Leave Me In Ruins

Say the word

Derek was awoken by a gentle jostle of his bed. He peeked his eyes open to see Stiles carefully sliding from the bed. He watched his bare ass as he walked to the bathroom.

Derek let out a sigh when the bathroom door clicked shut.

It had been just over a week since he and Stiles had started sleeping together. Stiles had perfected the tea so that it lasted a solid six hours before wearing off. The pair would fall into bed together after long days of research or fruitless searching through the woods.

The sound of his shower turning on reached Derek's ears. He sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Some mornings he would join Stiles, but he knew they had a busy day ahead of them. Scott was insistent they do something fun, to distract from the lingering doom that hung in the distance.

Derek pulled on a pair of sweats before pushing the bathroom door open with a gentle knock.

"Morning," Stiles said from under the shower water. "Sorry if I woke you. You hear everything."

Derek snorted as he grabbed his toothbrush.

"So I was thinking, there's this bonfire party happening at the Pavilion. Danny sent out an invite to us last week. I wasn't gonna mention it with everything going on, but Scott wants us to have fun so it could be fun." Stiles wiped at the fogged glass, peering out at Derek.

Derek spit his toothpaste into the sink. "Could be."

"I know you aren't a huge fan of Danny."

"I never said that."

Stiles rolled his eyes despite Derek not looking at him. "You don't have to. I know you, Derek."

Derek paused. The water ran over the end of his toothbrush as he glanced in the mirror, catching the reflection of the shower. Stiles was back to rinsing himself. And the wipe mark he'd made on the glass was fogging back up.

"I like to think I know you better than the others despite the fact that they can smell your emotions and hear your heartbeat."

Derek put his toothbrush back in its holder. "I don't doubt it. I've never slept with any of them."

Stiles sputtered, cutting the water off. "That's not what I meant."

"You are observant, I'll give you that." Derek couldn't help the fond smile that pulled at his lips.

"Exactly." Stiles wrapped the towel around his waist. "That's how I know you don't like Danny."

"I don't dislike Danny," Derek argued.

Stiles gave Derek a pointed look. "You don't like that he knows our secret."

Derek swallowed. 'Our secret' Despite Stiles being a perfectly normal human being, he still shouldered the burden of knowing about the supernatural and didn't even hesitate.

"I was unhappy with that at first but it's been a few years. I think he's earned some trust."

Stiles' face lit up. "Does that mean the bonfire is ago?"

"Sure," Derek conceded.

-

Scott spent the day dragging the pack to play lacrosse in the park, which Stiles found highly unfair for the humans. He then drug them to lunch and then to see a Matinee of the newest Marvel release. After, they agreed to head home to get ready for the bonfire.

Stiles stared at his reflection. He'd taken a shower to wash away the efforts of the lacrosse game. He currently stood in front of his mirror, his hair dripping. The water drops fell, rolling down his collarbone over a hickey that Derek had left the night before. It was low enough down that his shirt covered it easily.

Stiles' fingers grazed the painless mark. It was like a piece of Derek was with him. He'd marked Derek like that once, but it had faded before his eyes.

His hands clenched at his bathroom counter. He loved having Derek's attention the way he did, but it was hard to know that it would never be anything more than physical.

He wondered if Derek would flirt with anyone tonight. The idea made Stiles' stomach flip. He hadn't expected their friends with benefits to last as long as it had. A week of having Derek like that was more than he could have ever hoped for.

He ran his fingers over the mark one last time as if he could recall the way it felt when Derek gave it to him.

As he got dressed, he debated texting Derek to ask what the rules were for tonight. Were they allowed to go home with other people? He didn't want to go home with anyone but he didn't want to stop Derek if he wanted to.

With a knot in his stomach and his teeth sunk into his bottom lip, he started to type a message and then with a huff, pressed the call button.

"Stiles," Derek's voice answered.

"Hey, uh, you alone?" Stiles would not make the mistake of talking about his relationship with Derek if someone who could hear through the phone was nearby.

"Yes. What's wrong?"

It took moments for Derek's tone to fall into concerned alpha mode.

"No, nothing, I...uh..." Stiles swallowed. "I wanted to let you know that you don't have any obligations to me. I mean you know that, but just like, you know," he rattled, waving a hand.

"What?"

Stiles ran his hand down his face as he tried to find better words. "I mean for tonight."

"Stiles, I'm gonna need you to say more words."

"Tonight, at the bonfire...if you...ya know...meet someone and...you know. There are no obligations here. You just say the word and this is over." Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and was secretly thankful this conversation wasn't happening in person.

There was a moment of silence and then, "Oh."

"I know we know how this works, I just wanted to let you know that I totally get it if you meet someone tonight. And it won't change anything." Stiles was beginning to think that was his motto.

"Right, yeah. Of course. If you meet someone tonight just...say the word." Derek's tone sounded strained. Like he was distracted.

"Right. Okay, well I won't keep you, I just wanted to make sure that was clear." Stiles' stomach was so knotted up, he thought he might vomit.

"I'll see you later."

Stiles hung up the phone and tugged at his damp hair with both strands. He caught his reflection in the mirror and glared. "What? I'm not gonna tell Derek he can't date someone 'cause I'm in love with him."

He turned away and clenched his hands into fists at his side. "That's a surefire way to make things change. And I couldn't bare that."

*AN*
Hope you like it! 😊