Sterek One-shots

Promises Of Forever.

Stiles was in the kitchen cooking dinner as he waited for Derek to get home. He was looking forward to seeing Derek again today as he'd been away in New York, sorting through Laura's stuff. It had been sitting up there for a few years, since her death, as she had moved most of it into a storage unit when she came back to Beacon Hills, and Derek hadn't dared go back there to deal with it. Instead, he'd left it there, untouched and collecting dust, until he couldn't bear the thought of it any more.

Stiles had offered to go with him but Derek had wanted to do it alone. Stiles knew not to push.

He had let himself into Derek's loft with his key just under an hour ago, after he'd received a text from Derek telling him he would be home in forty-five minutes. He was late, but that was okay, it just gave Stiles a little longer to finish up.

He knew that, despite what Derek had said, he was tidying it out now because Stiles planned to go to uni soon and Derek was going to come with him. It had been a long conversation as it was a big step in their relationship; moving in together. But they both wanted it, were even rather excited for it. Stiles understood that Derek wanted to go through it all now, while they were still in Beacon Hills, so that he didn't have to think about it when they moved there. So it wouldn't haunt him. Stiles respected that and didn't push Derek to talk about it yet. He would come to Stiles when he was ready. And Stiles would always be ready to listen.

After he and Derek had finally got together, Derek had become better at communicating his feelings but Stiles had learned that he had to be patient. They had been slowly healing each other and taking this step – moving in together – would be exactly what they both needed right now, and maybe forever. They would have all the time in the world to talk, to heal, to find the missing pieces of their puzzle and build a beautiful life, so patience came easily to him.

So lost in thought, Stiles had missed the slide of the front door so he jumped when a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist and a heavy head rested on his shoulder. "Derek, you're back!" Stiles turned the hob off, spun in Derek's arms and hugged him properly.

"I am. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump," Derek muttered against Stiles' shoulder.

"It's alright, Der. I missed you." He was gone for four days but it felt longer, and now that he was back Stiles was concerned. Truthfully, he had been worrying ever since Derek left, but now, Derek seemed weighed down, worn out, "What's up?" He leaned back, cupped Derek's face in his hands, wiped a thumb under his eye.

"It was harder than I had expected. She had so many things that belonged to our family, so many photos and sentimental items." Derek said, voice soft, lost in its own world of nostalgia and pain.

"Hey," Stiles kissed Derek's nose lightly, "Look at me," When Derek did, Stiles smiled gently, "you're here, with me. You're safe, you're okay. It's okay to be upset, but what you did was brave and strong, and I am so, so proud of you. Do you hear me?" Derek nodded and Stiles' face softened. "Come on, let me serve up dinner, then we can talk more, if that's what you want." Stiles leaned forward again, this time pressing a quiet kiss to Derek's lips.

"God, I love you," Derek muttered into the kiss, eyelids fluttering shut.

"I prefer to go by 'Stiles', but whatever floats your boat I guess." Stiles beamed as he pulled away to finish up dinner. Derek groaned loudly at his idiot boyfriend and left to sit down on the couch. Laughing to himself, Stiles called out, "What, you didn't miss my jokes?" He got no response but knew Derek had heard him, loud and clear.

Stiles came out five minutes later to hand him a tray, his food and a glass of water, left and returned with his own before finally sitting down. They put the T.V. on in the background as they talked about Derek's trip, what he had found and how much he missed his sister and the rest of his family.

Derek made a promise, more to himself than to Stiles, that he wouldn't allow himself to fall away from Peter or Cora. That they would always be a part of their own Pack, along with Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Lydia and, obviously, Stiles, even if none of them were alphas at that time. They would always be Pack.

__________

As they lay curled up in bed together, after a long night of talking, Stiles made his own promise: he would always be there for Derek, no matter what happened. He would not let Derek suffer alone again.

"I love you," Stiles whispered into the darkness.

The arms around his waist tightened slightly, "I know."