Merry Christmas, one and all.

It was freezing in Stiles' room. He could hear the low rumble of the furnace in the house, but with as thin as the insulation was in the house and how old it was, it did not keep heat in too well. Stiles burrowed under his blankets more, not wanting to get up. It was Christmas Eve, though. That meant cookies, and pies, and snow candies while his dad put in no more than three hours at the station, unless there was an emergency. After another few minutes, Stiles sighed and got up. He pulled on an oversized, red hoodie (pretty sure that it was one he had stolen from Jackson, who had been more amused than annoyed, though he did not admit it) over his t-shirt and sleep pants (that he'd jacked from Scott somewhere along the line).

Stiles made his way downstairs, putting on his favorite Christmas album on the radio in the living room, before starting to work. Christmas was a difficult time. It always reminded him of his mother and it was generally very tense between himself and his father. That year, though, it was more happy than sad. Melissa McCall was asleep upstairs in the room she shared with his dad (which was why he kept the music quiet, not wanting to wake her), and Scott was in his room, supposedly. Scott was more likely over at Allison's, though.

The teen hummed along to Trans-Siberian Orchestra until he heard someone enter the kitchen, and he turned to see a sleepy Melissa rubbing her eyes. "Morning, kiddo," she said through a yawn, putting on some coffee without getting in Stiles' way. "Need help?"

"Morning!" Stiles replied brightly with a smile. "Uh, yeah, actually. I'm making this pie, but I can never get the crust right. It's always too thick in some places, too thin in others, or other various issues. I always try but we always end up tossing it and buying one from the store at the last minute because, yeah, it's bad."

Melissa took Stiles' rambling very well for someone that had just gotten up. Then again, she had known him since he was born. It was nice to see him in such good spirits, however. It was their first Christmas together since she and Scott had moved in around the beginning of the boys' senior year of high school. Stiles had actually encouraged it after he had found out about his dad and Melissa becoming more serious. It was nice to be included in their lives, though she never tried to overstep her bounds with Stiles. "Sure, hon. Let me go get something to tie my hair back with, and I'll show you a secret."

With a wink, Melissa headed back upstairs and Stiles nodded a few times. He was surprised at how much energy he actually had. The previous few Christmases had found Stiles faking it for his father's benefit. There had always been a tension there, however. That year, there was none. Stiles found himself honestly smiling and just generally feeling good. It made him wonder, though, if his favorite Sourwolf was doing anything for Christmas, or if he was staying holed up somewhere alone. "Alright!" Melissa said a minute later when she returned, just as Scott came in through the front door, smiling sheepishly. "Let's do this. Scott, get in here and help."

When the sheriff arrived home a few hours later, he smiled softly to himself, seeing Stiles, Scott, and Melissa sitting on the kitchen floor, leaning against the cabinets beneath the counter top. There was just as much flour on them and the ground as there was in the actual baked goods they had created together. "Hi, Dad!" Stiles said when he spotted the sheriff, smiling brighter than the man had seen him smile around the holidays in years. It really was about time the small family let themselves heal.

Melissa would never replace Stiles' mother, but she was a great person for his dad; and she truly cared about both of them. Scott and Stiles were both supportive and approving of their parents' relationship (though some believed it was their long-term friendship to the point of practically being brothers anyway), and they were glad everything was going for the better. "Did you even get any baking done?" questioned the sheriff with a chuckle.

"I'll have you know..." Stiles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, an amused smirk tugging on his lips.

Scott's attention was still focused on the doorway and the sheriff suddenly seemed to remember before gesturing behind him. "Oh, yeah, Derek Hale's here," he said. The way he pursed his lips made it obvious he was not too sure what to think about that. "Got here as I did, and he wanted to talk to you, kiddo."

Stiles just smiled and nodded before getting up, going into the living room where Derek was. "I've got those papers for you upstairs," he said, not bothering with saying 'hi'. It was Derek, after all. "C'mon."

The two of them headed up to Stiles' room as the sheriff helped Melissa up off the floor and Scott gasped in horror at being told he had to clean up ("Why not Stiles? He started it." "He didn't try to sneak in this morning after staying out all night."). Stiles dug around the piles of papers and books he had on his desk, all research for the pack except a small pile of homework he would not touch until the last minute. "It's right here somewhere," Stiles mumbled as Derek sighed and dropped onto the desk chair, sitting there with a faintly amused expression at Stiles' disorganization. "What're you doing for Christmas, Sourwolf?"

Derek's brow lifted as if he was completely confused by the question before he shrugged and gestured to the few papers that were tucked into the grimoire of omens and talismans that Stiles had been studying. "Are they there? And, probably nothing more than another night, really," Derek replied, shrugging once again. He did not have much of a family, and celebrating anything with Peter did not seem appealing. Issac was spending Christmas with Jackson, and Derek was glad that the kid found someone important to him, even if Jackson was an asshole half the time.

"Stay with us, then," Stiles offered as he checked the papers and handed them to Derek, who folded them enough to shove them into his jacket pocket. "We're cooking and stuff all day, decorating the tree, all that stereotypical stuff. Could always use another hand."

"Uh, I think I should..."

Derek trailed off as Melissa stepped into the room. He had heard her coming but assumed she was heading to the bathroom or something. "Stiles is right, you should stay," she said with a smile. "The more the merrier. It is Christmas."

After a few awkward moments, Derek agreed to stay and Stiles could not keep from smiling. "Why don't you head down and help Scott? Make sure he doesn't break anything, please?" Melissa smiled warmly as Derek nodded, and she gently squeezed the young man's shoulder as he passed. Stiles noticed him tense a little, but otherwise, he did not react, which was a good thing because it could have been worse. She leaned back to make sure he was downstairs before looking to Stiles again. "He's cute."

Stiles choked on a breath and he laughed a little, reaching up to run his hand over his buzzed hair, knowing that Derek could hear her and was probably smirking. Either she knew it and said it on purpose, or she had forgotten. "Yeah, well, 'm sure many would agree with you," Stiles replied. "I'm gonna... go wash off some of this flour."

"Hey, Stiles," Melissa said, stopping the teen en route to the bathroom. "Remember that talk we had a few days ago? Maybe you should..."

"Let's not talk about it now, please?" Stiles laughed and scrunched his nose up, tugging on the hoodie he wore so that a bit of flour fell off of him. "Lemme get this stuff on me before it starts freaking me out. Anxiety attacks have no place on Christmas."

"You think you've got everyone fooled, huh?" Melissa asked Derek, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth, making Derek look from where he could see Scott and Stiles helping the sheriff add decorations to the tree in the other room as he helped get things ready for dinner. She laughed softly at the young man's confused expression and said, "You have feelings for Stiles."

"He's pack," Derek said stiffly, looking to what he was doing instead of back over to Stiles as the teen started to wrap his dad in the gold tinsel like he wanted.

The nurse just laughed softly again and smiled, taking the newest batch of cookies out of the oven with an oven mitt and placing it on the counter to cool before turning off the oven. "Oh, honey, it's more than that. I've seen the way you look at him; and, between you and me? He cares about you just as much as you do about him. You should tell him. I don't know what all you've been through, but I do know that you'll only regret it if you don't. Everyone's just waiting for you to, Stiles too."

The teen, as if sensing he was being talked about glanced over into the kitchen and smiled at Melissa talking with Derek before going in to bug them while Scott and the sheriff finished up with the tree that they'd all helped with, Derek too. "Almost ready for the movie," he stated before nudging Derek with his elbow lightly. "Glad you stayed, Sourwolf?"

Derek replied with a non-committal noise, but Stiles saw the faint upturn of his lips, and that was a good enough answer for him. "C'mon, the best seat's over here," he stated, grabbing Derek's wrist to lead him into the other room where they planned on watching two Christmas specials while picking at the snack foods they had made for dinner. Stiles let Derek sit down first and he plopped a pillow in Derek's lap, making the alpha lift a brow in question. Stiles didn't answer. He simply sprawled out along the couch on his stomach, grabbing a hold of the pillow and resting his head there, using Derek as a cushion.

Stiles was slightly tense for a long few moments, but now hearing any growls or anything, he slowly relaxed. Derek was tense, not sure what to do with the newest invasion of his personal space, but with the way everyone seemed to ignore Stiles' action, he guessed it was not a new event. Scott mumbled something about it at least not being him that year, and Stiles flicked an M&M at him. It was then that Derek relaxed a bit more, though he did glare at Scott when Scott took a picture of him and Stiles, while Stiles remained unaware, focusing on the television. Scott smirked and stored his phone back into his pocket and took a seat as well. It had been an odd Christmas, to say the least, but so far, it was good. It was the best Christmas that Stiles had had in years, and the teen could not keep from smiling faintly as Nightmare Before Christmas played on the television.

Once the movie was over, Stiles sleepily helped Melissa clean up the living room a little, and Derek said his good-byes while Scott practically zombie walked to his bed and the sheriff went to clean up the kitchen. Derek had made it to his car before he heard someone exiting the Stilinski/McCall home, and he turned to see Stiles walking toward him. "Stiles?" the alpha questioned, brow furrowing a little in confusion, especially when he noticed Stiles' pulse being slightly higher than normal, which the teen's heart rate was always a bit higher.

"Here," Stiles said as he stopped in front of Derek, handing the man a small, square box. "I was gonna give it to you earlier, but I kinda forgot. You can open it now. It's nothin' big, but..." He shrugged a little, and seemed kind of nervous, at least if Derek was reading Stiles right. Sometimes it was difficult.

Derek mentioned that he hadn't gotten anything for Stiles, but the teen shrugged it off with a smile, telling him to open it. So, he did. A soft, short laughed passed the alpha's mouth and he smiled a bit when he picked up a key complete with a small, silver wolf key chain. Stiles shrugged slightly again and laughed a little. "Figured with you breaking into my room as much as you do, you might as well have a key. I mean, 've a key to yours anyway, so... You can use it whenever, even if it's to... y'know, hang out or something."

Stiles was rambling a little, but Derek didn't mind (really, though he seemed a bit annoyed, but that was just Derek). He just watched the teen as snow started to fall, and maybe he should have paid more attention, but the next thing he knew, Stiles was stepping forward and pressing their lips together. Derek tensed a little and Stiles almost moved away, but Derek grabbed his wrist with the hand not holding onto the key and he stayed. Slowly, the kiss broke and Stiles pulled away just enough to look at the elder man with a smile. The kiss had been what Stiles had really meant to give Derek, but he had been scared that it would be a bad idea. Derek's reaction proved otherwise, though. They would talk about it later, but for the time being, neither one of them would bother with the words. "Merry Christmas, Sourwolf," was the only thing Stiles felt the need to say before smiling and heading back inside as it started to snow.