Human is Just a Word 29/?
Chapter 29
Back when Stiles had come from Beacon Hills with Derek he hadn't understood why the werewolves needed the closeness to their alpha, especially after days apart. Now he was pacing the loft, willing the weak little blip in the back of his mind to become the strong beacon again. He had dropped a glass and had splattered orange juice when the loose end in his mind finally had found its connection again. Now the glass and juice were cleaned up and Stiles didn't know what to do until Derek would be home again.
The others had said that they would come upstairs as soon as Derek was within reach so that they could welcome him together but so far none of them had shown up.
"Maybe I'm the first." Stiles pondered, chewing on a fingernail. He had been the last to lose the connection, it made sense that he was the first to reconnect with their alpha.
A few minutes later, Derek was a constant presence in the back of his head again, the door opened and Boyd stepped in. Erica and Isaac were right behind him so they had felt their alpha at the same time. Stiles didn't know what to think of that but at the moment his mind was on other things.
He already had the den prepared, there would be a pack night tonight, and now there was nothing else to do than wait.
"Would you sit down?" Boyd asked from the couch where he had taken a seat with Erica sitting in his lap. Isaac had dropped in one of the chairs which left Stiles the only one standing.
"How can you sit?" He wondered. He felt like running, preferable in Derek's direction.
"It's the rush hour." Boyd reminded him. "He won't be here in the next few minutes."
"Yeah, yeah." Stiles muttered but kept on pacing. "This is still new to me and it's driving me nuts that I can feel him but he isn't here yet. This is worse than waiting for Christmas morning."
"As if you ever waited for Christmas morning." Isaac spoke up. "I bet you woke up in the middle of the night and since it was after midnight you just declared it morning. You must have driven you parents nuts."
"Hey, after midnight is technically morning." Stiles defended himself, still moving around.
"Did you notice that he didn't deny it?" Erica asked and made herself more comfortable in Boyd's lap.
"I knew what was in the presents long before they were under the tree anyway." Stiles said absently. The feeling of Derek grew stronger by the minute, telling him that the alpha made his way slowly but surly through the traffic.
"Why am I not surprised?" Boyd said but dropped the topic.
Derek arrived about half an hour later and the wolves were on him before he had made two steps into the loft. Stiles watched them for a second, all three betas draping themselves around Derek as much as they could with their noses on his throat and neck, while Derek embraced them with his eyes closed and inhaling deeply.
Stiles' human side thought that it was kind of silly but the side that had grown with the bond was begging him to join in. He needed to be close to his alpha, he needed to reconnect with the others as a pack.
Somehow he ended up with his nose smashed in Derek's armpit which should be gross but wasn't.
"Welcome home." Stiles said and let himself sag more against the werewolf.
They stood like that for a moment longer before they let go of Derek long enough for him to grab a quick shower. In the meantime Erica ordered them some food, Chinese this time, and Isaac and Boyd were debating which movies to watch.
The pack night was like the others they had before but this time Stiles couldn't help himself and snuggled closer to his alpha until they sat flush together from shoulder to hip with their backs against the couch. When Derek raised his arm Stiles didn't even have to think about it and ducked under it. Isaac sat on Derek's other side and he ended up with his head on Derek's shoulder somewhere in the middle of the second movie as well. Erica and Boyd had already changed into fur at this point and Erica was lying draped over their legs while Boyd had jumped on the couch, making a comfortable head rest for the three sitting on the floor.
They slept in a pile, the wolves in fur and Stiles in his baggy sleep shirt, but since the next day was a normal school and work day, they had to get up early and didn't have time for a lazy breakfast. Isaac and Stiles had to leave first and they both hugged Derek before they left the apartment. Stiles was already half-way to school when he realized that he had actually hugged Derek goodbye.
For once Stiles was in a good mood and he didn't care about what others thought of him. Back in Beacon Hills he and Scott had been the odd ones for years, this wasn't that much different. And with Sean speaking to him again, things were looking up.
He came home with a butt load of homework which he did at the coffee table while Derek had his work spread out on the kitchen table as usual. What wasn't usual were this many handwritten notes and binders with what looked like handouts he must have gotten at the symposium.
The second Stiles felt the first lull in his homework, chemistry had never been one of his favorites, he sauntered over and picked up one of the binders.
"Astrophysics?" He raised an eyebrow at Derek but had his nose buried in the binder a second later. He knew that Derek translated scientific texts for a living but he hadn't wanted to bother Derek so he hadn't really asked about it. He had, however, had a look at the books Derek had on his shelf. Quite some interesting stuff, he had to admit.
"What?" Derek gave him a challenging look.
"Didn't thought you were interested in that." Stiles shrugged and reached for some of the notes but Derek smacked his hand away.
"Don't touch that."
"No touching, got it." Stiles raised his hands, one still holding the binder, to show that he understood. And he did. He had his own system with his notes and he would strangle anyone who dared to mess with it.
"So." He sat down in a chair, flipping through the pages. "You were at an astrophysics symposium. How was it?"
"It was fine." Derek said, eyes already back on the screen in front of him.
"C'mon, give me something." Stiles begged. "Did you meet some interesting people? What where the panels about?"
Stiles didn't really expect an answer but to his surprise Derek tapped the name on the front of the binder.
"I met her, she's a great person." He said. "I think I made some good contacts."
"Figures, stick you with a bunch of scientists ..." Stiles shook his head with a fond smile. "Was it all science talk or did you do something for fun?"
Stiles hoped that Derek took the little jump his heart made at that thought for excitement and nothing else. He wanted Derek to have fun, he really did, the sourwolf needed to go out more often, but on the other hand he feared the answer. For some reason the idea of Derek hooking up with somebody didn't sit right with him. Not that it was any of his business. Derek was his alpha, nothing more. Sure they had sex that one time but that didn't mean anything.
Stiles swallowed thickly and waited for Derek's answer.
"On Sunday Professor Rodriguez and a few of her friends asked me to join them for dinner and we ended up in a bar afterwards." Derek finally answered, a little smile on his lips.
Once he had started to talk, Derek warmed up to it. Stiles asked the right questions and Derek talk about the people he'd met and the things he'd learned during the symposium. Before they knew it it was almost nine in the evening and they hadn't eaten dinner and Stiles' homework wasn't even half done.
"Okay, I order something and you get your butt over there and get some stuff done." Derek ordered in a dad voice that reminded Stiles of his own dad. Not that he could take Derek serious like that. As his alpha it would have been naturally to see some kind of father figure in him but Stiles' feelings had taken a different path. Not that he could ever hope that Derek did feel the same. But if Stiles was an expert in anything it was pining from afar.
When the food arrived Stiles was in the middle of his chemistry homework and somehow they ended up talking about that over dinner. Derek knew more about it than his teacher, which wasn't that difficult, and he had a way to explain it that made Stiles actually want to know more about it.
"Why some people become teachers I've no idea." Stiles closed the book and pushed it far away. "I mean as a teacher you have to explain stuff, right? That's kind of your job."
Derek just shrugged and put more fried rice in his mouth.
Stiles put his school stuff away and then sat there on the couch next to Derek, unsure what to do next. He wanted, needed, to be close but he wasn't sure if that didn't come off as creepy. The others had been fine after the night together and hadn't come upstairs for another pack night.
However, the thought of sleeping alone in his bed made Stiles feel sick in the stomach.
It was still rather early so he put that thought to the back of his mind and reached for the remote. Maybe some mindless TV would do them some good.
Derek settled in next to him, sitting closer than he had to, and Stiles tried really hard to not read more into this than there was. Derek had been away from his pack for a few days of course he wanted to be close to the only pack member he had within reach.
With his belly full with good food and the TV mumbling in the background it didn't take long for Stiles to become sleepy. He knew that Derek didn't mind if his head ended up on his shoulder so he just relaxed and sagged farther into Derek. The werewolf was warm and solid and just perfect to cuddle up to.
When Stiles woke up the first thing he noticed was that Derek had turned the TV on its side. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't the TV lying on its site, it was Stiles. The second thing he notices was the tense muscles of Derek's thighs under his cheek and something pressed against the back of his head.
"Sorry." Stiles mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Derek hadn't thrown him off and the position was quite comfy so instead of sitting up, what he should have done a minute ago, Stiles turned until he was lying on his back, head still pillowed in Derek's lap.
"What's with the face?" He wondered and turned a little more to make out Derek's expression in the dark. The only light was coming from the TV and the blueish light cast shadows over Derek's face, making him look like he was holding his breath and trying to look innocent at the same time.
Derek shifted under him in an attempted to scoot deeper into the couch while at the same time Stiles tried to prop himself up but his elbow slipped off Derek's moving thigh.
Stiles fell face first into Derek's problem.
"Shit." Stiles flailed backwards and promptly fell of the couch. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ..."
"Are you hurt?" Derek spoke at the same time, leaning forward to help him up.
Stiles ignored him. His mouth was too dry to answer and his eyes were fixed on the very obvious bulge in Derek's pants.
Chapter 30
Masterpost