Fic: Night Stroll || PG-13 || eventual Stiles/Derek
Night Stroll
PG-13, Eventual Stiles/Derek, 3300-ish words
Post s4, college student!Stiles, future fic, social media
Written for the prompt "insomnia" for fullmoon_ficlet. It got a bit away from me when I wrote it last week. This is the slightly edited version from what was originally posted that neatens it up some.
"Is it night there?"
Derek chuckled. "Yeah, it is. How do you know where I am?"
"I don't, that's why it's weird it's night. That puts you in... Europe?" Stiles asked after some quick math.
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Spain. You haven't lost that..." Derek waved his hand. "Stileness."
The Facebook IM popped up out of nowhere in his 2pm European history class.
Hey.
Stiles had to check his friend list and recent activity a couple times before responding just to make sure no one was dicking with him and he hadn't gotten hijacked. The only reason he still had a Facebook was for pretences. The pack decided collectively to avoid discussing anything they dealt with online, no matter how private the group or DM.
Derek? Stiles typed, half-heartedly trying to tune into what his professor was saying.
How are things?
***
The rest of the class was a wash for Stiles. He was on top of things enough that he could afford to be distracted for a class or two. And Derek contacting Stiles--Derek using Facebook-- was more noteworthy for Stiles than their third day covering the French Revolution. He was already incredibly well-versed on the topic due to learning everything possible about the guillotine in sophomore year of high school.
He fled back to his dorm, skipping his usual post-class coffee, and flung himself into the desk chair in his dorm room. He opened Skype and dialed Derek, once he got over the oddity of Derek Hale having a Skype account.
"You look good," Derek said by way of hello when he answered Stiles' call.
Stiles squinted at Derek through his monitor. "You look tired," he said finally, noting how frustrating it was to not see Derek with life-like quality. He searched the screen around Derek. "Is it night there?"
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it is. How do you know where I am?"
"I don't, that's why it's weird it's night. That puts you in... Europe?" Stiles asked after some quick math.
Derek chuckled. "Spain. You haven't lost that..." Derek waved his hand. "Stileness."
Stiles laughed aloud, taking himself off guard and Derek, if the way his eyes widened was a way to judge. "It wouldn't be surprising if you checked in more than once a year," Stiles scolded Derek teasingly but Derek ducked his head a little and nodded.
"Needed some time. For real this time around. Spent some time with Cora, caught up with friends in New York. Found some family over here in Europe and decided to get in touch with some of them," Derek explained easily.
"Holy shit," Stiles breathed. "You found your lycanthropic relatives?" Derek nodded. Stiles swallowed hard. "You got a new pack now, then?"
Derek paused for a second, then shook his head. "I didn't message you to talk about this."
Stiles nodded. "Why did you, then?"
Derek shrugged. "Couldn't sleep, saw you online."
Stiles was quiet for a long moment, then nodded. "Try some warm milk. It sounds stupid but it does work. Take a hot shower, too. Should help you get to sleep."
Derek looked like he wanted to say something but he inclined his head and murmured a thank you. Before Stiles could reply Derek said "Later" and signed off.
Stiles was disappointed but tamped it down and turned to his homework instead. Just because he could afford to be distracted from school didn't mean he wanted to be.
***
A week later Stiles was in class again when Skype asked if he wanted to accept a call from Derek. He rejected it and immediately opened Facebook to send him a quick message, hoping he was on.
Sorry, in class. Talk later?
A few minutes later Derek replied, What are you doing answering me at all? Pay attention in class!
Stiles ducked his head and grinned into his shirt, then replied, once upon a time I would never believe those words coming out of your mouth.
Once upon a time you should listen to your professor, came the reply and Stiles got the message. He quit the IM window and did his best to focus on class no matter how much he wanted to do anything but.
***
"What are you doing over there that's made you stay in sunny Spain all this time?" Stiles asked later in the afternoon.
Derek yawned, holding up a finger, then replied tiredly, "Took some classes, touring the sites, taking a much-needed vacation."
"I'll give you the vacation, sour wolf," Stiles replied as he highlighted a sentence in a text for his english class. Derek went quiet and Stiles didn't notice for a solid minute as he wrapped his brain around a statement in his readings.
"You okay?" Stiles asked, jerking his head up to study Derek.
"Been a while since I heard that," Derek said, aiming for a light tone.
"I'll have to stick with it because you're thousands of miles away and judging your expression based on this internet connection isn't reliable," Stiles joked.
"Okay," Derek agreed with a small smile.
Stiles changed the subject. "Are you sleeping okay? Do I need to consult my personal experiences with not sleeping for tricks to make yourself go down?"
Derek shrugged. "It's been hit or miss lately."
"Did you try what I suggested last time?" Derek nodded. "Sometimes cooler temperatures are necessary. Spain's pretty hot, are you sure it's not too much for you?" Derek didn't reply, just rolled his eyes. "Okay. Let me contact Deaton and see if there's a stronger version of melatonin that you could take and actually have work. It's all natural, don't worry. I'll see if there's a local shop or emissary you could contact about it."
Derek opened his mouth to say something, hesitated and shut it again. Stiles waited, pleased for the tiny moments of insight Derek was giving him on his current self. Derek was someone Stiles didn't know anymore and that realization made Stiles sad because although old Derek was an asshole by times, he was also a friend by the end. He felt out of his depth with this new quiet (not mute), introspective (no longer avoidant), and calm (Stiles would never admit that memories of Derek wolfing out in front of an enemy featured in his masturbatory fantasies since late in high school) Derek.
"Thanks, Stiles," Derek said simply.
Stiles could come to really like this stranger.
***
"Hello?"
Stiles jumped back from his monitor with a loud curse. On the other side Cora grinned at him sarcastically.
"Stilinski. Why in the hell are you Skyping my brother?" She asked. "I thought I was the only one he Skyped."
"I guess there's two of us," Stiles muttered back knowing she'd hear him even with the less-than-perfect sound quality.
"Want me to tell him you called? He just ran to the corner for ingredients for the amazing fresh seafood dinner he's going to make me," Cora bragged.
Stiles blinked. "Derek can cook?"
Cora gave him a weird look. "Duh. He can survive as a fully-functional adult, you know."
Stiles forced a laugh. "We must have skipped those demonstrations in during his reign as that year's alpha."
"Hey, fuck you, Stilinski," Cora spat back, eyes flashing yellow.
"No, no!" Stiles yelled. "I just mean- I mean. Like. We only saw him at the worst of things, you know? And things were so fucked up-three alphas in one year, and that's on top of the alpha pack. Without Derek I don't know if all of us would have survived."
Cora gazed over the laptop with her jaw set and Stiles waited for her to rip the webcam out of the screen or to slam the lid of the laptop down. Instead she nodded slightly.
"Later, Stilinski," she said abruptly and disconnected their call.
Stiles figured he should wait until Derek called him this time around.
***
"Hello? Stiles?"
Stiles had answered the Skype notification he got by reaching over to his laptop on his bedside table and slapped at the keys in hopes he would hit the right one. He was half-asleep, feeling like he was in a weird dream.
"Derek?" Stiles gasped an instant before he sat up in bed and fully turned to the screen. "Derek!"
"Hey Stiles," Derek said with an easy smile, one Stiles couldn't remember ever seeing on Derek before their Skype calls but now couldn't imagine him any other way.
"What's up?" Stiles asked while wiping at his eyes. "Why so early?"
"I wanted to let you know that I'll probably be out of communication for a couple days." Derek was sitting with his back to a window and Stiles could see bright sunny trees in the distance behind him.
"What's wrong?" Stiles asked immediately and pulled the laptop onto his lap while he ran a hand through his messy hair.
Derek shook his head. "Nothing, I promise. I have some things that need to get done, is all."
Stiles frowned. "Things that are gonna take you away from an internet connection?"
"Things I have to do," Derek replied softly but in a tone that said it wasn't open for discussion.
Stiles sighed. "Be careful," he said finally.
Derek nodded and they disconnected the call at the same time.
***
"You're safe," Stiles said in greeting to Derek three days later when Stiles finally heard from him.
"Told you I would be," Derek said easily, smiling so there were crinkles around his eyes and goddamn, where had those come from? Had Stiles ever seen Derek with eye crinkles? Had Stiles ever truly seen Derek smile? "What?" Derek asked.
"You have a great smile," Stiles blurted out before his filter could kick in.
The light was dim on Derek's side of the screen but Stiles was sure he could make out the tips of Derek's ears where he was flushing. "Thanks," he said quickly. "How was your day?"
Stiles opened his mouth to reply but then a thought occurred to him and he pointed at Derek. "What the hell are you doing up right now? Isn't it something like four in the morning there?"
Derek laughed. "Something like that. What advice can you give me for tonight's insomnia?"
Stiles thought for a second. "If you have something that smells familiar, like another, uh. Another pack member. It can help lull you to sleep. I've heard this from Scott and Liam and even us humans can attest to it working sometimes."
"What if I don't have anything from the pack?" Derek asked, words measured. Stiles caught his eyes through the screen and didn't look away.
"If you ask a pack member they'll be happy to help you," Stiles replied. "Anything to help the pack feel whole for everyone."
Derek nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea."
***
"Gonna have to cut this chat short tonight, Der," Stiles said after they'd been talking for a half hour. "We're doing a group project in European history and the leader wants to have a last-minute review of our duties and assignments before Thanksgiving. Like there aren't four million other things we have to get done for other classes before break."
"Thanksgiving, right," Derek said suddenly.
"Have you thought about what you want to do for the holidays? Like, are you going to Cora's for Christmas or is she visiting you?" Stiles asked.
"I hadn't thought ahead to Christmas yet," Derek admitted. "Taking things a few days at a time. What about you? What are your Thanksgiving plans for next week?"
"Having an early dinner with Dad, Scott, and Melissa. They're both working a night shift to give other people the night with their families, and Scott's doing something with Kira and her family," Stiles told him.
"No plans for yourself?"
Stiles shrugged. "Probably a monster movie solo marathon. Thinking of watching An American Werewolf in London, any thoughts?"
"You're an asshole?" Derek jokingly guessed.
"That is definitely a very likely possibility," Stiles replied with a laugh. His phone buzzed and be sighed when he saw it was a group text about his history class. "Gotta go. I'll drop you a line when I get a free moment in the next couple days, okay?"
"Only if you have time," Derek instructed.
"I make time for you, dude" Stiles replied with a grin. Derek barely had time to wave before Stiles was gone and out the door to meet with his classmates.
***
Stiles let his head loll back against the couch and wondered if it was too early to go to bed.
Thanksgiving was a success, in that a meal with way too much food was consumed by far too few people and they each felt a level of "too full, want to die" during the day. Stiles came home from the McCall house laden down with enough leftovers to last him to when he'd go back to school. He and Scott made tentative plans to hang out that weekend, then was off for a night with Kira.
Stiles tried to Skype Derek a couple times during the day but the calls returned unanswered. Although he was drowsy was full of pent-up energy, making his leg bounce and his teeth worry at his hangnails, caused him to drift from thought to thought and ignore his attempted movie marathon.
He whipped out his phone and opened the Facebook messenger to type up a rambling paragraph about his thoughts on the celebration of Thanksgiving, already trying to anticipate Derek's own thoughts in reply. Derek seemed to appreciated Stiles' long rants and verbal opinion pieces when he could provide sources for Derek to study up on and play devil's advocate. Stiles quickly learned that Derek loved to engage in debate with Stiles and Stiles was a little bit in love with his brain as a result.
As he was furiously typing a notification came through from Skype and Stiles accepted the incoming voice call immediately.
"Sour wolf!" Stiles said happily, cringing at how overly excited he thought he sounded.
"Stiles, how's it going?" Derek greeted him.
"Fighting the tryptophan, man," Stiles replied. "Where are you?"
"Just got home," Derek replied. "Laptop's packed away at the moment, sorry."
"No problem. I tried to call a couple times today to say hi, thanks for calling back."
"I meant to earlier but I was a bit later than I expected," Derek said. Stiles shrugged but then remembered Derek couldn't see him.
"You don't owe me an explanation, dude," Stile replied.
"Well-" Derek started but there was a knock at the door, making Stiles jump. "Need to get that?"
Stiles sighed. "Damn you and your werewolf hearing. Don't think you can get rid of me that easily."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Stiles," Derek chuckled in his ear as Stiles made his way to the front door. He turned on the porch light but could only see a shoulder. He flicked his eyes down quickly to make sure the mountain ash line was in place, a preventative measure to protect his father while he was at college.
"Hello?" Stiles asked while opening the door, phone to his ear.
"Hello," Derek replied both over the phone and in person.
"Holy shit," Stiles whispered and dropped his phone arm to dangle loosely by his side.
"Hey Stiles," Derek greeted him with that familiar smile he was now used to seeing over Skype and goddamn, there were the crinkles.
"H-Hey Derek," Stiles replied and tried to strike a casual pose while leaning against the door frame. "What's new? Last I heard you were in Spain."
"Spain was a couple weeks ago now, actually," Derek replied as he slipped his own phone into his coat pocket. He was wearing a black suede coat and it made his ridiculously tanned skin look that much darker and he had on black pants that looked soft enough that Stiles wanted desperately to touch and verify.
"Why?" Stiles asked, dragging his eyes up to meet Derek's amused gaze. "Why did you leave Spain?" He was too confused to be embarrassed about being caught checking Derek out.
"I realized it's time for me to be pack again. The Beacon Hills pack, the McCall pack."
"But the pack in Spain-"
"I never joined another pack."
"You didn't say," Stiles said with a frown.
"I didn't want to talk about it," Derek corrected. "You reminded me that I wasn't doing what I had to."
"Why did you message me?" Stiles asked, remembering back a couple months and dozens of conversations ago.
"I needed help falling asleep," Derek replied simply and Stiles didn't have to be a werewolf to know it was the truth. "You were the person I knew I could ask and then I saw you online. I'll never call Facebook stupid again."
"Yes, you will," Stiles laughed and Derek nodded.
"Yes, I will." He reached his hand out and seemed to hover around Stiles' hand quickly before dropping back. "I was having trouble sleeping for a few months. I thought that damn nematon got into my brain but turned out it was my own mind working against me."
"I know that feeling," Stiles said softly.
"I knew you would." Derek tapped his own head. "Sometimes the demons up here are louder than anyone else but I'm pretty sure nothing and no one is as persistently annoying as you are."
"A ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one." Stiles grinned. "So I helped you back from the dark side, basically."
Derek scowled mildly. "Easy there, Yoda. You helped me realize I'd worked on everything but being in a pack again. That's why I'm here."
"So you were in Spain a couple weeks ago, where have you been since?" Stiles asked, trying to wrap his thoughts around all the new information.
"Drove through France and saw Isaac. He's well and with another pack. Said goodbye to some friends in England. Then I finished dealing with everything in New York. Our storage locker is gone, I saw the pack that sheltered us after the fire and spent some time with them. Then I flew here today. Got off the plane about a half-hour ago."
"You came straight here?" Stiles asked incredulously.
"I know Scott will allow me back, Stiles. But I'm also not ignorant that your approval is the final say with him."
"Why does it matter if I approve of you?" Stiles asked slowly. Derek hesitated, then finally reached out to gently take Stiles' hand. Stiles blinked and realization hit him immediately. "Seriously?"
Derek shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Stiles opened and closed his mouth, thinking back to them three years earlier, fighting against each other and working on each other's final nerve. Just as Derek was a different person than Stiles knew him to be, he likely was to Derek as well. They became new friends under the guise of being old acquaintances.
Stiles nodded and took a step back into the house, bringing Derek to the edge of the mountain ash line that forced him to stop. He leaned in so he was chest to chest with Derek, lips barely grazing each other's and he exhaled lightly against Derek's skin.
Without looking down Stiles pointed his toe and dragged it through the line under his foot. Derek surged forward and pushed Stiles against the wall, dragging his nose up the tight cord to Stiles' jawline, brushing his lips against the sensitive curve of skin.
Later, once Scott was officially notified and gave his blessing to accept Derek back, and Derek scent marked the hell out Stiles, they were laying in Stiles' bed on top of the covers. Derek was wrapped around Stiles with his face pressed into his neck at the crook of his jaw. With a snort, Stiles realized Derek finally got something that smelled like pack to help him sleep.
"Don't think you can get away with this, you slick bastard," Stiles mumbled.
Derek shifted against him, clearly not as asleep as Stiles thought. "We'll see," he replied smugly.
PG-13, Eventual Stiles/Derek, 3300-ish words
Post s4, college student!Stiles, future fic, social media
Written for the prompt "insomnia" for fullmoon_ficlet. It got a bit away from me when I wrote it last week. This is the slightly edited version from what was originally posted that neatens it up some.
"Is it night there?"
Derek chuckled. "Yeah, it is. How do you know where I am?"
"I don't, that's why it's weird it's night. That puts you in... Europe?" Stiles asked after some quick math.
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Spain. You haven't lost that..." Derek waved his hand. "Stileness."
The Facebook IM popped up out of nowhere in his 2pm European history class.
Hey.
Stiles had to check his friend list and recent activity a couple times before responding just to make sure no one was dicking with him and he hadn't gotten hijacked. The only reason he still had a Facebook was for pretences. The pack decided collectively to avoid discussing anything they dealt with online, no matter how private the group or DM.
Derek? Stiles typed, half-heartedly trying to tune into what his professor was saying.
How are things?
***
The rest of the class was a wash for Stiles. He was on top of things enough that he could afford to be distracted for a class or two. And Derek contacting Stiles--Derek using Facebook-- was more noteworthy for Stiles than their third day covering the French Revolution. He was already incredibly well-versed on the topic due to learning everything possible about the guillotine in sophomore year of high school.
He fled back to his dorm, skipping his usual post-class coffee, and flung himself into the desk chair in his dorm room. He opened Skype and dialed Derek, once he got over the oddity of Derek Hale having a Skype account.
"You look good," Derek said by way of hello when he answered Stiles' call.
Stiles squinted at Derek through his monitor. "You look tired," he said finally, noting how frustrating it was to not see Derek with life-like quality. He searched the screen around Derek. "Is it night there?"
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it is. How do you know where I am?"
"I don't, that's why it's weird it's night. That puts you in... Europe?" Stiles asked after some quick math.
Derek chuckled. "Spain. You haven't lost that..." Derek waved his hand. "Stileness."
Stiles laughed aloud, taking himself off guard and Derek, if the way his eyes widened was a way to judge. "It wouldn't be surprising if you checked in more than once a year," Stiles scolded Derek teasingly but Derek ducked his head a little and nodded.
"Needed some time. For real this time around. Spent some time with Cora, caught up with friends in New York. Found some family over here in Europe and decided to get in touch with some of them," Derek explained easily.
"Holy shit," Stiles breathed. "You found your lycanthropic relatives?" Derek nodded. Stiles swallowed hard. "You got a new pack now, then?"
Derek paused for a second, then shook his head. "I didn't message you to talk about this."
Stiles nodded. "Why did you, then?"
Derek shrugged. "Couldn't sleep, saw you online."
Stiles was quiet for a long moment, then nodded. "Try some warm milk. It sounds stupid but it does work. Take a hot shower, too. Should help you get to sleep."
Derek looked like he wanted to say something but he inclined his head and murmured a thank you. Before Stiles could reply Derek said "Later" and signed off.
Stiles was disappointed but tamped it down and turned to his homework instead. Just because he could afford to be distracted from school didn't mean he wanted to be.
***
A week later Stiles was in class again when Skype asked if he wanted to accept a call from Derek. He rejected it and immediately opened Facebook to send him a quick message, hoping he was on.
Sorry, in class. Talk later?
A few minutes later Derek replied, What are you doing answering me at all? Pay attention in class!
Stiles ducked his head and grinned into his shirt, then replied, once upon a time I would never believe those words coming out of your mouth.
Once upon a time you should listen to your professor, came the reply and Stiles got the message. He quit the IM window and did his best to focus on class no matter how much he wanted to do anything but.
***
"What are you doing over there that's made you stay in sunny Spain all this time?" Stiles asked later in the afternoon.
Derek yawned, holding up a finger, then replied tiredly, "Took some classes, touring the sites, taking a much-needed vacation."
"I'll give you the vacation, sour wolf," Stiles replied as he highlighted a sentence in a text for his english class. Derek went quiet and Stiles didn't notice for a solid minute as he wrapped his brain around a statement in his readings.
"You okay?" Stiles asked, jerking his head up to study Derek.
"Been a while since I heard that," Derek said, aiming for a light tone.
"I'll have to stick with it because you're thousands of miles away and judging your expression based on this internet connection isn't reliable," Stiles joked.
"Okay," Derek agreed with a small smile.
Stiles changed the subject. "Are you sleeping okay? Do I need to consult my personal experiences with not sleeping for tricks to make yourself go down?"
Derek shrugged. "It's been hit or miss lately."
"Did you try what I suggested last time?" Derek nodded. "Sometimes cooler temperatures are necessary. Spain's pretty hot, are you sure it's not too much for you?" Derek didn't reply, just rolled his eyes. "Okay. Let me contact Deaton and see if there's a stronger version of melatonin that you could take and actually have work. It's all natural, don't worry. I'll see if there's a local shop or emissary you could contact about it."
Derek opened his mouth to say something, hesitated and shut it again. Stiles waited, pleased for the tiny moments of insight Derek was giving him on his current self. Derek was someone Stiles didn't know anymore and that realization made Stiles sad because although old Derek was an asshole by times, he was also a friend by the end. He felt out of his depth with this new quiet (not mute), introspective (no longer avoidant), and calm (Stiles would never admit that memories of Derek wolfing out in front of an enemy featured in his masturbatory fantasies since late in high school) Derek.
"Thanks, Stiles," Derek said simply.
Stiles could come to really like this stranger.
***
"Hello?"
Stiles jumped back from his monitor with a loud curse. On the other side Cora grinned at him sarcastically.
"Stilinski. Why in the hell are you Skyping my brother?" She asked. "I thought I was the only one he Skyped."
"I guess there's two of us," Stiles muttered back knowing she'd hear him even with the less-than-perfect sound quality.
"Want me to tell him you called? He just ran to the corner for ingredients for the amazing fresh seafood dinner he's going to make me," Cora bragged.
Stiles blinked. "Derek can cook?"
Cora gave him a weird look. "Duh. He can survive as a fully-functional adult, you know."
Stiles forced a laugh. "We must have skipped those demonstrations in during his reign as that year's alpha."
"Hey, fuck you, Stilinski," Cora spat back, eyes flashing yellow.
"No, no!" Stiles yelled. "I just mean- I mean. Like. We only saw him at the worst of things, you know? And things were so fucked up-three alphas in one year, and that's on top of the alpha pack. Without Derek I don't know if all of us would have survived."
Cora gazed over the laptop with her jaw set and Stiles waited for her to rip the webcam out of the screen or to slam the lid of the laptop down. Instead she nodded slightly.
"Later, Stilinski," she said abruptly and disconnected their call.
Stiles figured he should wait until Derek called him this time around.
***
"Hello? Stiles?"
Stiles had answered the Skype notification he got by reaching over to his laptop on his bedside table and slapped at the keys in hopes he would hit the right one. He was half-asleep, feeling like he was in a weird dream.
"Derek?" Stiles gasped an instant before he sat up in bed and fully turned to the screen. "Derek!"
"Hey Stiles," Derek said with an easy smile, one Stiles couldn't remember ever seeing on Derek before their Skype calls but now couldn't imagine him any other way.
"What's up?" Stiles asked while wiping at his eyes. "Why so early?"
"I wanted to let you know that I'll probably be out of communication for a couple days." Derek was sitting with his back to a window and Stiles could see bright sunny trees in the distance behind him.
"What's wrong?" Stiles asked immediately and pulled the laptop onto his lap while he ran a hand through his messy hair.
Derek shook his head. "Nothing, I promise. I have some things that need to get done, is all."
Stiles frowned. "Things that are gonna take you away from an internet connection?"
"Things I have to do," Derek replied softly but in a tone that said it wasn't open for discussion.
Stiles sighed. "Be careful," he said finally.
Derek nodded and they disconnected the call at the same time.
***
"You're safe," Stiles said in greeting to Derek three days later when Stiles finally heard from him.
"Told you I would be," Derek said easily, smiling so there were crinkles around his eyes and goddamn, where had those come from? Had Stiles ever seen Derek with eye crinkles? Had Stiles ever truly seen Derek smile? "What?" Derek asked.
"You have a great smile," Stiles blurted out before his filter could kick in.
The light was dim on Derek's side of the screen but Stiles was sure he could make out the tips of Derek's ears where he was flushing. "Thanks," he said quickly. "How was your day?"
Stiles opened his mouth to reply but then a thought occurred to him and he pointed at Derek. "What the hell are you doing up right now? Isn't it something like four in the morning there?"
Derek laughed. "Something like that. What advice can you give me for tonight's insomnia?"
Stiles thought for a second. "If you have something that smells familiar, like another, uh. Another pack member. It can help lull you to sleep. I've heard this from Scott and Liam and even us humans can attest to it working sometimes."
"What if I don't have anything from the pack?" Derek asked, words measured. Stiles caught his eyes through the screen and didn't look away.
"If you ask a pack member they'll be happy to help you," Stiles replied. "Anything to help the pack feel whole for everyone."
Derek nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea."
***
"Gonna have to cut this chat short tonight, Der," Stiles said after they'd been talking for a half hour. "We're doing a group project in European history and the leader wants to have a last-minute review of our duties and assignments before Thanksgiving. Like there aren't four million other things we have to get done for other classes before break."
"Thanksgiving, right," Derek said suddenly.
"Have you thought about what you want to do for the holidays? Like, are you going to Cora's for Christmas or is she visiting you?" Stiles asked.
"I hadn't thought ahead to Christmas yet," Derek admitted. "Taking things a few days at a time. What about you? What are your Thanksgiving plans for next week?"
"Having an early dinner with Dad, Scott, and Melissa. They're both working a night shift to give other people the night with their families, and Scott's doing something with Kira and her family," Stiles told him.
"No plans for yourself?"
Stiles shrugged. "Probably a monster movie solo marathon. Thinking of watching An American Werewolf in London, any thoughts?"
"You're an asshole?" Derek jokingly guessed.
"That is definitely a very likely possibility," Stiles replied with a laugh. His phone buzzed and be sighed when he saw it was a group text about his history class. "Gotta go. I'll drop you a line when I get a free moment in the next couple days, okay?"
"Only if you have time," Derek instructed.
"I make time for you, dude" Stiles replied with a grin. Derek barely had time to wave before Stiles was gone and out the door to meet with his classmates.
***
Stiles let his head loll back against the couch and wondered if it was too early to go to bed.
Thanksgiving was a success, in that a meal with way too much food was consumed by far too few people and they each felt a level of "too full, want to die" during the day. Stiles came home from the McCall house laden down with enough leftovers to last him to when he'd go back to school. He and Scott made tentative plans to hang out that weekend, then was off for a night with Kira.
Stiles tried to Skype Derek a couple times during the day but the calls returned unanswered. Although he was drowsy was full of pent-up energy, making his leg bounce and his teeth worry at his hangnails, caused him to drift from thought to thought and ignore his attempted movie marathon.
He whipped out his phone and opened the Facebook messenger to type up a rambling paragraph about his thoughts on the celebration of Thanksgiving, already trying to anticipate Derek's own thoughts in reply. Derek seemed to appreciated Stiles' long rants and verbal opinion pieces when he could provide sources for Derek to study up on and play devil's advocate. Stiles quickly learned that Derek loved to engage in debate with Stiles and Stiles was a little bit in love with his brain as a result.
As he was furiously typing a notification came through from Skype and Stiles accepted the incoming voice call immediately.
"Sour wolf!" Stiles said happily, cringing at how overly excited he thought he sounded.
"Stiles, how's it going?" Derek greeted him.
"Fighting the tryptophan, man," Stiles replied. "Where are you?"
"Just got home," Derek replied. "Laptop's packed away at the moment, sorry."
"No problem. I tried to call a couple times today to say hi, thanks for calling back."
"I meant to earlier but I was a bit later than I expected," Derek said. Stiles shrugged but then remembered Derek couldn't see him.
"You don't owe me an explanation, dude," Stile replied.
"Well-" Derek started but there was a knock at the door, making Stiles jump. "Need to get that?"
Stiles sighed. "Damn you and your werewolf hearing. Don't think you can get rid of me that easily."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Stiles," Derek chuckled in his ear as Stiles made his way to the front door. He turned on the porch light but could only see a shoulder. He flicked his eyes down quickly to make sure the mountain ash line was in place, a preventative measure to protect his father while he was at college.
"Hello?" Stiles asked while opening the door, phone to his ear.
"Hello," Derek replied both over the phone and in person.
"Holy shit," Stiles whispered and dropped his phone arm to dangle loosely by his side.
"Hey Stiles," Derek greeted him with that familiar smile he was now used to seeing over Skype and goddamn, there were the crinkles.
"H-Hey Derek," Stiles replied and tried to strike a casual pose while leaning against the door frame. "What's new? Last I heard you were in Spain."
"Spain was a couple weeks ago now, actually," Derek replied as he slipped his own phone into his coat pocket. He was wearing a black suede coat and it made his ridiculously tanned skin look that much darker and he had on black pants that looked soft enough that Stiles wanted desperately to touch and verify.
"Why?" Stiles asked, dragging his eyes up to meet Derek's amused gaze. "Why did you leave Spain?" He was too confused to be embarrassed about being caught checking Derek out.
"I realized it's time for me to be pack again. The Beacon Hills pack, the McCall pack."
"But the pack in Spain-"
"I never joined another pack."
"You didn't say," Stiles said with a frown.
"I didn't want to talk about it," Derek corrected. "You reminded me that I wasn't doing what I had to."
"Why did you message me?" Stiles asked, remembering back a couple months and dozens of conversations ago.
"I needed help falling asleep," Derek replied simply and Stiles didn't have to be a werewolf to know it was the truth. "You were the person I knew I could ask and then I saw you online. I'll never call Facebook stupid again."
"Yes, you will," Stiles laughed and Derek nodded.
"Yes, I will." He reached his hand out and seemed to hover around Stiles' hand quickly before dropping back. "I was having trouble sleeping for a few months. I thought that damn nematon got into my brain but turned out it was my own mind working against me."
"I know that feeling," Stiles said softly.
"I knew you would." Derek tapped his own head. "Sometimes the demons up here are louder than anyone else but I'm pretty sure nothing and no one is as persistently annoying as you are."
"A ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one." Stiles grinned. "So I helped you back from the dark side, basically."
Derek scowled mildly. "Easy there, Yoda. You helped me realize I'd worked on everything but being in a pack again. That's why I'm here."
"So you were in Spain a couple weeks ago, where have you been since?" Stiles asked, trying to wrap his thoughts around all the new information.
"Drove through France and saw Isaac. He's well and with another pack. Said goodbye to some friends in England. Then I finished dealing with everything in New York. Our storage locker is gone, I saw the pack that sheltered us after the fire and spent some time with them. Then I flew here today. Got off the plane about a half-hour ago."
"You came straight here?" Stiles asked incredulously.
"I know Scott will allow me back, Stiles. But I'm also not ignorant that your approval is the final say with him."
"Why does it matter if I approve of you?" Stiles asked slowly. Derek hesitated, then finally reached out to gently take Stiles' hand. Stiles blinked and realization hit him immediately. "Seriously?"
Derek shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Stiles opened and closed his mouth, thinking back to them three years earlier, fighting against each other and working on each other's final nerve. Just as Derek was a different person than Stiles knew him to be, he likely was to Derek as well. They became new friends under the guise of being old acquaintances.
Stiles nodded and took a step back into the house, bringing Derek to the edge of the mountain ash line that forced him to stop. He leaned in so he was chest to chest with Derek, lips barely grazing each other's and he exhaled lightly against Derek's skin.
Without looking down Stiles pointed his toe and dragged it through the line under his foot. Derek surged forward and pushed Stiles against the wall, dragging his nose up the tight cord to Stiles' jawline, brushing his lips against the sensitive curve of skin.
Later, once Scott was officially notified and gave his blessing to accept Derek back, and Derek scent marked the hell out Stiles, they were laying in Stiles' bed on top of the covers. Derek was wrapped around Stiles with his face pressed into his neck at the crook of his jaw. With a snort, Stiles realized Derek finally got something that smelled like pack to help him sleep.
"Don't think you can get away with this, you slick bastard," Stiles mumbled.
Derek shifted against him, clearly not as asleep as Stiles thought. "We'll see," he replied smugly.