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stereksecretsanta · 5 years ago

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Merry Christmas, @deadicateddeath!

Hope this was the right balance for your prompt and that it had just the right amount of Christmas Fluff, Merry Christmas :)

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*****

Maybe this Christmas.

It had been Erica’s idea.

Late one night as the pack had been walking through the preserve, they had been trying to come up with plans for what they were wanting to do for Christmas. Admittedly with every member of the pack at university somewhere outside California and those that weren’t working their fingers to the bone on top of keeping an eye on pack activities, it was rare that they got to spend time together. But it did mean that Christmas would have easily come and gone if it hadn’t been for Lydia’s insistence that they should have a party.

“I mean think about it, we need to celebrate the fact that this year is going to come to an end finally,” Lydia said, her tone all business as they walked along the path, though it was practically a miracle that the redhead was managing to walk on the uneven surface in her heels without falling over.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, right Derek?” Cora asked, from where she, Kira and Malia were walking either side of Lydia, to where her elder brother was sauntering ahead ever the overprotective alpha.

“I suppose.” Derek’s reply came, surprising Stiles who hadn’t been sure that the Alpha was even paying attention.

“And I think we should do a secret Santa to make things a bit more interest.” Erica quipped, which seemed to get the go-ahead from the other pack members including Scott and Isaac who were probably already planning what ridiculously inappropriate present they would get for whoever had the misfortune of them getting.

“A secret Santa? But we usually end up just getting each other gifts anyway.” Stiles said indignantly. Which was true, for the last few years he’d been getting Scott Pop Funko figures as a go-to present since they started coming out and Lydia over the past couple of years could always count on him for some expensive makeup. While his crush on her had long since faded to nothing that didn’t mean he wouldn’t treat her like the queen she very obviously was.

“Maybe you do, Mr I-have-my-father’s-credit-card-number-mesmerised. But for those of us that are actually students, I think one present should be about enough.” Erica said, looking around for agreement which she seemed to get in the form of murmurs.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll draw who we have to buy for when we get back to the House and we’ll have a week to get the present,” Cora said as they continued the walk.

Though as the rest of the group's murmurs on the subject seemed to fade into the background, Stiles let his gaze rest on Derek who was still far out front. The Alpha's body language seemed to have stiffened a little, as though he was unsure about what he could get for some of the pack members that he didn’t know that well. And Stiles did have to agree, he knew some of the members more than others and the last thing he wanted was to get someone a present they wouldn’t like. But at the same time, there was that ridiculously lovesick side of him that hoped and prayed that he got Derek.

He and the alpha had gotten closer since the whole repercussions that had immerged after the Nogitsune, with the elder seeming to be the only one who knew the right words to say and the right way to reassure him that he wasn’t broken. Yet somewhere in the background had been that niggling sense of affection in the back of Stiles’ mind, the urge to kiss the Alpha, to hold his hand in a less than friendly way as well as the overwhelming collection of fantasies that had plagued his mind throughout his adolescence of all the things he wished he could share with the alpha without a shred of clothing. Things that he continued to maintain were perfectly normal for a guy who was coming to terms with his bisexuality.

Once he had left for the FBI Academy, the closeness he and Derek shared had seemed to wane a little.

There were fewer emails, minimal skype calls and only the odd text instead of the onslaught he was more than used to. He kept hassling Cora and Lydia, asking if Derek was now seeing someone since he seemed to be so distant. But both women had told him to stop being so paranoid and that maybe Derek had less time on his hands with all his Alpha duties.

Still even when he’d come home for Christmas there had been minimal occasions to be alone with the alpha in the way he wanted, especially as he was now in the mindset of finally going for it and asking the other out. At least if he could get the other a present may be the alpha would realise how much he meant to him and it would give him the final push to ask him out.

The group finally called it a night around 1 am and returned to the house they were all staying in, the girls coming up with ideas for the party while the boys just walked along in small groups or in Derek’s case led the way.

Everyone gathered in the lounge as Cora set up the secret Santa, scribbling people’s names on post-its which were folded in half and shoved into a Santa hat which seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Steadily Cora made her way through the group, watching each person look at the name and declining when they asked if they could switch which earned curses and groans of ‘what the hell do I get them?!’ as they left for bed. Finally, Cora reached Stiles who had been sat on the couch with his knee jiggling uncertainly and offered the hat to him.

Biting his lip, Stiles shoved his hand in deep and grabbed the first piece that touched his index finger and pulled it out.

He hesitated before unfolding it and was sure that fate was fucking with him because there written on a slant was the name he had been hoping for.

‘Derek.’

“You good Stiles?” Cora asked when Stiles didn’t make a move to follow the rest of the pack up to bed.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks, Cora.” Stiles smiled, refolding the post-it and shoving it in his pocket as he got up from the couch in the direction of the stairs.

Now all he had to do was decide what present would be the best to get the alpha who unknowingly held his heart in his hands.

Derek had watched the pack members get their allocated secret Santa from where he’d been sitting at the kitchen island sipping a large beer. Admittedly he had been unable to stop his gaze from lingering on Stiles, who had seemed on the verge of giddy at the notion of having to get someone a present.

He tried to appear like he wasn’t starring, because Cora always told him he seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve when it came to the younger, and the last thing he wanted to do was to ruin what they had by pushing his unwanted feelings on to him.

Because his friendship with Stiles, that he had managed to get through some miracle, was just about the most prized thing that he held in his life.

True, somewhere around the week before he disappeared with Cora to Buenos Aires in the hopes of finding somewhere untainted that he belonged, he had known that his feelings for the other were evolving. The amount of times he’d found his gaze lingering on the others lips when in pack meetings and aching to know what they felt and tasted like, that he’d dreamed of the moment when he and Stiles would finally get together or even the nights he’d come to the thought of Stiles’ muscular body fucking into his own was getting close to the millions.

Yet it had been maddening watching Stiles’ crush on Lydia and his subsequent dating, if it could even be called that, with Malia and knowing that the last thing he wanted to do was taint Stiles in the way he’d tainted every other relationship he’d had. Stiles deserved someone better and that was why it had pained him, but he had pulled back from communicating Stiles when he left for the FBI and Derek had returned reluctantly to Beacon Hills with Cora in tow.

Of course, his distance from Stiles didn’t go unnoticed by the younger who was constantly hassling Cora about it and meaning that Cora started coming to him.

“Would you stop trying to do the Derek thing and distance yourself from people you actually like! Stiles is driving me crazy as he keeps asking me why you’re barely talking to him and honestly you couldn’t have made it more obvious that you were crushing on him if you tried!”

But they were now in the same town, for the first time in close to six months, and yet Derek was still trying everything in his power to keep their distance. Though it was taking every bit of strength he had to keep it that way.

The alpha took a deep swig of his beer when Stiles reached into the hat and pulled out a post-it to see who he was going to buy for. He swallowed as he saw Stiles’ face lit and watched him bid them good night before disappearing upstairs leaving him and Cora alone.

“Ok, your turn big bro,” Cora said, shaking the hat in his direction as she approached him, the look on her face just about daring him to turn her down.

“Cora….” He began but sighed when she brandished the hat at him and set his beer down before reaching into the hat.

He cast Cora a glare when she shook the hat up with his hand inside it and grabbed the first post-it that sat in his palm before leaning against the counter as he unfolded the post-it. His eyes widened at the name he saw, and he found himself swallowing over and over in denial, even blinking a couple of times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. But no, there clear as day scribbled on the paper was the name that he’d been part hoping for and part dreading.

‘Stiles.’

“Oh you have to be kidding me.” Derek groaned, shoving the post-it in his jeans pocket as he passed Cora on the way to bed, ignoring the way she tried to tease him to get him to tell her who he got.

What the hell did you get the guy who you wanted in your life more than anyone else without seeming obvious?

The next day found Stiles practically begging Lydia to come shopping with him, which given that happened only once in a blue moon at best had the redhead giving him strange looks from behind her breakfast of cinnamon toast and chai tea.

“Stiles, you never come shopping with me. In fact, the last time I tried to drag you out shopping so you could get a decent suit for the prom you locked yourself in the bathroom, climbed out the window and ran across town. I had to actually pay for your suit, so why would I help you this time?” The redhead asked, from behind the physics textbook she’d brought back from MIT for some supposed light reading.

“Because this is for my secret Santa and I want it to be perfect. Please, Lyds.” Stiles whined, groaning when the redhead shook her head.

“Whatever you get them doesn’t need to be perfect Stiles. Whoever you’ve got will love whatever you get them.” Lydia quipped, turning her page and taking a sip of her tea.

“But this is important Lydia…. please…” Stiles pleaded, toying irritably with the paper holding the name of his Secret Santa. Honestly, he knew the whole deal with Secret Santas was that it was supposed to be secret and no-one else knew but he wasn’t above showing her if it would get Lydia to change her mind.

“What’s in it for me?” Lydia finally relented, though she did put her book closed with her own folded secret Santa name used as a bookmark and looking at Stiles.

“Coffee, Lunch, my eternal gratitude and dibs as the planner of my wedding.” Stiles pleaded, causing Lydia to frown and take the post-it from him and unfold it, her eyes widening at the name she saw.

“Oh boy, you are going to owe me more than that. But fine, who I am to stand in the path to fate love and shopping? Get ready and we’ll leave in half an hour.” Lydia quipped, handing Stiles back the paper and sliding off her barstool as she left the kitchen to get dressed.

Stiles immediately followed to get changed, feeling immense relief that if anyone would know what to get Derek hopefully Lydia would at least have some idea. He’d spent most of the night trying to find something that wasn’t ridiculously priced, that Derek would like and would be a perfect tie into asking the other out. But outside of a wedding ring, which let’s just say he wasn’t completely against even if he knew it would make him look desperate as fuck before they even had their first date, he was coming up with nothing.

“Stiles, you have fifteen minutes! You had better be ready!” Lydia called, as Stiles rummaged through his closet for his good pair of jeans.

“Coming Lyds!” Stiles yelled back, as he pulled the jeans off the hanger and started searching for a shirt which wouldn’t make the redhead disown him.

“So why are we here looking for your secret Santa present?” Cora’s voice came from the darkness as Derek unlocked the door to the family vault which had been keeping valuables and some furniture that needed to be heavily restored after the fire.

“You know why.” Derek sighed, finally shoving the door aside and letting his alpha eyes come out so he could see in the dark, before making his way inside with Cora behind him.

“No, I have an inkling. That doesn’t mean I have the first clue as to what is going through your head right now.” Cora sighed, pausing to let her own beta eyes adjust to the darkness before looking around.

The vault looked to be a disorganised mess in every meaning of the word, both Hale siblings could remember how organised it used to be back when they were children playing tag and hide and seek among all the family artefacts. How the safe holding all the jewellery and heirlooms had been organised to the point of insanity which had been the result of their father’s obsessive organizing skills. But all that had disappeared to nothing after the fire, all the furniture which had been in the house when it was set on fire had been sorted into piles in the vault as there was nowhere to else to keep them when the house had been declared a demolition site.

One pile held pieces of furniture that were destined for the dump when they could get around to it. Another was for restoration, often things that had been hand made by family members in the past and the family still wanted to cling to and another was old pieces of the house like Christmas decorations and old tapestries that had gone out of favour centuries ago.

Derek heard Cora make a noise as she spotted the decorations and ignored her as he approached the safe which was embedded into the concrete wall of the vault. From the looks of it, Peter had ransacked it for everything he could get years ago, but thankfully there was a secret compartment which not even Peter had known about hidden in the lining.

With the brush of the tip of his claw, Derek managed to find the catch, pull the drawer out and set it on an old weather-beaten table rested precariously against the wall. He retracted his claw and let his fingers linger over the contents of the drawer once the lid was open. There were old family rings with the pack crest embedded gold or silver which burned his fingertips but he ignored, there were a couple of blocks of gold which had been left to him and Cora in their inheritance and a few family photos he hadn’t seen in years. But the one thing he found which he had been looking for finally appeared, hidden under a couple of old jewellery boxes.

On a boot string strap sat an old rusted pendant in the shape of a triskelion looking every bit it’s age, just the way he remembered it.

It had been an heirloom handed down through the alphas and was always reserved for their mates, often for the human equivalent but it had seen a few wolf owners over the years to demonstrate their status. Its last owner had been his and Cora’s father, not a born wolf but a made one, and it had been so important for Talia that her husband was recognised for his status. All memories Derek held of his father included that pendant and it was that he wanted to share with Stiles.

He knew Stiles had a weakness for supernatural history, especially that involving werewolves, and he was sure if the younger looked it up that he would realise it’s worth and what it meant to the person who gave it to him. Admittedly it was a uniquely Hale thing which would be quite telling but there was nothing else that Derek felt would make a good meaningful present for the younger.

“You found it?” Cora asked, appearing from the other side of the vault with a couple of water-damaged boxes in her possession, all labelled in their mother’s scrawl with Christmas decorations, and yet Derek knew what his sister was intending to do with them.

“Yeah, and a couple of old bits too, but I think this will do,” Derek said, pushing the necklace in his jeans pocket and closing the drawer’s lid before returning it to its hiding place.

“I still don’t know if you giving him that is a good idea. I mean you were trying to back off, right? If you give him that he’ll either think I’m interested in him which gross, or he’ll know it was you and it’ll scare him off.” Cora said, as Derek closed the safe’s doors and led Cora towards the Vault’s entrance.

“Maybe, or maybe it’ll help him to realise what a key part of the pack he is. I mean he is the only human pack member and he always doubts his importance. I just want him to know that he’ll always belong and no matter what he goes on to do in life or who he chooses to be with.” Derek said, holding the door open as Cora passed him with the boxes before he closed and resealed the vault.

True there would come a day where the vault would need sorting, back to their father’s pristine standards, but that day hadn’t arrived yet and part of Derek dreaded the day when it arrived. Because it would be left to the last two Hale descendants and there was something saddening about that fact, being the last out of a pack of so many.

Stiles was beginning to regret asking Lydia to help him as he followed her in the direction of the food court for their second break of the day. While he knew that Lydia was a big shopaholic, he just hadn’t realised the extent of it until he was left carrying her bags while she continued to browse. At some point, she claimed to have got her own secret Santa which was hidden in a Victoria secret’s bag which he knew was her way of deterring his curiosity, but she seemed to be struggling about what to get Derek just as much as he was.

True, the alpha had the body of a damned god and would easily look good in Calvin Klein underwear, which god if that wasn’t one of Stiles’ daydreams, or even in one of those geeky t-shirts that Stiles loved and again that was a constant daydream, of watching the way the material clung to his abs was his own version of porn. And yeah maybe cologne would work if he wasn’t a werewolf with a ridiculously sensitive nose. But honestly, he didn’t want to get something superficial for the sake of it. Part of the reason why that wedding ring was starting to seem more and more like a viable option.

“How about one of those dorky pop funko things you get Scott every year?” Lydia asked, as she tried another shade of red lipstick on the back of her hand before returning the tester and continuing to lead the way towards the food court.

“I can’t see Derek being happy about that somehow. I don’t even know if he watches anything that would make those.” Stiles sighed, switching Lydia’s collection of bags between hands when he felt the blood circulation disappeared.

“Hm, ok,” Lydia said thoughtfully leading Stiles towards the café opposite the Starbucks they’d been sat in hours before and picking a table out front.

Stiles set her bags down in a spare chair and went to the counter to order when Lydia had told him what she wanted. As he stood at the other end of the counter waiting for their food, his gaze kept lingering on a jeweller a couple of rows down as he tried to narrow down his options.

Derek wasn’t big on sports, though according to Cora he had been when he was a teenager before the Kate incident. He did have a Netflix subscription that the pack seemed to use more than he did for movie nights. He was a book worm from time to time, but his choice of reading material was random and never something that could be pinned down. To be fair he’d never seen Derek wearing jewellery as it seemed to interfere with his shift and his choice in clothes were baggy enough to accommodate the change. But for some reason, his wardrobe continued to stick with Stiles.

It wasn’t until the barista had set both his and Lydia’s coffees and food down on a tray, that he realised why he was so fixated on his wardrobe. Because the first time he saw Derek, that night so many years ago when he and Scott were trespassing on Hale Land, he’d been dressed in a leather jacket.

Since the years had progressed, the presence of that jacket had disappeared, something which he was sure was to do with Braeden. Yet it was something that Stiles missed the sight of. Since then part of Derek’s essence had disappeared and he had become more the Alpha he was supposed to be because there wasn’t much choice. But now he needed a persona that was less fake, and more the real him, and Stiles had an idea of how to go about it.

Stiles set the tray down once he reached their table, causing Lydia to look up from her phone as he sat down opposite her.

“I think I have an idea.”

The Christmas party came around quickly, Lydia surpassing herself as always by making sure that the House was decorated to within an inch of its life with Cora’s help. Though the decorations looked older, almost like they had been in storage for a long time which he was sure wasn't the redhead's style. But when Stiles had asked Cora she'd just told him they were Hale family heirlooms and that had quickly silenced Stiles’ curiosity.

The food had been ordered in through a caterer who had brought it promptly and the drink had appeared by the case later. The music was playing but not loud enough to irritate werewolf senses, and a fair few allies as well as Scott’s Mom and Stiles’ own Dad, had come to join them.

Lydia insisted before any food was eaten that they deal out the secret Santas which had been sat under the large Christmas tree in the lounge. Everyone had murmured in agreement, taking a seat as Cora started to hand them out.

In turn, each member of the pack started to open their presents once they were received. Scott had got a lacrosse jersey from a professional team that had been signed by all the players, which was interesting considering he hadn’t been playing at college as far as Stiles knew. Isaac got what appeared to be a sex toy of some kind, causing the beta to flush bright red and let out a nervous laugh as he shoved it back in the wrapping.

Kira seemed to have got some lingerie, which had her meeting Scott’s gaze pointedly as she too pushed the item back in her bag which quickly had Cora saying that next year serious presents would be a rule. Malia got a book subscription for the next year which went down like a lead balloon as the were-coyote complained it was like doing homework which she didn’t need to do anymore.

Erica got a decanter set and glasses, which looked expensive enough to have even Stiles’ healthy bank account shrieking in disbelief through the she-wolf seemed happy with them even if Cora then started complaining that price limits would have to be a thing next. Boyd got a new tool belt and from the way, he and Erica exchanged glances it was obvious that the two had got the other.

Lydia got a collection of tester perfumes from a brand she didn’t usually use but she still seemed happy with them, like she had been considering trying them for a while. Cora received what looked like an anthology on supernatural history which was surprising as she never usually associated with that aspect of pack life, but she seemed interested if the way she read the blurb was anything to go by.

Finally, the only two that remained unopened looked to be for Stiles and Derek, which immediately made Stiles nervous, especially by the way that the rest of the pack seemed to be looking between the pair knowingly.

“Derek, here’s yours,” Cora said, handing her brother the overly large gift bag covered in a white candy cane pattern on a red background. It had taken Lydia ages to convince Stiles to get a relatively normal gift bag instead of one of the superhero or Star Wars ones he usually got for his friends but it definitely seemed like Derek wasn’t repulsed by it so that was something.

Stiles watched Derek remove the tissue paper that had been put on the top of the bag to obscure the contents and pulled out an expensive brand-new black leather jacket. It was the right size which was something Stiles had to thank Cora for as the younger Hale had ransacked her brother’s closet to make sure he found the right size.

Derek’s eyes had widened as he held the jacket up against himself, letting his fingers linger over all the pristine stitching and yet there was no denying that he looked happy with what he had been given. But when he turned back to the bag just to double-check if there was a card or something, a frown covered his features as he pulled out the other package inside.

This was the one that Stiles was nervous about, not knowing how the Alpha would take it. He watched as Derek pulled out the burgundy hoodie that easily matched the few that were hung up in Stiles’ own closet, it was a better brand and infinitely more expensive than any Stiles owned but as he watched Derek hug it to him and take a deep breath it was obvious he was catching on to its meaning.

Stiles had spent the past week wearing the hoodie, even going so far as to wear it to bed a couple of nights, to the point that it smelt like him. He remembered reading how important it was for alphas to have things to remind them of pack members when they were missing, whether it was a shirt or a scarf coated in their scent it helped to settle them. And he hoped that by wearing the hoodie, and dowsing it with his scent, that Derek’s wolf would recognise Stiles’ intention and affection for him.

The rest of the pack, with the exception of Cora, seemed to be a bit confused at the second gift but when Derek returned it to the gift bag and put on the leather jacket it seemed to assure them, he liked it.

“Stiles.” Cora’s voice pulled his attention from Derek who seemed to look up at the sound of his name and look at the remaining present under the tree.

Stiles took the present when it was offered to him and settled it on his lap. The gift bag smaller than any of the other presents the others had been given, covered in gold with the shape of Christmas trees engraved in white. He pulled out the small box and was surprised when he realised it was a jewellery box, like the kind you would see when buying a new necklace or bracelet. He just hoped whoever it was hadn’t spent too much on him.

Opening the box, his eyes widened at what he saw. It didn’t look new, but there was no denying that sat on the blue velvet was a triskelion pendant tied on a boot string necklace. It was rusted with age, easily speaking of the many decades’ hell even centuries that the necklace had been within someone’s family. He gently removed the necklace from the box and held it up so the others could all see. He was surprised when he heard rumbles of recognition from the wolves and even the odd flash of wolf eyes in agreement like the pack recognised it’s meaning.

“Wow, it’s beautiful Stiles.” Scott’s Mom said, looking the pendant over in his fingers like she knew it wasn’t her place to touch it.

“Yeah, it is.” Stiles murmured, loosening the bootstrap enough that he could get it over his head before letting it rest on his collar bone.

It was surprising how the feel of the pendant against his skin seemed to settle something inside of him, that little voice that had always doubted his place in the pack even after all that they had gone through together immediately going silent. It didn’t help that he was the only human, and with that, there was always that second thought of if he even belonged. But all those fears seemed to disappear, now that in his own way he had found his place within the pack which was recognised in the eyes of those who mattered.

He let his fingers linger against the pendant and looked up to see Derek’s gaze rested on the pendant on his skin. When their gazes met, he watched Derek look away and get up to grab a beer from the fridge, leaving Stiles wondering if he had just missed the chance he had been waiting for.

Derek had felt the shift throughout the entire pack when they had set eyes on the pendant, even though the teenagers themselves may not recognise its meaning it was clear that their supernatural counterparts did. That they had realised Stiles’ place in the pack was a constant that they had always relied on and would always need more than they could even imagine.

It was something he knew made the younger feel settled and a part of the pack even if that had always been the case.

He sipped his beer as he leaned against the kitchen island, watching the pack members as they piled their plates with food and grabbed a drink while they chatted among themselves about their family plans the next week. But every so often a small tinge of the scent that had been left on the hoodie seemed to catch his attention from where it had been rubbed into his leather Jacket.

“You going to eat something or just stand here like a creep and watch everyone?” Cora asked, appearing beside him with a plate of cheese and honey roasted ham.

“Not exactly feeling hungry at the moment,” Derek said wistfully letting his gaze linger over the pack as he tried to find the source of the scent, even though his inner wolf seemed to be berating him for not picking up on it sooner.

“Have you realised who your secret Santa was yet?” Cora said, seeming fixated on getting him to actually be sociable instead of just standing on the outside as he seemed to think he should as the alpha.

“Do you know?” Derek asked, watching Cora roll her eyes like she obviously knew but wasn’t about to tell him.

“When you’ve figured it out, you’ll kick yourself. Just don’t let them leave without talking to them, I think you both have something you need to say to each other.” Cora said around a mouthful of feta as she disappeared to tease Isaac about his secret Santa which Derek was sure she was the source of.

Derek bit his lip as he made himself weave through the crowd of the pack, discreetly letting his inner wolf indulge each scent as they tried to find the right person. But finally, as Stiles was passing him with a bowl of trifle chatting animated to Scott about something, he caught a whiff of that alluring scent of aged paper, ink, jasmine and something that seemed uniquely Stiles in a way that he couldn’t describe. And Cora was right, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t realised who was behind it before.

And though he wanted to speak to him, it seemed best to let Stiles enjoy himself instead of bothering him. Because surely the other couldn’t understand what it was that he had done by practically offering him his scent on a platter.

Stiles was chatting to Scott about his time at the Academy when Cora appeared beside him, looking determined in a way that he was more than used to after seeing it on Derek’s face several times in their years of friendship. It was definitely a Hale thing.

“Scotty, I’ll catch up with you later yeah? I think Cora wants me for something.” Stiles said, watching Scott nod in acknowledgement and take his plate of chocolate over to Kira.

“You need to speak to Derek; he looks like he’s trying to keep his distance from you and honestly this whole thing is getting tiring,” Cora said, gesturing to where Derek was hovering by the Christmas tree, letting his gaze linger over the decorations like he was remembering all the memories of Christmases past with the family before the fire.

“I guess.” Stiles sighed, reluctantly setting his half-finished bowl of trifle aside and approaching Derek once he was sure Cora wouldn’t follow.

He stood beside the Alpha a little, watching him brush his fingertips over a bauble with his name engraved in the red glitter.

“We haven’t seen much of each other since I came back into town, so how are you, Derek?” Stiles asked, watching Derek look up and offer him a small smile even as his eyes seemed to stutter from alluring green to alpha red and back again.

“Yeah, I guess we haven’t. I’m good mostly, just dealing the usual. How about you, how're things at the academy?” Derek said softly, looking back at the decorations.

“It’s going well, I’m looking into a few junior positions towards the end of my training but I’m not sure how well I’ll manage,” Stiles said, causing Derek to look back up and roll his eyes.

“From what you told me your training is going well, I’m sure you’ll be more than ready to get started in the field when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, that means a lot. I was just wondering if you felt like taking a short walk through the preserve? I’m sure the others won’t mind.” Stiles suggested with a smile, watching Derek set down his empty beer bottle and nod.

“Sure, it sounds like a good idea.”

The pair walked out the house through the back door, knowing they would get more attention from the others if they went out through the front, and started walking into the preserve along the path that they usually used on a full moon.

There was silence between them like there often was when they weren’t around the rest of the pack, neither of them feeling the need to just talk for the sake of talking. But there was still a sense of comfort between them, like a connection which they felt like they didn’t have to talk about. And yet, from where Stiles was standing that was exactly what they needed to do, breaking the habit of a lifetime.

“So, I’ve noticed you’ve been a bit more distant since I left Der, and I’m wondering if maybe there’s a reason why that has to do with just you and me,” Stiles said, fidgeting with his new pendant.

Derek seemed to stiffen at his choice of words but kept his gaze ahead instead of looking at the younger.

“Depends what you mean by you and me,” Derek said, uneasily.

“I mean, you and me as people Derek. In the way that people who like each other as more than friends would say you and me.” Stiles said, watching Derek bite his lip but finally look at him.

“You must know how I feel Stiles, why else would you have done what you did with that hoodie?”

“What?” Stiles asked with a frown.

“Only mates of Alphas willingly give the alpha of a pack clothing with their scent on it,” Derek said, causing Stiles’ eyes to widen.

“Is that why your eyes keep giving me a light show when I’m close? Because I’m your mate!?” Stiles asked, watching Derek give a small grin and roll of the eyes but silently nod.

“I want you to find who you really want in your life in your own way Stiles. I don’t want you to feel pressured to be with me just because….” Derek began only for Stiles’ fingers to curl in his new jacket’s collar and cut him off with a kiss so deep and filled with love that it made Derek stumble a little before he stopped in his tracks and let his arms curl around Stiles to bring him closer with his teeth nipping at the other’s lips.

Stiles groaned in his throat the feel of the lips he’d been dreaming about against his own, feeling a sense of relief that his move hadn’t backfired on him. But at the same time, he had needed to stop Derek before his self-deprecation about not being good enough had taken hold and from where Stiles was standing that wasn’t true in the slightest. Derek would always be more than he deserved.

“Pressured isn’t at all how I would describe what I’m feeling for you, Derek.” He murmured breathlessly when their lips parted, and he met Derek’s now alpha red eyes looking back at him.

“I get that now.” Derek whispered, resting their foreheads together and curling his fingers between Stiles’ beside him with his other hand toyed with the pendant.

“And you’ll have me always, ok? No matter where I am.” Stiles said reassuringly, feeling a shudder through his very core at the feel of Derek’s attention on the pendant that defined him.

“I know, and you’ll have me. My mate.” Derek smiled, brushing a kiss to the pendant before catching Stiles’ lips with his own again and pulling him closer into his space as he guided his mate’s back up against a tree out the view of the house.

“Yours.” Stiles panted, tilting his head back against the bark as he felt Derek’s lips and fangs worshipping his neck in a way that he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was and would always be loved by his alpha.

“Yours.” Derek echoed against his skin as he met Stiles’ gaze with a sly smile that caused a shudder down Stiles’ spine at the feeling of an all-encompassing kind of love that would follow him no matter where life took him.

Wherever Stiles went Derek would always follow one way or another, from one secret Santa to the next.

Fin.

#deadicateddeath #stereksanta14 #*fics19 #*gifts19

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