Canines and Felines

The Tears of Two Lovers

"Stiles?!", Derek looked at the Kot with a confused expression, tears streaming down his face. Stiles slowly pushed himself off the ground, looking up at Derek so everyone could see that the younger man was crying too. "Derek, I'm so sorry.", he said, running at him to pull him into a tight hug. Both men trying to cling to each other desperately, never wanting to let go. Stiles had barely even noticed the rest of the pack through his blurry tears. It was only until the smell of wolf reached his nose that he looked up, still hugging Derek, to see the other pack members standing in silence.

"Stiles, why were you trying to get rid of us?", Scott asked, a pained expression on his face. "More importantly, why'd you stop?!", Fei asked.
"Darling, I think we may have misinterpreted Stiles' situation.", Amber admitted, guilt pooling in the bottom of her stomach as she saw how the two lovers clung to each other. Fei looked over to Stiles and Derek. Their expression softened as they realized Amber was right. "Oh."

"Stiles? What are they talking about? Why were you trying to unmate from Derek?", Lydia piped up. Stiles went quiet, looking to the floor while continuing to hug Derek's arm loosely. "Stiles?", Derek croaked, voice cracking as worry replaced his relief. "I thought it would be better if we weren't mates. So that you weren't stuck with me, and you could pick whoever you want.", Stiles spoke quietly, making eye contact with a pebble on the cold cave floor. A single tear fell from his puffy red eyes and landed onto the pebble with a quiet 'plop'.

"You thought I wouldn't want to be your mate?!", Derek asked. Slowly the pack gave knowing glances to each other and the Lodjurs, silently agreeing to leave the pair to talk. They filtered out of the room and waited outside the cave, where they started lecturing Liam, who had dropped half their snacks outside and didn't mention it to anyone.

"Of course I want to be with you Stiles!", Derek exclaimed, causing Stiles to jerk his head up and stare at the taller man in surprise. "You do?!"

"Yes! How could anyone decline such an offer? You're incredibly smart, resourceful, kind, you laugh at the dumbest things sometimes, which I honestly find so cute, and you've been our most important and strongest pack member since before you got powers!", Derek ranted. Stiles' lips turned up into a smile as he gazed lovingly into Derek's eyes. Derek went on listing the things he loved about Stiles, trying very hard not to mention his looks too much and make himself look shallow, before Stiles eventually decided to shut him up with a kiss.

The kiss was short and sweet because Stiles didn't want to push Derek. But Derek connected their lips again anyways. The second kiss lasted a lot longer, it was much more passionate and intense, and it only ceased when they needed to breathe.

Stiles gasped for breath as he put his forehead to Derek's. "Don't worry sourwolf, I love you too."

****

The lovebirds walked out of the cave smiling and holding hands. Well, they were smiling. Until they noticed Theo and Liam were fighting again while the rest of the pack ate snacks and watched. "Really? We left you alone for 5 minutes and you're already fighting again?", Derek scolded. "Sorry, we would've stopped them but the rest of your pack was just watching so we thought it best to leave them. Besides, we didn't want to get too close to wolves. No offense, you just smell like wet dog.", Amber said. "Thanks.", Derek deadpanned sarcastically. Stiles stifled a laugh at Derek's obvious annoyance.

The pack started to leave before Stiles stopped everyone. "Wait! Amber, Fei, are you guys going to be okay?", he asked. "We'll be fine young Kot. We told you, we like to travel around alone together and help out other felines.", Fei replied. Stiles nodded in response, saying his goodbyes and giving a quick wave. The Lodjurs smiled fondly as they watched he and his pack leave.