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They’re gathered in the parking lot of the science and technology building waiting for Lydia so they can all leave together to go to their favorite It’s Friday And All We Want To Do Is Sleep But Let’s Go Get Hammered Instead bar.
Allison and Isaac are too busy making out to take part in the conversation happening between Scott and Boyd about which of their girlfriends would win in a fight, while Kira and Erica try not to laugh at the fact that either of them think there would be a situation in which they wouldn’t just team up, kick everyone’s asses and probably take over the world.
By the time Lydia finally appears, an almost manic look on her face, muttering something about ‘stupid fucking TAs who wouldn't know the difference between a good dissertation subject and a rejected twilight plot idea if it bit them in the ass’, Allison has detached herself from Isaac’s face long enough to offer her services in the plan for world domination and the almost identical looks of not sure if I’m turned on or terrified, probably both on Scott, Isaac and Boyd’s faces actual makes Lydia’s pinched eyebrows and frown soften into something slightly more relaxed.
Stiles tries to hold onto the fondness he’s feeling for his friends and not the feeling of loneliness it usually brings with it.
He loves his friends, and he’s genuinely happy that--with the exception of Lydia, who decided a few years ago that until she could find someone who was going to appreciate her for and not who they wanted her to be, she was done with relationships and was focusing instead on her PHD (a decision that she never looked back from and has made her happier, more confident and more herself than Stiles can ever remember her being)--they’re all in relationships that are so perfect for them. He’s happy for them that they get to spend so much time with each other, that they get to see their partners on a regular basis.
But it’s times like this that he has to remind himself extra hard that he’s not actually alone. He has a wonderful boyfriend--and okay, maybe he’s only met him in person once, and maybe they only got to spend a weekend together before Derek had to go back to work on the other side of the country while Stiles stayed in Beacon Hills--but they speak on the phone every day, they text almost constantly, they skype at least once a week. Stiles isn’t alone. He has Derek, even if it’s a few thousand miles away.
He’s so busy day dreaming about Derek that he only vaguely noticed Kira’s eyes widening at something behind him. He doesn’t pay it much attention, since Kira’s forever seeing dogs who are So fluffy, oh my God, I’m gonna die. Usually Stiles is the first to dog watch with her, but he’s feeling off today and even the thought of fluffy dogs isn’t making his feel any less wrong footed.
He goes back go thinking about Derek, decides to text him, and only then realises that he hasn’t had any replies from him in hours now. Huh.
“Guys,” Kira eventually says. “Holy shit. Don’t all look at once, but your six o’clock, okay. He's either the most committed stripper in the world or, Stiles, that new deputy you said your dad mentioned finally arrived and looks like he's probably a model in his spare time.”
Stiles snorts lightly as he sends a quick you alright, babe? to Derek as not one of his friends listens to Kira, and all turn around straight away to look at this apparent specimen of man. Stiles throws a quick glance over his shoulder but can’t really see anything through the wall of people he now has blocking his view. He thinks he sees the familiar colors of one the Sheriff’s department cruisers over Lydia’s shoulder but after a few seconds of craning his neck as far as he can be bothered, shrugs dismissively and goes back to his phone.
“Why is he coming over here?” Scott asks a few seconds later. “Are we sure he’s an actual Deputy? He looks more like a serial killer, and seriously, he’s coming right at us.”
Stiles is the only one still looking away, too busy frowning at his lack of replies from Derek to worry about Mr. Possible Serial Killer Deputy Imposter. He sends another quick let me know you’re okay when you can please. getting worried now and a few seconds later there’s a faint, familiar ding behind him and an even more familiar voice saying “Um, I’m looking for Stiles? Stilinski? I was told he'd probably be around here somewhere. I don't suppose you'd know where I could find him?”
Stiles’ body whips around so fast he’s surprised he doesn’t get whiplash. He’s pushing through the tiny space between Scott and Boyd before he even thinks about it. Then he’s standing there, gaping like a fish, shaking his head in disbelief and pinching himself sharply on the arm.
“Oh my God,” he manages, voice hoarse.
“What-” Stiles hears Kira start, but he pays her no mind, just takes a wobbly step forward.
“Derek?” he asks, voice breaking embarrassingly.
“Holy shit,” Stiles vaguely hears Erica say. “That’s-?”
Stiles is too busy launching himself at Derek to hear the rest of Erica’s sentence. He wraps his limbs around Derek and tucks his face into his neck, trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to smother the sob he can feel rising in his throat.
“What?” is all he manages before the sob breaks free.
“Well,” Derek says, clinging to Stiles just as hard as Stiles is clinging to him, “I heard about this great Sheriff in California who was looking for a new deputy, and so I thought, you know, a change of scenery would be nice. Maybe I could get end up a little closer to this really amazing guy I’ve been dating for a while."
“Are you serious?” Stiles says dazedly. “You’re really here? And you’re not just visiting?”
“Surprise?” Derek says, pulling back slightly so he can look at Stiles’ face. Stiles doesn’t know what his face is doing but Derek's expression quickly changes from hopeful to something closer to panic. “It's-- Should I have--? Oh my God, I should have checked this was okay with you first. I-- There’s no pressure, alright? I know we’ve talked about moving closer to each other one day, eventually living together and stuff, but there’s no rush. Just because I’m here now, doesn’t mean we have to suddenly be any more serious than we have been so far if you’re not ready. This isn’t--I didn’t mean to--”
“I...” Stiles shakes his head, trying to clear the hundreds of thoughts that are currently flying around his brain. “I mean, maybe? We probably need to have a conversation about you maybe involving me in life changing decisions in the future, but. Holy shit, Derek, you’re actually here. I honestly don’t really care about anything else right now.”
The look of relief on Derek’s face too much for Stiles to take and really, Stiles is surprised at how long he managed to wait so far without kissing Derek like there’s no tomorrow, so that’s exactly what he does.
He doesn’t know how long they stay like that before the cheering and wolf whistles from his friends breaks into his consciousness.
Stiles pulls back, blushing, let’s his legs drop from around Derek waist, but keeps a hand clenched in the back of Derek’s uniform shirt.
“So,” Stiles says, ripping his eyes away from the adorable blush that’s made it’s way to Derek’s ears to the seven grinning faces of his friends. “I don’t think I’m going to make it to the bar, you guys. I’ve got some important things to do, if you know what I mean.” He wiggles his eyebrows and feels more than hears Derek sigh in exasperation.
“Oh my God, Stilinski,” Isaac mumbles, facepalming as the wolf whistles start all over again.
Stiles can’t really find it in himself to be the slightest bit embarrassed.
(They take things one day at a time. It feels like they have all the time in the world so they don’t rush a thing. They wait for Stiles to finish college before finding an apartment midway between the station and the software company where Stiles works, and Derek makes sure all the important decisions are made by both of them from now on.
Whether it’s in finding the perfect place to live or in finding the perfect puppy to take home and spoil rotten (and then another, and another, until their apartment is too small for their little makeshift family), or the decision, years later, to finally buy a house of their own--a huge, beautiful thing in the preserve that Derek takes one look at and says feels strangely like home, where they have conversations about maybe involving some tiny humans in their family one day, not just dogs--it’s always the two of them, together.
There are no more surprise life changing decisions, and Stiles is glad for it, because as much everything seems to have worked out well in the end, Stiles too often worries about what would have happened to Derek if he had moved all that way and Stiles hadn’t been the person he’d thought he was. So many things could have gone wrong and they could have both ended up heartbroken. The thought of life without Derek, of Derek feeling like Stiles knows he would have felt, is sometimes enough to make his breath catch and his eyes well up.
So Derek makes sure to keep Stiles in the loop. No surprises.
Until, one day in early May, Stiles comes home to a beautiful dinner and a beautiful boyfriend who’s down on one knee with a small velvet box in his hand, asking Stiles if he’ll make their forever official. Stiles is definitely surprised.
But, Stiles decides, some life changing moments are made all the better with a little mystery. How is their life going to work out? Stiles has no idea. But with a ring on his finger, a fiancé he still sometimes thinks might actually be a dream, friends that remind him every day how lucky he’s always been, and a family that’s only going to get bigger…
Well, he’s absolutely ready to find out.)