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Derek found himself waiting for Stiles' 18th birthday. After everything he'd been through with Kate, it felt wrong to even think about Stiles while he was still underage.
His 18th birthday came and went, with Derek convincing himself that Stiles was still just too young.
Every year, Derek convinced himself Stiles was just too young.
Not ready for this sort of commitment, especially with a werewolf.
Not ready to be tied to one person, let alone him and all the baggage he brought along with him.
Not ready to have to consider another person before choosing his future.
Not ready, not ready, not ready.
Now, years of waiting later, Stiles is still around and today Stiles is 21.
They're sitting on the couch in his loft, Stiles concentrating intensely on something on his phone, the tip of his tongue sticking out from between his lips, while Derek is reading the same page of the book he's been reading for the past half an hour thanks to his current inability to focus.
The pack will be coming over later to celebrate Stiles and his "21 years of glorious floundering", as he so put it. But for now, it's just them. As it often is nowadays.
He looks up to see Stiles watching him…
"Stiles?"
"Derek…"
Derek raised his eyebrows in question, waiting for the inevitable continuation.
"I'm 21 now…"
"I am aware. That is why we're here, Stiles."
"You know, Sourwolf…" Stiles sighed, feigning nonchalance and looking at Derek with a glint in his eye, "21 means I'm entirely legal now. Driving, drinking, voting, strip clubs... I can do it all. Although it has been recommended I do not do all that at once because, you know, laws and shit…"
Derek watched him intently, "Stiles... Get to the point."
"My POINT is... I'm not a 16 year old spaz with a buzz cut anymore. And I'm not an 18 year old guy struggling to figure out where he belongs. I'm 21 now. And while I will, admittedly, always be a bit of a spaz and always struggle a bit with belonging, I know what I want. And I know where I want to be."
Stiles turned to him with a look that should be telling, but is slightly too self-conscious to achieve that.
" Stiles…"
Derek now turned to face him fully, not quite wanting to get his hopes up but unable to fully quell the blossoming feeling of something in his chest,
"What are you saying?"
Stiles sighed and looked away, mumbling, "It's like you're being obtuse on purpose."
Derek growled lightly but continued to watch Stiles, waiting for him to start talking again in his own time.
Eventually, he turned and looked Derek dead in the eye, taking a deep breath like he's grounding himself before a big announcement.
" Derek, I... I belong here. Right here."
"On my couch, taking up most of the space?"
"Well, no, but...yes. Here, with you, in your space and in your loft and in your life and just, with you..."
He paused to allow that to sink in slowly before continuing in a slightly shakier tone than before,
"...And if that scares you, and you don't want that or want me and just want this to stay as is and platonic because you can't do more that's okay, that's better than losing you again and I still want you in my life in whatever capacity I can have you. But I don't...I don't think that's what you want and right now I really need you to tell me what you want."
Stiles rambled it all out in one go, like he was trying to get it all out before his courage wore out. He sat looking intently at Derek, breathing heavily like he'd just run up the stairs.
Derek sat still, alternating between watching Stiles face, flitting between emotions, his hands dancing nervously in his lap, and his chest where his heart lay, beating it's usual, if slightly elevated, irregular beat that was so familiar to Derek's ears. Yet it didn't spike once with a lie during his speech. It was all truth.
Derek looked up then, open and un-scowling for a change, "Stiles..."
"If you tell me I'm too young I am actually going to kill you Derek Hale. You know I could do it," Stiles glared at him.
"I'm not going to tell you you're too young... I, uh, well...I've been waiting for the right time, and putting it off because I just kept telling myself you were too young and just not ready. But that's been a lie for a long time."
Derek looked up to see Stiles gaping at him, hands stilled and spread out over his thighs.
"Derek, what...? What are you saying? Do you... Do you want...this? Us?" he gestured between the two of them.
Derek nodded, ducking his head self-consciously.
"Oh thank the fucking gods!" Stiles sighed explosively and shuffled over to clamber awkwardly into Derek's lap, tossing the book aside and wrapping himself around Derek like a koala.
Derek stilled for a couple seconds but Stiles clung on, waiting him out. Until Derek slowly wrapped his arms around Stiles' back and buried his face in his neck, inhaling the warm, happy scent of him deeply.
"Best birthday gift ever," Stiles mumbled happily into the side of Derek's head.
Derek leaned his head back out of Stiles's neck to look over his face, leaning in again to place a soft, lingering kiss on Stiles' lips.
When they parted, he leaned back to look over his face again, tracking the smile that slowly lifted the corners of Stiles' mouth.
"I changed my mind… That was the best birthday gift ever."
Derek grinned, "Does this mean I can keep your actual gift for next year?"
The outraged look on Stiles' face made Derek's grin even wider.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! No takesies backsies, Derek, and that applies to everything!"
Derek chuckled at the beautiful, ridiculous man in his lap. He tightened his arms around Stiles as he kissed him lightly on the cheek, nuzzling him a little as he murmured against his skin,
"No takesies backsies."