Sorry for the late update guys. Fluff chapter. Enjoy, review, and as always thanks for reading. I'm in the process of writing a new fanfiction as well and it's consuming most of my time :/ but this is still a priority! Thank you guys for all your support!

The sound his back made as it hit the cement floor startled Stiles and he gasped, nails digging into Dereks back. He whimpered, biting back tears that threatened to spill from the corners of his eyes. Rough sex was something they both enjoyed. It was what they usually indulged in. But this... this was different. The wolfs mouth was empty, his movements too sharp and his hands too deliberate. He wasn't there with Stiles and the moment that the boy realized that he choked on the alphas name and received no response. Derek simply bit down on his collar bone, talented fingers popping the button on Stiles jeans loose.

"Derek, stop," Stiles moved his hands and pressed on the wolfs chest, pushing hard on the sculpted muscle. The wolf hesitated a moment, eyes flicking down to lock with a nervous amber gaze. Stiles blinked up at him and his hands fell from their place against his chest. They stared at each other, through each other. It wasn't as if they had to memorize each other or figure each other out, they had done that already. A prang of guilt found its way into Stiles' stomach and he swallowed a dry scratchy breath of air.

Derek said nothing. He just heaved in breath after breath and Stiles inhaled every bit of warmth that was pushed out across his mouth.

"Derek..." he tested, reaching up to rest the palm of his hand against the curve of the alphas unshaven cheek, "you... we... we don't have to do this."

It was the first time Stiles had stopped them and Derek blinked down at him, moving a hand to drag down the length of the lean body settled below. The boys breath hitched but he kept his eyes on the wolf hovering above him. The sun had set and the moon was casting obscure shadows across the loft. Stiles' heart fluttered in his chest and his free hand moved to tentatively stroke across Dereks knuckles.

The wolf let his lips part and gripped Stiles' hip gently, the strength in his eyes fading for a moment, "I don't want this to be the only thing I'm good for," he muttered. His gaze finally darted away and he turned his head away from the warm hand resting against his cheek. Stiles felt his stomach turn uncomfortably and his throat constricted when he felt the ghost of cold air against his open palm.

What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? What the fuck would anyone say to that? He couldn't explain what was even going on in his own life, in his own fucking Calculus class but Derek just expected him to be able to find the words right now?

Stiles took a deep breath and trembled slightly as he propped himself up on his elbows. Derek sat up slowly onto his knees and continued to find anything else to look at in the dark except for Stiles. That hurt more than he had expected it to.

"Remember when you were pissed off at me in my Jeep for all the werewolf research I was doing and you called me a 'sarcastic, egotistical child who had no idea what they were getting themselves into'?"

Derek didn't answer right away but eventually nodded and poked at Stiles fingertips when the boy reached to tug at the belt loops on the alphas jeans.

"That's when I knew I liked you," Stiles grumbled under his breath, a smile playing like sad violins across the curve of his mouth, "like, like you. Like you."

Derek said nothing in return, he simply leaned back over Stiles, his torso gently pressing down into the boy beneath him. A gentle sigh fell from Stiles' lips and he let his elbows slide out from underneath him and placed his hands on either side of the wolfs face. His heart was still pounding, his body shaking and trembling and yearning for the man above him. It would take a force of god to keep the boy away from the alpha at this point and as much as he hated it, he knew that there was nothing he could do to solve the problem at hand now.

And fucking their way out of it without giving Derek at least some kind of emotional payment wasn't going to work either.

Stiles chewed on his lip and Derek watched him carefully. It was one of those moments where the silence was even waiting, waiting for something to be said or done. The heat radiating between them could have smothered the sun. It felt like the their auras had merged, combined and it seemed like something in their spines was lurching forward to get inside the body of the other. It was excruciating and lovely.

The alphas lips brushed across Stiles who leaned forward, whining when Derek pulled away.

"I care about you. I'm not going to tell you I love you because you asked me not to, but I need to know, at least... do you even...?" Dereks voice was quiet. Quieter than it had ever been and panic swarmed inside Stiles as the last three words pinched and pried at his ear drums.

It felt like two animals were going to war with each other inside of him. Like some wolf he had never seen was devouring a completely submissive creature that had no choice but the scream that he loved the man above him and would do anything for him. But Stiles bit his tongue and his eyes closed and he let Derek play absently with his fingertips as he tried to gain some sort of stability within his thoughts.

Sometimes it paid to just give in. Sometimes fighting wasn't worth it anymore and sometimes the struggle was against a force that was much too powerful and much too personal to try and overcome. People have always told him that when it happened he would see fireworks and the heavens would part and he would see a future he had never seen before. But how was Stiles to know that it wasn't all a chemical reaction? How was he supposed to know the difference between loving someone and being the mate of a werewolf? This was foreign and it scared him. It fucking scared him to death.

But what scared him more? Looking across a dark room to Derek, torn apart and hardly conscious. Holding him through the night and hoping he woke up in one piece. The night Derek almost lost his life just hours ago.

That instilled more fear in Stiles than the difference between being in love and being someones mate. And that alone was enough to make him take in a deep breath and wind his fingers into Dereks hair and pull his mouth against his own.

The wolf grinded his body down and pushed his hips between the boys legs, earning an eager moan from the writhing body beneath him. It wasn't a crushing kiss that was meant to bruise and Dereks hands weren't precise and full of ill-intent. They fumbled as they always did against Stiles' gently sculpted abdomen and they danced along the soft muscles on his sides.

Stiles pulled away, sucking in air as his mouth fell open, Derek's tongue darting out to lick across the boys swollen lips, "Of course I do, yes, yes I do," the words were hurried and Stiles nodded along with them, almost convincing himself of something more so than convincing Derek.

"I-" his words were stopped by a talented tongue as Derek sealed his lips over the trembling mouth that Stiles was desperately hoping would make the right sounds and the right words and wouldn't betray him as he tried to tell the alpha that his feelings were true.

Stiles pulled away again, taking in sharp breath after breath as Derek licked and sucked on the skin below his ear. He bit down on his bottom lip, grinding his hips into the alpha and swimming through his thoughts to try and pick out words or phrases or anything besides 'fuck me' and 'oh my god.'

Derek paused slightly when Stiles tugged at his hair again, pulling his face up and bumping his nose against the alphas. "I care about you more than I've cared about anything in my life. Including myself. I'm sorry that I'm a bitch and I can't handle things sometimes," he gasped when Dereks hands found their way down his pants and the alpha gripped him tightly. Stiles physically shook and his nails dug into the wolfs shoulders, "I'm just... I'm scared of everything and I'm scared of hurting you and I'm scared that my life has been decided for me." The words were falling out again, falling like comets from the fucking sky and pelting them both again and again.

Derek sighed against this mouth and waiting, playing patiently with the band of Stiles' boxers.

"But that doesn't mean I'm scared of being with you, it just means I'm scared of everything else."

Stiles opened his eyes and Derek was staring down at him with his brows raised and a coy smile playing across his lips. The boy blushed furiously and squirmed but was held in place by two strong arms that moved up to press down on his shoulder blades. Derek grinded his hips down into Stiles and whimpered freely, eyes rolling and falling shut. He gritted his teeth with the wolf chuckled and bit back down on his lip, chewing nervously.

"I don't really know what you're saying," Derek said gently, one arm moving to slide down Stiles' body and pull his jeans and boxers down and away from his body. Stiles had never felt so completely naked before. And not because he was actually naked or that his flesh was glowing against the moonlight pouring in through the window, but because he knew exactly what Derek wanted to hear. And what he wanted to hear made Stiles more nervous than anything else.

Stiles took in a deep breath and moved his own hands down to now push at Dereks pants, moving his feet up to kick at them and push them down, exposing the wolf.

"I'm..." Stiles paused and let his head rest back when Derek pressed his lips gingerly against the base of his throat, "I'm asking you to be my stupid fucking boyfriend."

It was a quick statement and his cheeks burned an even shade of pink as the words left his mouth. The butterfly wings inside his chest flapped and smacked against his ribcage. He didn't want to explain and he didn't need to explain. Steps. That's what he needed. He needed normalcy. Something that could ease him into a life long commitment.

A relationship would probably be the best thing to jump into before 'soul mates' even if that was what was going on, at least now Stiles had some form of stability. Something.

Stiles was whimpering and arching his hips into the alpha, hands siding down passed the wolfs belly button and across the hard length between his legs. Derek was trembling now and he kissed Stiles hard on the mouth, batting his hands away and nudging the boys legs wider.

Fucking finally was all Stiles kept hearing in his head.

Stiles wasn't quiet as Derek rocked his body into his own, his eyes rolling back and nails digging like blades into the alphas back. The wolf growled and lifted his hips, teeth busy at Stiles' throat and dark smoldering eyes half-lidded.

Derek didn't need to answer. He didn't need to accept or say 'okay' or take him out to dinner. He just needed to know. He need to feel something more than Stiles' desperation and fear.

He wanted his confidence.

And that's what Stiles had given him. His trust. A title. Something other than a secret.

They wrestled in the darkness for half the night, panting and sweating and enticing each other with whimpers and moans and growls and pleas.

Dereks phone lit and buzzed on the end table next to the sofa but the two were much to enveloped in each other to care about any other sound besides the ones they were coaxing from each other.

A text flashed on the screen.

Peter Hale:

Derek. I hate to ask this but you asked for my help. How many times have you broken skin when... you know. With loverboy. Because I think I figured it out. Don't let Stiles be sassy with you, we all know he loves you. Call me. ASAP.