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“Dad.” Stiles’ voice was muffled because of how tightly he was being hugged. It was actually affecting his breathing. “Dad. Dad, I can’t breathe.” He patted his dad’s back a few times. “Dad.”
“I just can’t believe it.” The sheriff held on, seeming to almost tighten his hold, if that were possible. Stiles was positive he was an anaconda in a past life. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I don’t know whether to be touched or insulted,” Stiles forced out. “Dad, seriously, air?”
It took a few seconds, but his father finally showed him pity and released him, pulling away but keeping his hands on Stiles’ shoulders, smiling broadly at him with his eyes watering. Oh no, if he started crying, Stiles would start crying, and everything would be a huge crying mess.
“I’m so proud of you, son.” He patted Stiles’ cheek lightly with one hand. “You have no idea how proud I am.”
“I have a bit of an idea,” Stiles insisted with a small smile.
“Oh, wow.” And his dad was hugging him again. At this rate, Stiles was never going to leave. “What am I going to do without you?”
“Eh, you’ll be fine,” Stiles insisted, patting his back a few more times. “Actually, it’s Derek I’m worried about.”
“He’ll be all right,” his dad promised, pulling away and smiling at him. “It’ll take some getting used to, but he’ll be fine.”
Stiles nodded, letting out a slow breath. Derek was actually his last stop, because he was the closest to out of town. Stiles had to go by Lydia’s and Scott’s before he could head to Derek’s. He honestly didn’t know which farewell was going to be the hardest between the four most important people of his life.
It had been kind of unexpected, really. Not unpleasant, but unexpected.
After high school, Stiles and Scott had both decided to take a couple years off, because after all the shit they’d gone through, they felt like they deserved a break. So they’d taken some time off, gotten jobs, just tried to live life. But Stiles knew he wanted to continue his education, and Scott wanted to be a vet—Stiles still didn’t understand why because animals and Werewolves didn’t mix!
So, last year, they’d started applying to universities. Stiles had gone for some he was positive he wouldn’t get into, just on the off-chance. He knew even if he got in, his dad wouldn’t be able to afford it. But, it was nice to know where he would qualify.
Not only had Stiles gotten into a majority of the ones he’d wanted, he even got full scholarships for most of them. Which he hadn’t known how to react to. Lydia hadn’t been surprised, she was already in her third year at Harvard, and had ordered Stiles to accept that one so they could go to school together.
Her roundabout way of saying she missed him.
But Stiles kind of had his heart set on Columbia. He didn’t know why, he just really wanted to go there, and they were offering him a full ride. All he needed to find was room and board, and pay for his books and food. That was it. He even got a free student pass for transit.
Everyone kept telling him to go for it, but Stiles wasn’t so sure. A lot had changed during the two years he’d had off. Most notably, his dad had a few more heart problems, and Stiles had started dating Derek.
That last one was a little bit unexpected, but turned out the reason he and Derek fought so much was because they were actually flirting and that was their way of flirting. He’d been dating Derek for just over a year now, and things were good. So good. He was worried leaving would ruin things.
Derek insisted they wouldn’t. He was actually one of the biggest supporters for Stiles going to New York and completing his education. It was nice, he liked that Derek was supportive, but he also felt like it would be hard being so far apart all the time.
It wasn’t like Stiles could just fly home whenever he wanted, he wasn’t made of money. Sure, he’d saved up some working for two years, but he was going to be spending most of that getting to New York since he was taking the Jeep, and he also needed to make sure he could afford to rent a place out there.
He was basically going to need to get a job right away, otherwise he’d run out of money really fast. New York was not cheap. He figured he’d try and find a place well outside the city where the prices would hopefully be cheaper. A longer commute didn’t bother him, but money running out certainly did.
It took him an additional ten minutes to finally leave his house. His dad stayed on the porch and raised one hand in farewell as Stiles backed out. He waved back, then drove away, feeling a little nauseous. He’d never been away from home before, not for months on end like he would be. In an unfamiliar city, with no friends, no pack.
He was starting to re-think this whole thing.
He went to Lydia’s next, since he figured that would be the shortest visit. He was wrong, because she spent a majority of the time he was there trying to coach him on how to survive the first week of school. He eventually got to say his goodbyes and leave, and then headed to Scott’s. He knew Scott would be a long one, and he was right, because he spent almost half an hour there with him.
It was weird. Leaving. Being apart. It had never happened before and while he was excited, it was still so weird.
Finally, he was able to pry himself away from Scott and he drove out to the loft. Once he reached it, he sat in the Jeep staring up at it for a long time, because he knew this one was probably going to be the longest. Derek had just gotten back into a good place, he was happy, he and Stiles were amazing together.
And now Stiles was leaving. And he knew it was going to affect Derek in a negative way.
Sighing, he turned off the Jeep and started to open the door when the building’s exit door opened and Derek walked out carrying a duffel. He turned to lock the door, then jogged towards the Jeep, Stiles still sitting there with his hand on the door handle.
Derek opened the passenger side door, moved a few of the items off the seat and into the back where there was still space, tossed his duffel back there as well, and then climbed in before shutting the door.
Stiles stared at him, because he honestly wasn’t sure how to react.
“Hi,” he said uncertainly.
“Hey,” Derek replied. “I looked up the best routes to New York. Did you know the drive is going to take over forty hours?” He gave Stiles a look. “I don’t trust you alone in a car for forty hours.”
“So...?”
“So I’m going with you. I’ll help you get settled in and then fly back here once you’re all moved in and comfortable.”
Stiles kept staring at him and wondered if he was about to have an unexpected roommate. Not that he minded, he’d love to have Derek living with him all year, but Derek was a contributing member of society now. He had a job and everything.
“You didn’t quit your job, did you?” he asked suspiciously.
“What?” Derek rolled his eyes. “No, Stiles, I didn’t quit my job. I took two weeks of vacation.” He shrugged, avoiding Stiles’ eye. “It’s an important part of your life. I guess I just wanted to be there for it.”
“Not that I’m opposed to you living with me, but you are coming back, right?”
“Yes, Stiles. I’m coming back. I’m just gonna help you get settled, that’s it.”
Stiles eyed him suspiciously for a moment longer, then grinned and said, “Okay!”
This worked out, if he was honest. Derek was going to be an extremely hard goodbye, and this way, he had him for a few extra days. And going on a long cross-country road trip was boring to do alone, so this was actually perfect.
Stiles started the Jeep once more, grinned over at Derek, then pulled back out of his front lot so he could head out of town. It wasn’t until they’d passed the sign that said ‘Thank you for visiting Beacon Hills’ that it finally hit him.
He was going to New York! He was heading off to university! He was going to be an entire country apart from his dad, his best friends, his boyfriend. It was so surreal.
The first stretch of driving was conducted in silence, with only the radio playing. Stiles knew it was probably weird for him to be quiet, but his brain was still reeling over what was coming. He was trying to figure out the best places to start looking for an apartment to rent, and when he should be buying his books, and what he should do if he ended up falling into a new Werewolf pack.
No one could ever replace his pack back home, but if he had the opportunity to spend time with another pack during his four years at Columbia, he wouldn’t say no. Despite the fact that Derek wouldn’t be around, he was positive they would know he belonged to another wolf.
Derek always talked about mate bonds and mate scents and all that weird Werewolf stuff so he was fairly confident he would immediately be pegged as a Werewolf mate and be left alone in the romance department. He just hoped any new wolves he met weren’t assholes.
When they stopped for the first time for some food and a bathroom break, Derek asked him where he was planning on living.
“Haven’t gotten that far yet,” Stiles informed him, licking ketchup off his hand before taking another bite of his burger. “Dad and I spoke about it before I left. I’m gonna stay in a hotel for the first few days, and then find a place while I’m out there. It’s better than doing it online, because you honestly never know what you’re gonna get without seeing it with your own eyes.”
Derek nodded slowly, dragging a fry through a mayonnaise-ketchup mixture before popping it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, swallowed, then licked his lips, eyes still on his fries. “I have a place for you.”
“What?” Stiles asked, frowning. “What do you mean?”
Derek winced, but took a slow breath and explained. “Laura and I. We lived in New York for a time. She bought a place in Brooklyn, it’s really nice. It’s furnished and everything. Might be a little dusty, but I’ve kept up strata payments for it. You can stay there, if you want. Rent free, so it’ll help you save money. Means you won’t have to work during the school year and can focus on your studies.”
Stiles stared at him, because Derek never spoke about his time in New York. Stiles knew he’d lived there, obviously, but he’d never really heard about this apartment before. He hadn’t known Derek and his sister owned a place out there, or that they still owned a place out there.
Well, that Derek did, since Laura had passed away.
“Brooklyn’s kind of far from Columbia,” Derek said when the silence stretched for a bit too long. “But it’s free, and it’ll be a little familiar for you, since it’ll be a place I lived in.”
“Derek,” Stiles said quietly, putting his burger down. “It’s okay, you know. I can find another place.”
“No, I want you to stay there.” Derek glanced over at him uncomfortably. “I just... I haven’t been back. Since, you know.”
“Yeah,” Stiles said softly. “I don’t want to overstep.”
“I’m the one offering, you’re not overstepping. I want you to stay there. I think it’ll be good for it to be used again. Otherwise, it’s just a waste.”
Stiles watched him for a long moment, wanting to make sure it truly was okay. But Derek looked like he wanted this, he just had mixed feelings about the place in general. Stiles supposed he could understand. After all, he hadn’t heard of Derek ever going back there since he’d left, so he probably still had a whole bunch of stuff there. It wasn’t like Derek had returned to Beacon Hills expecting to stay, he’d been looking for his sister, and had ended up living there upon finding she was dead.
“Sure, Derek.” Stiles smiled at him. “I’d love to live there. Thanks.”
Derek nodded in a ‘that’s that’ sort of way, then pulled his phone out. “I’ll call to have it cleaned. It’s been a few months since I’ve had someone check in.”
“Can they get in?”
“Yeah, the building manager has a spare key. I’ll get someone in there to clean it up. We have a long drive ahead of us, so I’m sure they can get someone before we arrive.”
Stiles just nodded, because he wasn’t sure what else to say. Derek made the call, thanked whoever was on the other end, and they finished up their lunch in silence.
The drive to New York was surprisingly fun with Derek, something he never would’ve thought possible a few years ago. It was clear he was hurting, likely for two different reasons—returning to New York where he’d lived with Laura and losing Stiles for a majority of the year because of school—but he was still joking and laughing with Stiles, having a good time, arguing over the radio stations to play.
They stayed in decent motels and joked about getting attacked by axe murderers, the Jeep broke down numerous times but Stiles always magically managed to fix it, they ate unhealthy food practically the whole way there, and had a lot of sex.
Like, so much. Stiles was sexed out by the time they hit New York, and he honestly didn’t know that was possible for a horny young adult, but it was. He was sexed out.
When they reached New York, Derek’s mood plummeted. He wasn’t rude or anything, he just went quiet and surly. He gave Stiles stilted directions to his place with Laura, and then directed him towards the back of a fucking gorgeous building so Stiles could park in the underground parking garage.
He went to the indicated stall, and saw Derek staring at the car Stiles had just parked beside. It was a black Audi, one of the smaller models, almost a mini hatchback. Stiles could tell by the look on Derek’s face that it belonged to Laura.
“Was that hers?” he asked softly.
“Actually, it was mine.” Derek let out a small scoff. “The Camaro belonged to Laura. She bought me this one insisting that if I could go a year without destroying it, we could switch cars. She’d give me the Camaro and she’d take the Audi.” He frowned, expression sad. “She died before that deal ended.”
“Derek, I don’t have to live here. I can find another place.” This looked like it was too hard for him, and Stiles didn’t want to bring back old memories. He’d always thought Derek had kind of come to terms with Laura’s death, but this entire trip proved he hadn’t.
He supposed, in retrospect, it made sense. Peter had killed Laura, and Derek and Peter were kind of on speaking terms, almost friendly. It was probably horrendously confusing to have that kind of relationship with the person who’d killed his sister, but Peter was family. How could he turn away family?
And Derek had never properly grieved, either. It had just been one thing after another since her death. Find the Alpha, find the Kanima, protect everyone from the Alpha pack, kill the Nogitsune, and so on and so forth. He’d never really taken the time to sit down and grieve over her death. He’d grieved more over Boyd and Erica’s deaths than his own sister’s.
“No, we should—” Derek cut himself off, cleared his throat, then pushed open the door. “Come on, let’s go up and check the place out before we start moving your stuff in.”
“Dere—” Stiles sighed when Derek slammed the door. He wasn’t going to talk him out of this, so he just unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. He locked up, then followed Derek towards a door that obviously led to the elevators.
Derek swiped a fob to get through, holding it open for Stiles, then moved down a short corridor. When he opened another door, this one not requiring a fob, they were in a small alcove with marble flooring and white walls housing intricate paintings. This was only the garage and already it looked fancy, Stiles was starting to wonder how much this apartment had cost Derek and Laura to buy.
He knew they had tons of money, but still.
Derek had to swipe the fob again to call the elevator, and once it arrived, he swiped again to hit the twelfth floor. So, security was a big thing here, but it made sense considering what had happened to them before they’d moved to this apartment.
Stiles looked around at the inside of the lift while it ascended, the four walls mirrored with gold-coloured borders. It was really nice. Super fancy.
They reached the twelfth floor, and when the doors opened, Derek stood there without moving for so long that they slid shut again. Stiles had to reach out and stop them from closing entirely. He moved a step forward, sliding his hand into Derek’s, and tugged him gently out of the lift. They could stay in the hallway as long as he needed them to, but he didn’t want them hogging the elevator.
Once they were out in the carpeted corridor, Derek seemed to give himself a shake, tightened his hand in Stiles’, and led the way down the hall. It looked like there were ten apartments on the floor, with all the odd numbers on the right and the evens on the left. Derek pulled Stiles over to apartment twelve-oh-seven and then stopped.
Stiles waited for him to be ready to open the door. He knew Derek didn’t like feeling vulnerable, but Stiles was thankful he was comfortable enough to show this side of himself to him. He knew it wasn’t easy, Derek letting someone in, trusting someone not to use his weakness against him.
Letting out a small breath, Stiles leaned his head against Derek’s shoulder, tightening his grip on his hand, and stared at the door.
It was nice. It had a cool design on it, and there was a wolf-themed doormat that somehow matched the posh look of the apartment building. A little on the nose, in Stiles’ opinion, but it wasn’t like Werewolves were known or anything.
Derek finally reached out and unlocked the door, then pushed it open slowly. It swung shut almost instantly, probably because it was on a hinge that automatically shut. Stiles reached out to stop it from closing completely, then pulled away from Derek so he could push it open entirely.
He’d mostly been intending to hold it until Derek felt comfortable entering, but once Stiles stepped into the apartment, Derek followed him. Stiles turned to offer him a comforting smile, then reached out to turn on the light, even though there was sunlight streaming into the large area.
The place was huge, and gorgeous. The kitchen and living room were one large area, with an island being the only thing separating the two. The appliances all looked new, and despite the years away, everything still seemed mostly up to date.
“There’s a washer/dryer set here,” Derek said quietly, still in the front corridor. He slid open one of the glass sliding doors that Stiles had assumed belonged to a closet, and while one side was a hall closet, the other housed a washer/dryer. He could still see coats and shoes in the gap where the two doors met.
It occurred to him that Laura’s things were probably still there, and he didn’t know what to do about that. He supposed he would live in Derek’s room. After all, they were dating, they’d be sharing a bed, anyway.
Derek led him through the apartment in a sort of subdued way. He showed him the balcony, complete with barbecue, then brought him around to where the office was. He showed him his room, which looked a lot more lived in than the loft, somehow. Then he brought him to the bathroom that was between his bedroom and another small den.
He stopped after the den, which made sense, because the elephant in the room was across the living room. Stiles touched his hand and let out a small breath.
“I can just stay in your room. We don’t have to go in there. It can stay exactly the same way.”
“No,” Derek said softly. “I think Laura would be disappointed to know I’m holding on to her like this. I think it’s time to let her go. Her room has an en suite, you should really take that one.”
“Derek—”
Derek turned and walked away from him, striding to the other room. Stiles just sighed and figured the best he could do was be there for him. Stiles remembered how hard it was for his dad when his mother had passed away. It had been hard for Stiles, too, but he’d been so young it took a while for it to hit.
For his dad, Stiles remembered standing in his parents’ bedroom doorway and watching the sheriff sob while hugging one of his mother’s dresses. He remembered how long it took for him to pack away all of her things, to decide what he was going to keep, what he was going to donate, and what he was going to tuck away in the basement.
In a way, Stiles felt like it was better his father had done it when he had, because it allowed him time to grieve and come to terms with what had happened. Derek had been carrying his sister’s death around for four years, never really acknowledging it, or coming to terms with it.
Derek opened Laura’s door and walked into the room. Stiles followed him and looked around.
He could tell they were siblings. There was none of that bright, colourful stuff that most women in Stiles’ life had in their rooms. Not to say Stiles himself didn’t have bright, colourful things, but he’d noticed most of the women tended to have lighter bedspreads and more life in their rooms.
Laura’s room looked a lot like Derek’s, actually. There was a bed with a black comforter, a dresser with only a few pieces of jewellery on it, and a plethora of shoes almost spilling out of the closet.
He walked into the en suite and found a few palettes of makeup on the counter, some brushes, a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and that was about it. The shower had some soap, shampoo and conditioner, along with a razor and some gel shaving cream.
It was all very minimalistic. Stiles wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he supposed he’d thought it would be the polar opposite of Derek.
He wasn’t sure why, he’d met Cora, after all.
When he turned to head back into the room, he saw Derek sitting on the bed looking a little overwhelmed. Stiles moved back to his side quickly, sitting beside him and rubbing at his thigh lightly.
“I can stay in your room,” he said again.
“No.” Derek looked around, very obviously overwhelmed. “I want you to stay here. I just—I forgot. Her stuff. We’ll have to—”
“How about,” Stiles interrupted, “I pack up all of Laura’s stuff and put it into storage for now. Then when you come back to visit, maybe we can go through it. I think going through everything right now might be a little much for you.”
He didn’t necessarily want to delay Derek grieving, but he honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to handle it. Considering how he was reacting just stepping foot in this apartment again, Stiles felt like pushing to go through Laura’s things might be a bit much.
Derek nodded a little too emphatically, clearly liking this plan. “Yeah. Sure, okay. Let’s do that.”
“Okay.” Stiles kissed his cheek. “Come on, let’s bring stuff up and then you can show me around the area. Help me get to the subway so I can go to school.”
“Right.”
Stiles stood, and then waited for Derek to be ready. It took him a while, but he eventually got back to his feet and left the room. Stiles shut the door firmly behind them.
Derek didn’t stay long. Two nights, where he and Stiles shared his old bed. He went through a bit of his things, laughed at his horrible fashion sense, and packed some things to bring back home with him.
Stiles spent the first day after Derek’s departure packing away all of Laura’s things. There was a storage locker in the parking area that belonged to their unit, so Stiles moved boxes back and forth from the apartment to the locker.
He did find some interesting things while packing her stuff away. There were a lot of fun pictures of Laura. Sometimes she was out with friends, but other times she was with Derek. He knew he should pack them away as well, but it felt wrong to try and erase her like that so he stuck a whole bunch of pictures on the fridge.
He added a few of his own, too. Some of his dad, of Scott, of Derek. He put a few pack pictures up, including one of the old original pack, with Boyd, Erica and Isaac.
And Allison.
It felt right to honour their memory, even if it was hard looking at them sometimes. He supposed that was how it felt for Derek, too. But it was good to celebrate the times they had together, not focus on the fact that those people had been lost.
The first few nights in Laura’s room felt weird. Stiles almost wanted to go sleep in Derek’s and never tell him, but he knew the second Derek visited him, he would know. He would smell it, and Stiles didn’t want to make things more uncomfortable. So he just toughed it out and after about two weeks, it felt less weird.
Sometimes Stiles would talk to her. Not in a serious sense, since he didn’t know her, but if he was in the shower and the soap fell off the shelf or something, he’d go, “Really, Laura? Come on!” before snatching it up.
Just little things that he thought made the place feel less gloomy. He knew ghosts were a thing, and he was positive that if Laura was one, she was definitely watching over Derek. Stiles liked to think that he was helping keep her memory alive by pretending little inconveniences in the apartment were Laura having a tantrum or just fucking with him.
By the time winter break hit, Stiles loved living in the apartment. It was really far out from school, but he tended to get a lot of his readings done on the subway, and having a little office helped him stay focussed on homework since he’d ensured it had no distractions in that room.
He made friendly with a few Supernaturals in the area, too. Most of them hadn’t been sure about him at first, because smelling like a Werewolf didn’t mean he knew about them, but eventually one of them did something that Stiles recognized as wolfish and as soon as he’d called them on it, and they all knew he was aware of that world, they opened up a lot more.
He had fun with them. It was nice still being part of something that reminded him of home.
He called home all the time, too. Spoke to everyone, did facetime with Derek—and maybe some phone sex, because wow being apart was hard—but overall, things were good. He was happy.
He tried to talk Derek into coming out for winter break, but he insisted he didn’t think it would be a good idea. Stiles didn’t push, and he ended up spending Christmas with his friends’ pack.
He was positive Derek and Scott would be annoyed with how much he smelled like another pack, but their fault for not visiting. Though he did have to remind some of his friends to stop scenting him so much, because he was eventually going to see his pack again and he didn’t want them to be rubbing all over him to get their scents back on him. It was always awkward when they did that, even when it was Derek.
And he was dating Derek.
He tried again during reading week to have Derek come out, but he came up with another excuse and ended up staying home. Stiles knew he’d have to start pushing eventually, but he wanted to give Derek a bit more time.
After he’d finished his first year, he and his father had a long conversation about whether it was better for him to stay out in New York or come home. It ended up being a better idea financially for him to stay in New York, so he got a job at a small café near his place and hung out with his new friends when their schedules all permitted.
It was halfway through July when he tried, again, to make Derek come out and he finally agreed. He wasn’t happy about it, but he admitted he missed Stiles a lot and he had to come and go through Laura’s things, anyway. Stiles knew that was the main reason he’d been procrastinating coming back out, but it had now been five years and it was time for him to grieve properly.
Stiles went to pick Derek up at the airport in the Jeep, then tried to keep up a constant chatter the whole way home to keep Derek’s spirits up. He didn’t think he succeeded because Derek was scowling at him the entire drive, probably because of how he smelled, and it likely wasn’t helping that most of Stiles’ Werewolf friends, whom he was talking about, were the people he smelled like.
“Figures you’d leave Beacon Hills and immediately latch onto the only Supernatural creatures in New York,” Derek said with a scoff, but Stiles could tell he was glad he had friends. Jealous, maybe, because of the scenting, but not territorial, which was nice.
Though he did touch Stiles a lot more than necessary while he was driving them back to the apartment.
Once they arrived, Stiles actually almost forgot how hard it was for Derek to be there, because he’d been living there so long it was natural to just wander into the lift, chatting about the weird upstairs neighbour he was positive was a drug dealer, and then heading easily down the hall.
It wasn’t until he got to the door that he realized Derek had stiffened and he paused before opening it, turning to look at him. Stiles felt sad again, reaching out to squeeze Derek’s hand, and hoping this time would be easier. It would never be easy, but hopefully easier than last time.
He waited for a few seconds, wanting to be sure Derek was ready, and then opened the door, stepping into the apartment.
It wasn’t as clean as he’d have liked, but Stiles had spent a majority of the previous day cleaning up. He dropped his keys on the counter, like he always did, then moved back a bit and shoved his hands in his pockets, letting Derek look around.
He seemed surprised, like he didn’t understand how the place had changed so much. Stiles saw his gaze linger on the photos he’d stuck to the fridge, but Derek walked around a little bit, then wandered in Stiles’ room.
Stiles just waited for him in the living room, and when Derek came back out, he moved right up to him and hugged him so tightly it actually hurt. Stiles hugged him back.
“Thank you,” Derek said softly.
“For what?”
“Making this place feel like home again.”
Stiles smiled, kissing at Derek’s neck, since it was the only thing he could reach in this position, then let him hug him for a while longer. When he finally pulled away, Stiles pulled him over to the fridge and pointed at one of the pictures of Laura and Derek.
“This has been driving me crazy, because I swear I know where you guys took this, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
Derek smiled, a genuine smile, and reached out to touch the photo lightly. “It was at the River Café. We went for her birthday.”
“Of course! Ugh! It was driving me nuts! It’s such a good photo, too. Which birthday was it for?”
Stiles listened while Derek explained the story behind the photo, asking questions and trying to get him to talk about it a bit more. He did that with every picture on the fridge, and once they were done, he ordered pizza and Derek asked about the boxes.
It wasn’t going to be easy, going through them all, so Stiles said he’d go down and bring them up one at a time, let Derek go through one box before bringing up another, and see how things fared.
He went down to grab the first box after the pizza arrived, and as predicted, it was an emotional evening. Derek teared up a few times, but he never cried, and Stiles just leaned into him while they went through a few boxes together.
After a sufficiently emotionally draining day, they called it a night. Stiles went to shower while Derek got ready for bed, and despite having his own room, Stiles brought his pillow into Derek’s and crawled under the covers with him, sighing contently when warm arms wrapped around him and pulled him closer.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Stiles said softly.
“I’m glad you’re here, too.”
“I live here, remember?” Stiles insisted with a laugh.
“I know. But you really made this place feel like a place I could come back to.” Derek tightened his hold on him. “I guess I never realized it before.”
“Realized what?”
“Home isn’t a place, it’s the people you live there with.” He kissed the top of Stiles’ head, then let out a small sigh. “You make this place feel like home.”
Stiles smiled, curled more into Derek, and closed his eyes.
It was still going to be really hard for Derek, and Stiles anticipated another emotionally taxing day tomorrow, but once they got through all of Laura’s belongings, maybe Derek would finally be able to heal. He needed to grieve properly, and once he had, maybe he wouldn’t be so averse to spending time with Stiles in this gorgeous Brooklyn apartment that he used to live in with his sister.
And besides, Laura wasn’t really gone. Stiles knew she wasn’t.
She knocked the soap off the shelf in the shower all the time.
END.