Monster. (Sterek)

Part 32: Together We Are Free.

~~~~~

"Stiles?" Derek pulled at Stiles' shaking hand, dragging him to a stop in front of his car. "Hey, it's okay." He had to ground Stiles, keep him breathing slow, steady, he couldn't let him slip.

"Is it? Maybe it was wrong of me to do this, maybe I should've tried harder to get over him, or to--"

"No." Derek growled, "Don't do that, stop doing that. You've been through a lot – too much – you wanted Scott back and, as much as I don't like him, I do understand that only he would be able to fill the hole he left," Derek touched Stiles' chest, right over his heart, "If you want him back, then you deserve to have that. Even if it takes time before we start seeing the real him again."

Stiles looked up at him, placed his own hand on top of Derek's, then leaned up and kissed him. Slow, careful, gentle. His hands were steady now, his scent calming down. He pulled away, his breath evening out gradually, and he said, "Thank you." And for a long moment, Derek couldn't really believe that he had calmed Stiles down that easily, couldn't understand that his words had been enough for Stiles. So, he kissed him again.

*****

They decided to drive back to Stiles'. Stiles filled the silence of the car with random ramblings, half of which he was sure Derek didn't actually understand, but he didn't mind. Then he said something he hadn't actually meant to say out loud, it slipped into his mind at the same time as some fact he'd forgotten he knew and he'd just said it: "Sometimes I miss the strength I had when I was a vampire." Then, since he'd already started, he followed that up with, "And sometimes I miss being able to know what people are feeling just by their scent."

Derek froze, eyes flickering over to Stiles briefly, but that didn't stop Stiles, in fact, it spurred him on; the need to explain himself forcing the words from his mouth. "Like, not in an 'I want to be a vampire or other supernatural creature' way, just an 'it would be cool if I could do that' kind of way. Because I don't miss the no-ageing thing, or the blood, or the overwhelming smell of literally everything. And I definitely don't miss the whole 'I can hear for miles' thing because that was just a pain in the ass – or, more accurately, a pain in the ears. I just miss the strength. I liked being able to just smell it when one of The Pack were upset, or the pure smell of happiness, the sometimes sickeningly-sweet smell of love. It was just... useful I guess."

There was a long pause as Derek pulled up in front of Stiles' house and mulled over his words as he got out of the car. Then, while Stiles was unlocking the front door, Derek said, "It can be useful." Another long pause as they went inside and sat down, one Stiles had to fight the urge to fill, "Before you were a vampire, you were good at telling what someone was feeling, even if they didn't show it."

"I was?"

Derek nodded, "Yeah, I don't think that changed much after you gained the ability to tell what they were feeling by their scent." Stiles smiled softly and Derek went on, "If you really did like the strength then I can help you gain some muscle."

"Wait, really?" Stiles perked up, a grin spreading across his face.

"Yeah," Derek's lips twitched, "Of course."

"When can we start?"

"Whenever you want."

"In a couple of days? Just, you know, to let things calm down a little." Stiles said. Derek agreed. After that, they decide to watch a movie, curled up on the couch with popcorn.

~~~~~

It was late when Isaac knocked on the front door, not waiting to be let in before he opened it (Stiles really needed to learn to lock the door) and walked into the living room, "Hi, Scott's getting his chance to fix what he did. No, I haven't forgiven him but he looked so broken so... Also, we're getting pizza." Apparently, they weren't going to be talking about that any further.

Stiles didn't let on anything but his scent was a confusing mix of emotions. They would work through them together, whenever Stiles was ready.

Derek raised an eyebrow, "We are, are we?"

"Yes, Danny's on his way, he just needed to stop by his house to change into something more comfortable."

Derek glanced down at Stiles who just shrugged, "Sure, why not? Derek can pay for the food."

"I can?"

Stiles just grinned at him in response.

~~~~~

Danny actually waited at the door before coming in, and Noah arrived not long after him. Stiles grumbled about letting his dad have pizza but finally conceded.

Lydia showed up not long later, Stiles had been texting her and she hadn't waited for him to offer before getting in her car and driving over. The pizza had already arrived but she claimed that she'd already eaten and instead just nibbled on a few of Danny's crusts. It had led to a debate on whether or not crusts were good, which Derek promptly left, opting to get himself a drink instead.

~~~~~

It didn't surprise anyone when the rest of The Pack showed up and shoved their way onto couches and armchairs. Along with them came more food.

~~~~~

When everyone had left and Noah had gone off to bed, Stiles and Derek tidied up the pizza boxes, empty soda cans and food wrappers before heading upstairs and into Stiles' room.

"Today's been odd," Stiles said. "I'm not exactly sure how to feel about it all. I'm glad Isaac is okay with letting Scott have a second chance, but it feels... I don't know. Like, I have everything now." He turned to face Derek who was sitting on their bed. "I have my best friend back – or, I'm getting him back but he's here and willing to try – I'm human again, I have my Pack, my dad's okay, I'm going to get stronger," Stiles flexed his muscles and Derek chuckled. Then Stiles walked forward, cupped Derek's face in his hands, "and I have you, the best boyfriend I could ever have asked for." Stiles cringed, his face contorting, "That was cheesy, sorry, but it is true. I'm not used to everything feeling so... so normal. So perfect and okay. So calm."

Derek had to agree. It had been so long since he'd felt this perfect calm. So long since he'd felt any sort of calm at all. Their lives had been a mess of complication after complication, problem after problem, hurt and pain and life-altering accidents and incidents, for so long. He'd forgotten what normal felt like. Forgotten how mundane things could be. How actually, genuinely good life could be, given the chance.

It hurt to know that Stiles had been going through so much, had been put through more than any one person would or should experience in a lifetime, all in the past few years, not including everything that happened before Derek became a part of his life. But they had time to fix that. They had time.

"I'm glad I have you," Derek said. And Stiles seemed to understand what he was thinking. It amazed Derek that he could do that. Stiles amazed Derek.

He hoped he could keep Stiles safe from any and all of the monsters that came after them (in the same way Stiles seemed to do for him), and, from that point on, he vowed to do his best. From that moment on, he wouldn't allow anyone to ruin this. Because this was it for him. Stiles was it.

So, Derek smiled, open and genuine, when Stiles said, "And I you, babe."