Out of Sight, Always in Mind (Derek Hale)

Chapter 22: Christmas!

I woke up to Stiles yelling in the hallway.

"Wake up! Wake up everyone! It's Christmas! Everyone needs to be downstairs to open presents in exactly five minutes. I'll be coming in if you're not there!"

I heard him walk to the stairs before stopping.

"Unless Derek is here. Maybe I'll just wait. Yeah, I'll just wait."

I laughed a little despite how tired I was. Derek groaned and tightened his arms around me.

"Is he like this every year?"

"Yes. He loves it. So if you plan on sticking around, you better get used to it."

He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my back.

"I'm not going anywhere."

I sighed in happiness and cuddled closer to him.

"Good. I had no plans of letting you go."

He chuckled a little before sighing when I sat up.I laughed and got out of bed.

"We can't lay here all day. Stiles may be too scared to come in here, but my dad isn't."

"Okay, okay."

I slid on a hoodie to keep warm before grabbing Derek's hand and dragging him downstairs. We went into the living room and someone grabbed my arm before pulling me along.

"Come on Alice. I've been waiting for you to come down."

"Chill out Stiles. We literally took like three minutes."

"Three minutes too long."

He pushed me down into a seat and I felt Derek sit beside me. I leaned into his side and listened to Stiles shuffling around the room.

"Present time! I'll pass them out."

I had a few presents handed to me and was shocked when Derek had one as well. My present for him was upstairs to be given to him later. I looked in his direction in confusion.

"Who's it from?"

"It's from me. And it's not something I'm supposed to have taken, so hopefully we can keep this between all of us."

I heard Derek open a box and sucked in a breath at whatever it was.

"What is it?"

"It's Laura's necklace. She was always wearing it. My mom gave it to her when she turned 18."

I squeezed his arm in comfort.

"It was still in evidence. Since the case is closed and there's no reason for us to need it again, I figured no one would notice if it went missing."

"Thank you. This means more than you know."

"You're welcome. Why don't you open yours next Alice?"

"Okay."

I opened up a small bag on my lap and felt around to see what it was. It felt like fabric.

"It's some new sweaters. Some cardigans in basic colors. I know you like to have those. Danny also told me it's what you wanted."

"Thanks Stiles. They're great."

I put them back in the bag and moved onto the box in my lap. I tore the paper off before feeling around. It was taped shut.

"What is it?"

"It's a new laptop. I noticed yours is pretty old."

"Dad! This is too much."