"Why Braeden?"

Perhaps the question came out of the blue, but Derek knew better. Whatever this new relationship with Stiles was becoming, Derek was tentatively waiting for the other shoe to drop. He told himself he'd be open to Stiles, no more closing himself off, no more hiding behind silent angry stares.

The years away from Beacon Hills had been good for him. He sought out people who genuinely wanted to be around him. He was sick of being used, of being overlooked, and most of all being looked down upon. Derek had set out from Mexico, parting from Braedon and headed east, not entirely sure where he was going or for how long he'd be gone. He island hopped the Bahamas, found out that Savannah, Georgia wasn't haunted, backpacked around Europe like his fifteen year old self always wanted to do, and visited all the museums that Laura would have proclaimed to be too boring. He sent Cora constant postcards from his journey and skyped whenever he could. Each time Cora told him how proud she was that he was moving on, becoming happier but Derek just brushed it off not noticing any difference within himself. The breakthrough came when he was watching the Northern Lights in Iceland and he realized that it was the anniversary of the fire but the realization came without the all consuming guilt. He was sad, he always would be, but now he could remember his family with happy memories instead of telling himself that he killed them. He wasn't ready to return to Beacon Hills yet, but he was nearing the point.

When Derek did return, it was with a sense of nostalgia as he visited the plot where his house used to stand. He rented out an apartment and went to work to rebuild his house, a new Hale House where Cora would be comfortable in returning. Derek was staring at the lumber near the back of the hardware store when a mass came barreling into him.

"Derek! You're back!" Stiles cried out until he seemed to realize that he was squeezing Derek without any care, "Oh, wait I'm touching you. Why are you letting me hug you? Are you dying? Am I going to die? Oh my god, you're going to kill me now. Tell my dad I love him. Tell Scott.."

Derek grinned at Stiles erratic pacing, as he familiarized himself with Stiles' scent and heartbeat again. Stiles rant stopped as he noticed Derek looking at him.

"Oh god, you're smiling. Yup, this is it. How much longer do I have?"

"Stiles, it's good to see you too," Derek responded.

Stiles broke out into a huge smile and said "Prepare yourself big guy, I'm coming in for a hug again."

Stiles then interrogated Derek about the details of the past five years as well as providing all the info about what Beacon Hills and the pack went through. Derek left the hardware store without any lumber but with a lunch date with Stiles for the next day.

From there they kept on either meeting up or running into each other. Derek remembered how Stiles' hormones always seemed to control the boy but now he had matured so much that Derek found himself questioning why he used to be so annoyed with him. Derek reconnected with the pack a bit but Stiles seemed to be the only one who noticed the difference with Derek.

"You know, after that first week of you being all happy, I thought you were body snatched or something. I was all ready to call Scott up and have him help me investigate. Needless to say, I'm happy that you're happy and that you weren't body snatched."

Stiles began joining Derek whenever he needed to do work on his new house, but never to actually help out Derek. Instead Stiles waited for Derek to take his shirt off and then whipped out his phone to record.

"All of my friends at college didn't think you existed and now I get to prove them wrong, you should have seen how many apology texts I received the first time I filmed you."

After six months, Derek finished building his home. It was nothing like what the old Hale House looked like but looked more like a cozy cottage instead. Stiles laughed at him when he saw it all completed, "You literally built the brick house from The Three Little Pigs!"

"Well I guess if I can't huff and buff and blow it down then another wolf won't be able to either," Derek replied.

"Oh Derek, I'm so glad that you can tell jokes now, but you're jokes are terrible."

Now that the house was finished, Stiles decided to come by twice a week for dinner. Sometimes he brought along the Sheriff or Scott but more often than not it was just the two of them. One night after dinner as they walked the trail in the preserve Derek stopped Stiles, cradled his face and gave him a kiss. As he pulled back, Stiles had a bewildered look and for the first time in nine months was completely speechless. Derek gave him a smirk and continued to walk on the path. Right before the path started to curve, Derek looked back at Stiles who was still frozen in place from their kiss. Taking pity, Derek walked back and took Stiles' hand as he pulled him along to continue their walk.

"Don't you dare think that was a one time situation Derek," Stiles warned.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

The next month continued as the prior except with much more kissing that Stiles exuberantly about. Their talks became a bit more personal, Stiles telling Derek about his partners in college and Derek returning the sentiment with stories of his family. Then one night as they sat on the couch watching the fire, Stiles turned towards Derek and asked "Why Braeden?"

Derek took a deep breath and turned towards Stiles as he continued, "I mean, there just never seemed to be much chemistry there. It just seemed so out of the blue, but she is badass. I'll give you that."

Silence stretched on for a bit until Derek took a sip of his tea, leaned back and said, "I wanted my first time to be my consent, my choice, nothing else clouding my judgement. She kissed me first and I realized I could make the choice of where this would go next, it was finally in my hands."

Stiles' eyes widened as he took in the meaning of Derek's words, "But what about Ms. Blake, I know she was the Darach but.."

"Exactly, she was the Darach. I was getting pulled towards her unconsciously not really understanding why I kept finding myself around her. Then I fought with Ennis and I was so injured and when she found me, it was like autopilot. I don't really know what happened, my mind was so foggy."

Derek set his cup on the table, "I remember glimpses of what happened but I don't know how it happened, when it started, who initiated."

"Derek, thats-"

"I know what it is Stiles," Derek gave a forlorn sigh. "I just thought after Kate and the fire, I wasn't going to be in that situation again."

Derek studied Stiles' face for a bit and saw no change, "So you do know about Kate and I."

Stiles rubbed his neck as he explained, "From what I heard she was oddly fixated in you and I um came across some records of her. I saw that she was a substitute teacher in one of your classes."

Derek gave a grim sort of smile, "She started three weeks after Paige died. I hardly noticed anything in during that time, I just seemed to drift from day to day. She would keep me after class, show me little spurts of affection, and she convinced me to meet up with her outside of school. My grades were slipping so I thought it couldn't hurt. We were at her place she gave me some beer because she thought I was old enough to handle myself. Now I know that alcohol doesn't affect me but then I had no clue so I didn't find it odd when things started going out of focus. We had sex that night and she made me feel special despite my wallowing. I wanted to provide for her like I never could have with Paige. I told her everything and she ruined my life." Derek rubbed his hands over his face, "You know, for years I maintained that I ruined everything that I came in contact with but when I was able to save Cora, I saw that I could do something good."

Stiles rested his hand on Derek's arm and gave a gentle squeeze as Derek dropped his hand atop of Stiles'. They sat in silence for a while before Derek continued on.

"So when Braeden came by, she did so to help me. She didn't want to use me, in fact she wanted me to stay behind to keep me safe. When she kissed me, I decided that this was my choice and I was going to be the one to make it. We never felt anything more for each other but she helped me out in so many ways that I don't think she ever realized."

"What about now?"

Derek cupped Stiles' cheek in his hand, smiled and said, "And now I'm going to get back at you for sending shirtless pics of me to your friends."