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Stiles doesn’t mean to take it, he doesn’t even mean to be snooping really but he’s bored and he’s a curious person by nature.
The rest of the pack is outside of the half remodeled Hale house training while he’s getting a glass of water and then he just starts wandering. Most of the ground level of the house is done, while the top floor still shows the marks left behind by the fire. Stepping lightly and cautiously though it’s been assured by contractors that the structure is sound, Stiles makes his way up, touching here and there at scorch marks, his heart squeezing painful wondering not for the first time how someone could have rained so much destruction on innocent people.
He finds himself in a room that looks like it could have been a study back in the day, half burned desk and books all over the floor, a lot of them and Stiles thinks the Hales must have liked reading a lot. He knows Derek does, in quiet moments when the pack has been laying about, goofing off, Derek could be found quietly in a corner lost in whatever book he’s gotten a hold of. He looks around, the walls are all darken but Stiles bets that once upon a time there must have been pictures on those walls; he bets there were pictures all around the house. One of the few times that he and Derek have spoken without snarling at each other Stiles had mentioned his mother had been a teacher and surprisingly Derek had shared his mother use to a photographer.
Which is why is isn’t a surprise when he finds an old 8mm camera in the wreck of a room. Why he takes it? Well, he’s still working on that.
…….
It becomes a bit of an obsession, he tinkers with it, flipping the little switches, putting new batteries hoping it will work, days are spent on the computer, Wikipedia, Youtube, till he now knows more about the Kodak Brownie 8mm movie camera than he ever needed to know. He’s not even sure what’s driving him, why he cares he just knows that his heart hurts when he thinks that Derek doesn’t have any memories to hold in his hands and he needs to fix it.
It takes him two weeks to figure it all out, time spent mostly scowling at instructional videos that basically show you the hardest way possible to transfer old 8mm film to a DVD format, trying to discourage you before trying to sell you that they could do it for you, for a price.
“Where did you find that piece of junk?”
Stiles looks up from the camera in his hand to his father who is standing at the door with a curious expression.
“Those things are as old as me,” his father continues. “And no, that’s not an invitation to call me ancient.”
Stiles grins at his father, ever since he and the pack finally revealed to the man about the furry situation his fair town has, his relationship with his dad is back to the good old days. “I took it from Derek’s house.”
His dad raises an eyebrow at him. “I thought we got over your stick fingers phase a long time ago, well besides stealing police vehicles, but you had a lizard to deal with so I give you a pass.”
Stiles chuckles before turning serious. “There’s film in here, I’m trying to recover the footage.”
“Stiles,” his father says softly.
“He has nothing left from his family, Peter doesn’t count. No pictures, everything that belonged to them burned, I-I wouldn’t know how to deal if I could never see mom’s face again, we have pictures and family videos and he just doesn’t, I want to try to give something back to him,” Stiles looks up at his dad, embarrassed by his confession.
His father looks at him before crossing his room, grabbing his face, his father leans down and kisses his forehead like when he was a kid. “I’m a good father.”
Stiles looks up at him confused. “Um, yeah, like duh.”
His father smiles, shaking his head as he runs a hand through Stiles’ hair. “I’m a good father, I raised a great kid.”
If Stiles’ eyes water his father kindly lets it slide. He’s a good father that way.
…..
He doesn’t hand it to Derek in person; instead he leaves the DVD and the old camera in Derek’s room.
…..
He’s not really all that surprised when Derek slips through his window a few hours later, even with his dad knowing about the wolves, Stiles’ window is still Derek’s version of a doggy door. What does surprise him is the arm full of Alpha he gets.
For a moment he doesn’t know what to do with his hands but then Derek shudders and Stiles responds, hands gripping Derek’s shirt tightly, he squeezes as hard as he can, rocking the older man in his arms back and forth while Derek clings to him, pressing his face to Stiles neck.
How long they stay like that Stiles is not sure not that it matters, when Derek pulls back his eyes are red and not from his Alpha mojo.
“Sit,” Derek says pointing at Stiles’ bed and Stiles follows the instruction, sitting on his bed his back presses against the wall as Derek takes Stiles’ laptop and brings it over sitting next to Stiles. He holds his breath as Derek pops in the familiar DVD.
“This is Melanie,” Derek starts, his voice rough and low but lined with affection as a pretty girl about ten comes into view. “She was two years younger than me and a pain in my ass.”
Stiles listens and watches as he’s introduced to the Hale family, Robert, his father, a man with a gentle face full of laugh lines. Jacob and Marcus, Derek’s brothers and just as good looking as him. Laura with bouncing brown hair, letting out a belly laugh as she pounces on a younger Derek, his mother Talia, a stunning woman that stands tall and shakes her head playfully, groaning when her husband takes the camera and starts filming her.
Derek squeezes his hand, the one he’s been holding since he pressed play. “She would have loved you,” Derek says softly as he runs his thumb over Stiles’ pulse. “They all would have loved you and given me a hard time about dragging my feet with you.”
Derek lets out a small laugh, looking over at him, his hazel-green eyes shining. “Mel would have threatened to steal you for herself and I would have growled while Laura laughed at us and then she would have said something ridiculous like quote that Beyonce song? You know that one with the ring?”
“Single Ladies,” Stiles gets out over his pounding heart.
Derek nods. “That one, they all would have loved you, it’s impossible for a Hale not to love Stiles Stilinski.”
“Derek,” Stiles breathes as Derek leans in, pressing his forehead against Stiles’ their gazes locking.
“Stiles,” Derek whispers and his breath dances over Stiles’ lips. “Thank you, this- I have no words to say how grateful I am.”
“I wanted you to have them back, even if it was a small piece,” Stiles whispers back, his eyes stings as Derek closes his. “Sorry it so small, I- I wish there was more.”
“It’s enough,” Derek answers as he reaches up and cups Stiles’ cheek. “This and you, having both- it’s enough, it’s so much.”
“You have me,” Stiles says as Derek presses a kiss at the corner of his mouth. “You have me.”
Derek smiles, full of affection. “I know.”