Author's Note: I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters. This is set in an alternate universe where everyone (for the most part) lives. Soulmate marks can actually be influenced by a person's subconscious and their personal decisions and feelings. However, people have little to no idea that they can influence their soulmate marks and take them as fate.

Written in the Stars

The thing about the marks is they're not always clear and they don't mean a magical happy ending necessarily. His dad has reminded him of that over the years. Of course, he sees the worst of it sometimes. Spouses who think that the fact that someone bears their marks means they can control everything they do. Love triangles that get out of hand because one person's mark isn't clear enough to give a definite answer. Desperate people whose marks have either never appeared or can't find their match. People could also find love without marks as well. And Stiles knows that you have to work at any relationship even if you do have matching soul mate marks.

He reminded himself of that whenever he started to worry about the fact that no one has shown the least bit of interest in him. His mark hasn't appeared yet. Not even the indistinct smudge that was precursor to a defined mark. He's almost eighteen, and everyone else in his circle either has their marks or their smudges. Sometimes for years. Scott's had first appeared just after Peter had bitten him. It had been a loosely defined smudge of dark red at the time. Hard on the heels of that, Scott had met Allison. He'd also felt the pull that was supposed to be there with the one who shared your mark. And lo and behold, Allison also had a dark red smudge as well.

Unfortunately, things had gotten complicated from there. Allison turned out to be from a family of werewolf hunters. Derek Hale came into their lives, he of the few words and surly eyebrows. Allison's psychotic aunt showed up, and Derek's psychotic uncle turned out to be the rogue alpha who bit Scott. Both of them died, and Derek became the alpha and bit Jackson, followed by Isaac, Erica, and Boyd. That mixed things up a great deal, on several levels.

The best news that came out of it was Erica and Boyd. The dark blue smudge on Erica's elbow solidified into a clear crescent moon that matched the one on Boyd's knee. The two of them clearly felt a bond between, and Stiles had to admit that they made a sweet couple. They were also probably the most drama free couple of the group. Erica was in the middle of her EMT training now while Boyd was a trainee with the local fire department.

Jackson's mark, which had been a purple smudge for years, solidified into a stylized star that perfectly matched the one on Lydia's left shoulder. Unfortunately, Jackson's reaction to becoming a kamina had been to push her away. Even after Lydia's love saved him, he'd kept her at a distance and his family had packed him off to London. Stiles knew that Lydia and Jackson had kept in touch, but Lydia had dated other people during the last few years of high school as well (including one of the alphas from the Alpha Pack). Now though, Jackson was following Lydia to MIT, so hopefully, they would figure things out.

Scott and Allison were a whole other mess. Even leaving out their matching smudges, there was the whole werewolf dating a girl from a hunter family thing. It didn't help that Allison's mom had tried to kill Scott. Derek had rescued him, but had bit Victoria in the process, and she had killed herself rather than become a werewolf. Only no one had bothered to tell Allison what had happened, so she thought that Derek had killed her mom and went a little anti-werewolf crazy for a while. She and Scott had broken up during that.

And after all of that had been settled, though Scott and Allison were still on a break, Allison's dark red smudge had turned into a stylized arrowhead. However, Scott's mark was still a dark red smudge, and as it turned out, Isaac had a dark red smudge as well that was about the same color and shape. Which created an awkward little love triangle, especially since they all felt something for one another. Half the time Stiles couldn't tell if Isaac was attracted to Allison or to Scott. Given their luck, it only made sense that while the three of them were dancing around that triangle, the Alpha pack was a constant threat as well and there was someone or something going around Beacon Hills killing people.

Throw in an evil druid who was killing people and Derek's long lost sister, and things really got crazy. The darach turned out to be their English teacher who tried to seduce Derek. As it turned out, one of the alpha's mark matched Danny's. Which had helped them win in the end even if it had only been because Ethan and his twin had sat out the fight. But everyone survived the experience, even if Stiles, Scott, and Allison had to sacrifice themselves to save their parents.

By the end of it, Isaac's mark had become an exact match for Allison's. Which led to the two of them being adorable together and Scott moping. That lasted until a new girl started school. Kira had a dark red fan on the back of her neck, and by the end of the week, Scott's smudge matched it perfectly. That had pretty much been the last of the drama on that front. By the end of the year, Kira and Scott were double dating with Isaac and Allison, and everyone was happy. These days Scott was at UC Davis working on his vet degree while Kira worked on a double major in Art History and East Asian Studies. Allison was down at Pepperdine preparing to teach elementary school with Isaac only an hour away in Long Beach studying nursing.

It was a little weird for Stiles to have the pack so spread out now. Throughout high school, the pack had been one of his constants. Now he was pretty much on his own in a city where he didn't know much of anyone. Derek had done his best to make sure that Stiles was plugged into the local supernatural community, but even so Stiles didn't have many close connections there. Everyone at college was caught up in pairing up and trying find the match for their mark, and Stiles didn't even have a smudge.

He found himself complaining to Derek over everyone's obsession over it.

"I'm mean, I'm happy for the others, and I'm glad they found their matches, but I'm just so sick of being surrounded by happy pair or people desperate to find their matches. There's more to life than that. And you don't need a match to be happy. Look at my dad and Mrs. McCall. They're happy together these days, and Dad's match died while Mrs. McCall's turned out to be a douchebag."

Derek doesn't look at him like's he's a freak. "I didn't want my mark for years. It was barely a smudge when Paige died and hers was the same. And then Kate…"

Derek trails off there. Stiles knew what had happened with Kate. He was one of the few pack members who knew the whole story. Derek had met Kate Argent six months after Paige's death. He'd just started to recover from his first crush's death when the older woman had targeted him. She'd told him how she felt the pull towards him, how she knew that his smudge would turn into a mark that matched hers, and used him to gather intel on the Hale pack. Then she had burned their home to the ground with almost everyone trapped inside. Stiles could see how that could mess someone up.

"Do you want your mark now?" Stiles asked.

Derek shrugged. "I don't really care. I doubt my match will actually want me if I ever find them."

Now that was a depressing thought. Even if Stiles could see where Derek was coming from. He thought that Derek was wrong, but given just how bad Derek's love life had been, he wasn't surprised by the attitude. He just sighed and changed the subject.

But the fact that Derek didn't bug him about his mark or finding his match meant that Stiles spent a lot of time with him when he was home. Not that Stiles minded that. When there weren't life threating situations going on, Derek was actually pretty good company. Stiles appreciated his dry sense of humor and the fact that Derek was almost as big a geek as Stiles was; he just hid it better.

So when he was home from Berkley, Stiles found himself spending long evenings curled on Derek's couch snarking at movies and arguing over books. Derek's loft became his refuge when the happy couples got to be too much. He knew his friends were trying to help, but Stiles didn't need to be set up on dates. There were only so many times he could deal with the inevitable disappointment when it turned out that Stiles didn't have so much as a smudge, let alone a mark. Sure, some people didn't care, but most of them weren't interested in anything other than a one night stand either.

Besides, Stiles was happy spending his time with Derek. The two of them weren't exactly dating. Well, at least, they had never defined their relationship, and it wasn't like they kissed or had sex. But Stiles felt at home with Derek. They fit together well, even if the other man drove him crazy sometimes. The whole thing crept up on Stiles slowly. Sure, he had always appreciated Derek's looks, but these days he also knew about the way that the corners of Derek's eyes would crinkle when he laughed and the small private smile that only pack ever got to see.

Between his classes at university and dealing with the odd supernatural crisis at home, Stiles was more than busy. So he could be forgiven for not noticing. It's his dad who points out the smudge to him while he's stripping off a shirt covered in wendigo guts.

"You have something on your back, son."

Stiles craned his head, but he couldn't see anything. It wasn't until he was in the bathroom and had a mirror that he got a good look at it. It's on the back of his shoulder, that place in between the knob of your shoulder and your neck where's next to impossible to see anything even if you crane you neck to look. His smudge is large as they go. A black, fist sized, vaguely circular smudge. Stiles stared at it and sighed.

In all honestly, he didn't know what to make of his smudge now that he had it. Just because he had it now didn't mean he was going to immediately find his match. And to be honest, Stiles wasn't sure how he felt about someone new maybe coming into his life and demanding a place there. Their pack might not be perfect, but they had worked hard to get it where it was. Stiles had put a lot of time and energy into his relationships with everyone, especially with Derek.

Derek, of course, picked up on his mood when Stiles ended up at the loft bearing Chinese food and Mel Brooks movies. But he didn't press or comment on it. The older man just curled up on the couch with him, enjoyed the movies with him, and let Stiles just decompress. It wasn't until they had switched from comedies to the PBS documentaries that Derek liked that Stiles said anything.

"My smudge finally appeared. I'm not sure that I want it."

Derek ran a gentle hand through Stiles hair. "Why not?"

Stiles just shrugged. Derek gave him a long look. Then he asked. "What do you want, Stiles?"

He didn't have an answer. Instead Stiles just buried his face in Derek's shoulder. Once again, Derek didn't press. He rubbed Stiles' back and settled back on the couch. Stiles closed his eyes. What did he want? Did he even know? That made him frown. He knew he wanted this, whatever it was, with Derek. He knew he was happy here. Being here on the couch with Derek wrapped him in feelings of warmth, contentment, safety, and home. And that makes the decision really clear. At least to Stiles.

"I want you." He peeked up to see Derek's face.

The older man gave him a small, soft smile. "You'll always have me, Stiles."

Stiles bit his lip, and then asked something he'd always been curious about but never dared ask. "What does your mark look like?"

One of the corners of Derek's mouth quirked up a bit more, making his smile lopsided. "You've already seen it."

It takes a moment for Stiles to realize what that means. "I thought that was a tattoo!"

Derek just shrugged. "Most people do. It's bigger than most marks, and I let people make assumptions."

Stiles just shook his head. Still, the black triskele fit Derek well. He wonders what his mark will look like when it's finished forming. Then he decided that it didn't matter. Taking that one step further, Stiles leaned up and kissed Derek. It wasn't like he'd expected their first kiss to be. Stiles had always thought that kissing Derek would be rough and passionate, a different sort of fight with their mouths. It wasn't. Derek's mouth was soft against his own, and the kiss quickly turned sweet and gentle and lingering. It wasn't Stiles first kiss by any means, but it was definitely one of the best ones he'd ever had.

When he finally pulled back, Derek smiled gently at Stiles and nuzzled their noses together. His fingers traced the blade of Stiles' shoulder, over where Stiles' smudge was. Stiles shivered under his touch.

"Stiles?"

He's suddenly terrified that now he's actually admitted aloud that he wants to be with Derek that he'll lose him somehow. That Derek's match will suddenly show up and Derek will decide that Stiles isn't worth defying convention for. If you find your match, for the most part, you end up together. Choosing someone other than your match as your partner once you've found your match, is frowned upon severely.

Derek seemed to sense Stiles fear though. He shifted them so they were both laying on the couch, Stiles sprawled on top of him. He nuzzled into Stiles' neck.

"Stop thinking and watch the show, Stiles."

Stiles didn't think about his smudge the rest of the break. He was too busy trying to fit in every moment with Derek that he could. As much as he was looking forward to his classes for spring term, he would miss being able to just hang out with Derek. Even the parts that didn't involve kissing. He knew they would skype and text like usual when he was at school, but that didn't seem like enough anymore.

The day before he had to head back to Berkley, Stiles invites Derek over for a Stilinski breakfast. He hadn't exactly told his dad about the change in status of their relationship, but Stiles wasn't exactly worried. His dad and Derek got on very well these days now that Derek was no longer a person of interest in murders and was actually helping solve any supernatural related crimes that showed up in Beacon Hills. His dad wasn't going to give him any problem about Derek even if they weren't each other's matches. Stiles knew that his dad just wanted him to be happy.

So Stiles is in a good mood as he starts putting together a traditional Stilinski breakfast: waffles, sausage, scrambled eggs, and homemade hash browns. It's a beautiful spring day, and sunlight was streaming into the kitchen as he cooked. The table was already set, and Stiles was humming to himself when the doorbell rang.

"Can you get that, Dad?"

He got an incoherent reply that he took as a yes. His dad wasn't exactly a morning person, and he was still working on his first cup of coffee. Stiles continued work on breakfast, adding to the stack of waffles he was keeping warm in the oven. There was a quiet rumble of conversation, his dad and Derek, that he ignored. At least until the sharp intake of breath.

"What?" he asked, turning around.

Both Derek and his dad were staring at him. His dad simply looked pleased, but Derek looked like he was in awe.

"What?" he asked again."

His dad cleared his throat. "Stiles, have you checked your smudge lately?"

He blinked. He'd forgotten he'd tossed his shirt in the laundry after it had gotten doused in his first batch of waffle batter. "No."

"Ah." His dad's smile widened into a smirk. "It's not a smudge anymore."

"What?" Stiles craned his neck trying to see the mark on his back; his mark was still impossible to see without a mirror. "What is it?"

Derek's the one who stepped forward, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder and turning him so Derek could trace a familiar pattern on his back. It's not as big as Derek's, but the three spiraling branches are clear.

"Really?"

Stiles was pretty sure he was beaming. But that was nothing compared to Derek, whose smile was almost incandescent. Stiles had seen that smile before in the last week, mostly when the two of them were curled up around one another, but he could definitely get used to seeing it all the time.

"So," his dad drawled, "I take it you boys have finally decided to stop mooning over one another."

"We decided that we wanted to be together before we knew our marks matched," Stiles admitted, biting his lip. "I'd want Derek even if they didn't."

His dad just smiled. "Son, neither your mother's or my marks solidified until after we both admitted we wanted each other and had been dating for six months. Her mark appeared first when I didn't even have a smudge, and her friends kept trying to convince her to go find her match rather than wait around with me for something that might never happen. She didn't care either. She'd already made up mind about what she wanted."

A slightly burnt smell interrupted the tableau. Stiles yelped and grabbed the waffle iron.

"Go sit down. I'll have breakfast on the table in a minute."

Stiles turned back to the stove with a smile. This was not how he'd expected spring break to go, but he wasn't about to complain. Not when just this once it seemed like everything had worked out in his favor. He made the choices that made him happy, and his mark reflected that. That was enough for him.