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Completely immersed in his conversation with Cindy and only briefly glancing up to see the traffic light was green and kept going. It took his brain several seconds to process what he had actually seen and stopped dead in his tracks, in the middle of the street. Cindy also startled to a halt and looked at him, mildly confused. She didn't wait to find out and dragged him off the street, before she turned towards him again. Stiles was still staring in the same direction, so she followed his gaze and saw a dark haired man, clad in black, looking right back at her friend and closing the remaining distance in the process.
"Do you know him?" The young woman asked concerned and then he was there.
"You're back." Stiles whispered.
"You left."
The man's voice seemed to shake Stiles shock. "Yeah, I went to college. People do that you know." He shivered slightly, it was two weeks before Christmas break and only a few degrees above freezing. Stiles loved New York, but he seriously loathed the cold, which forced him to wear way too many layers of clothing.
"Can we…talk somewhere?"
"Yeah. I'll see you later, Cindy. Come on."
The two men went to a café and got hot chocolate. It was awkward. Stiles avoided looking at him directly since they sat down, his cold hands firmly clasped the warm mug.
"What are you doing here, Derek?" The human asked, when he finally met the others eyes. "It's been…a long time."
"Almost eighteen months." The werewolf had a hard time holding his gaze as well.
"How is Cora?" He deemed the younger Hale a safe topic.
"She's good. She's up in Boston, going to college, making new friends. Happy. There's a pack mom was close with, she's safe there."
"Sounds good." Stiles smiled faintly. He was getting jittery, finished his drink and got up to leave, pulling his scarf tight. "Come with me?"
"Yeah."
The older man followed him to his small apartment. It wasn't much, but he had his own space, where nobody disturbed him. The living area was spacious with a small kitchen corner, bathroom and bedroom to the side. Stiles threw his jacket and scarf on one of the chairs.
"Can I get you something?"
"I'm good, thank you." Derek shed his jacket as well. "Stiles."
He turned towards the older man and the smile on his face took his breath away. Without a conscious decision, he lunged himself at the wolf. His arms had circled Derek's waist, pressing him close and turning his face into his neck. "I missed you."
Derek had completely tensed up at the sudden contact, his arms hung limply at his sides, until Stiles curled his hands into his shirt and he hugged the younger man's shoulders gently. He took a deep breath and inhaled the familiar yet foreign scent, changed over time, but the same at its core. On his exhale he tightened his own embrace. "I missed you, too."
Later Stiles had made coffee and they sat on either end of the couch, the human snuggled into a warm blanket in his corner.
"How is your dad?" Derek looked over the rim of his mug.
"He's good, a little lonely, now that I'm here. But I think Melissa is keeping him company."
"McCall?"
"Yeah, they've gotten a lot closer, after everything."
"What about you?"
"Surprisingly still a virgin." He grinned.
Derek gaped for a second, before he caught himself. "Not exactly what I meant."
"I'm fine. Rocking the campus, making friends, no supernatural crap following me around." Stiles unconsciously slid his hand over the outside of his left forearm pushing the sleeve up, revealing a long slightly jagged fading scar.
"What happened?"
"Monster of the week got me, about a month after you guys left. It looked far worse than it was."
"Still looks pretty nasty."
"That's all it does these days, looking ugly."
Derek eyed him awhile, he desperately wanted to reach out and touch the destroyed perfect skin.
"What about the others?"
"Scott is managing the pack rather well, with Deaton's help. He stayed local. Lydia's actually in Boston, too. Harvard. We see each other every other week." He sighed, then smiled faintly. "How did you know I was here?"
"I went back."
"To Beacon Hills? Nobody said anything."
"I…I didn't see anybody, just your father."
Stiles blinked a few times in confusion. "I talked to him yesterday. He didn't say anything."
"I asked him not to. I just wanted to see you."
Stiles knew the two of them had always had some weird connection, Derek had never shared with any of the others.
"Why now? Where have you been?"
"Cora and I were criss-crossing through the country for a while before we stopped in Boston. We stayed with the pack there. Cora got her diploma and I worked with the pack. Cora is okay now. She's happy there and doesn't need me."
"She'll always need you, dude."
"But not as much."
"So you decided to go back?"
"No. I don't think I can. Ever."
"But you did…" The younger man was confused.
"I was only looking for you."
"What if I had stayed there?"
Derek shook his head lightly. "I don't know." He really didn't.
Stiles looked him over. Physically he was as impressive as he had been, but he looked younger, not as if he was carrying the weight of the world anymore. Derek had smiled and it was the most beautiful thing Stiles had ever seen. At this point he could admit his attraction to the other man, since he had realized that he was attracted to men and women. He had been sure Derek was straight all this time, but he had come back for him, only him, so he could hope.
"You didn't though."
Stiles could feel the questioning 'why' in there. "NYU is a good school."
"On the other side of the country." The wolf said quietly.
"Added bonus. As much as I miss my dad. I needed to get away." He stared out the window forlornly for several minutes.
"I came here for you, Stiles." Derek tentatively stretched out one hand, until their fingertips touched.
Stiles' head whipped back around to face him, then his eyes fell to their fingers and he grabbed the werewolf's whole hand, with both of his. He loved those big strong hands. He brushed his lips over the back of his hand and looked up to the wolf for a reaction. Derek's expression was carefully neutral with the hint of an upturn in the corners of his mouth.
"I'm glad you did." Stiles hesitantly scooted closer and leant forward.
The older man mirrored his movements slowly. Their faces were now only a few inches apart and a huge grin spread across Stiles' features, turning into laughter, when he lay their foreheads together. Derek had raised his other hand to cup his face stroking his thumb along his cheekbone. When Stiles was heaving a few deep breaths, he lifted his head a little to press a gentle kiss to the younger man's forehead.
Stiles' eyes sparkled, when he met his gaze again. "How long can you stay?"
"For now."
"I'll take it." He got confident and cupped Derek's face with both of his hands and carded his blunt fingernails through the short beard. He had imagined doing that more times than he was willing to admit. "Anything you are willing to give me."
The werewolf closed his eyes and let Stiles' hands take the weight of his head. Stiles leant forward and kissed the corner of his eye. He ducked his head back down and sighed.
"I'm going out with some friends in a bit. Do you want to come?"
"No it's okay. I'm really tired. I flew across the country twice in the last three days."
"You could have called, you know." The human reminded him softly.
"I wanted to see you."
"Should I stay?"
"No, I just need some sleep."
"There is some leftover food in the fridge, if you're hungry. And don't sleep on the couch, it'll eat you whole and you won't be able to move, when you wake up, so go to bed, okay?"
"Okay."
As Derek went to the bathroom, Stiles called his father.
"Hey, kiddo."
"Hi, dad. Did you by any chance forget to tell me something?"
"Uh, what are you referring to?"
"Oh, so there's more than one thing you haven't told me?"
"I…me and Melissa…"
Stiles interrupted his father. "I know about you and Melissa. I'm not blind, dad."
John Stilinski sighed. "Did he find you?"
"That's what usually happens, when you give someone an address. They tend to find you."
The wolf came back and tentatively stepped closer. Stiles grabbed his hand, when he was close enough and pulled him down onto the couch.
"Was that okay?"
"Yes. Thank you." He stared into the older man's pale eyes, smiling brightly.
"You're welcome, I guess. Bye son."
"Bye, dad." He put the phone on the table. "Should I warm you something up to eat? You look kind of pale."
"I just didn't sleep the last two days, but I could eat. Thank you."
"I still can't believe you're here."
"I am."
Derek relaxed into the cushions, while his host put some food into the microwave and placed it on the coffee table in front of him, a few minutes later.
"Remember, don't fall asleep out here." Stiles kissed the top of his head over the back of the couch, grabbed keys and phone and was out the door.
Stiles Stilinski walked into the bar and was instantly greeted cheerfully by his friends, including Cindy. She immediately asked about the encounter that afternoon.
"Who is tall, dark and handsome?"
"A friend."
"Why were you so shocked to see him?"
"I haven't seen him in a while."
"Tragic ex?" Sara asked from the other side and her boyfriend Seth rolled his eyes. "Why do you always immediately go there?"
"No, after he left…I didn't expect to see him." He took a look around the table. "Who's hungry?" Crisis successfully averted, well the awkward inquisition he didn't need right now. The rest of the night was enjoyable and none of his friends approached the subject again. Stiles crawled into his bed some time after midnight, at least he tried. Derek had cocooned himself into his cover. It made Stiles smile fondly down at him, happy that the werewolf was so comfortable. None the less, it was cold in the bedroom and he needed some of the cover for himself, so he tugged at it until he had one corner loose and was able to pull more. Suddenly the whole blanket was lifted and he was yanked underneath, letting out an indignant yelp. When he got his heart rate back under control he snuggled into the older man with a sigh, who had wrapped himself around his body.
"This is nice."
Stiles woke up, as he had fallen asleep. His hand stroked up and down the other man's side.
"Admit it, you're not a wolf, you're an octopus."
"You see any tentacles?"
"You can probably hide them, like the claws." The human nudged his jaw with his nose. "Come on, I'll make breakfast." Stiles rolled out of the embrace and put his robe on, California didn't need those, New York did. Derek grumbled behind him, but he heard the cover rustle.
The pancakes were almost done, when his guest emerged from the bathroom, hair still damp and sticking up in every direction.
"You sleep okay?"
"Yeah." He poured himself some coffee and sat down at the small kitchen table. "Is this still okay?"
Stiles put a full plate in front of him and smiled. "Eat your pancakes, Sourwolf." So he did and they ate in silence. Derek grabbed him and dragged him into his lap after he had put away their dirty dishes. Stiles looked into his eyes questioningly with raised eyebrows.
"I want to be with you." The werewolf whispered in a small voice.
"Then stay with me."
Derek had narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows in a deep scowl. "Just like that?"
"You want me to send you away?"
"When did you grow up so much?"
"I had some time." He pressed a light kiss to Derek's cheek.
"Why don't you have anybody?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at him again. "I mean look at you. You even work out now. How does no one notice you?"
"Oh I get noticed from time to time. I don't know, haven't found anybody impressive enough yet. Maybe I tried to compare everybody to you."
"Why me? We weren't anything before I left."
"We were something. Took me a considerable amount of time to realize, you apparently too, but we always had something."
The werewolf just looked at him, his gaze flickering between Stiles' amber eyes and his lips, until he leant forward to brush their lips together, barely even a real kiss. Stiles on the other hand cupped his cheeks and pulled him back in for a kiss, that had him gasping for air a few minutes later and his arms tightly wound around the human's waist. He moved his lips down onto Stiles' neck.
"What did you expect when you came here?" Stiles tone was light.
"I don't…I don't know. I hoped you'd at least listen to me."
Stiles carded his long boney fingers through his hair. "Did I mention, I'm happy you're here?"
"You did."
They strangely eased into their togetherness. None of it was weird and everything they did felt oddly familiar, despite the fact they had never done it together before, they hadn't slept in the same bed, hadn't eaten together, watched movies or much less kissed. They had sex a week after Derek had arrived and even that was instantly comfortable, like they just fit. Later Stiles propped himself up on his elbows to be able to look at Derek, who lay on his back beside him.
"I want to ask you something." He said quietly and damn those eyebrows that always seemed to do the talking for the werewolf. "You can say no, if you don't want to and it would only be a week and a half and…" Eyebrows. "Do you want to come home with me for Christmas?"
"Okay."
"Yeah? You said you didn't want to go back and…"
"I think I can survive a couple of days of Beacon Hills."
"Yay." Stiles pounced at him and kissed him sloppily.