. They had to put up with a lot of my whining and freaking out over random plot points, and they did it with aplomb and not actually blocking me and running off to join the circus, which is good. Thank you, ladies, for all your help.
So.,.. thanks are in order. Jlm121 is my best friend. If you guys see her around, give her a thanks. I can’t tell you how many times I randomly texted her and was like OH MY GOD, THIS STORY IS SHIT PLEASE CAN I JUST QUIT and she would calmly and reasonably tell me to calm my tits and move on. I bounced idea after idea off of her. I wanted to write a ‘mpreg lite’ story, and she answered all my questions, being the fic goddess that she is. My one goal was to not have anyone scream OH MY GOD ASSBABIES??? At anyone else, and god willing- I accomplished that. I love you and hope you like your little story, bb.
So, a broken hand, computer virus, and 77,000 words later… here we are. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you so much for everything!!!!!