Authors Note: HEYO! XD Please tell me what you think; I would love to know XD I own nothing and no one.

JUST SO YOU KNOW: like everyone else, I have no idea what Stiles' real name is, so I'm going along with what everyone else puts :) and I've made his middle name up XD

Please, please review XD

This was written for my very good friend The Magnus Bane as part of our little box swap (I'm from the UK, she's from the US) ^_^ Hope you like it, dude! P.S. I know Christmas is gone, but I wanted her to get the box before I put it up XD

Stiles

Christmas.

Who didn't like Christmas?

Ok, there were probably a few people, not forgetting those who don't actually celebrate, but the majority liked it! Well, liked really isn't a strong enough word... People loved it! It was a day for family, friends, food and presents!

I loved Christmas. Always had, always will. I loved it more than my own birthday! Mom used to say it was because I liked to give to people and, at Christmas, I got to give to a lot of people at once. In a way, I think she was right. I liked being able to give someone I care about something they'd love. I liked seeing their faces light up when they tear into the colourful paper.

I liked knowing that I made someone I loved happy.

After Mom died, it was hard. That first Christmas, Dad and I didn't really celebrate. I mean, sure, we did the present thing, but we didn't celebrate. We didn't have the decorations; our house wasn't full of that Christmas spirit like it used to be. After that first year, though, it started to get a little easier. We started to find ways to cope. Slowly, but surely, we got back into the Holiday Season; we started to have fun again. Melissa and Scott helped with that.

For a few years, it used to just be the four of us - Melissa, Scott, Dad and me. We would alternate houses each year; Dad and Melissa would cook, whilst Scott and I laid the table or tried to guess what our presents were; after lunch we would all sit around the tree, taking it in turns to open one present at a time, noting down what it was and who it was from so we could write thank you notes later. We, basically, did what every other family did at Christmas, only we weren't a family by marriage or blood. But, hey, as a wise man once said 'Family don't end with blood'.

When the Pack came together properly, a year and a half after the wolves had been bitten and the rest of us had found out, our little family grew and we had more at the Christmas table.

Not that that was a bad thing, it was quite the opposite really.

I liked it.

I liked having a lot of people around.

Sometimes, I wondered if maybe I was like a Werewolf at heart, needing a Pack to survive. I wondered if that was the reason. Maybe I was a Pack creature. Or maybe that was just a very strange reason that my brain decided to conjure up, at stupid o'clock in the morning, because I couldn't get to sleep and my Adderall had worn off. There was no way anyone could really tell, if we were being honest.

Isaac, Erica and Boyd had started living with Derek and Peter, now the elder wolf was no longer a psycho! It was a bit crowded in the loft, but they all made do. Besides, it wasn't like they were going to stay there for much longer, considering we had almost finished rebuilding the Hale House! Derek had decided to take up the project of reconstructing his old home the year before, during the summer, wanting to be back in familiar surroundings where the Pack could easily come together, especially during the full moons. Well, that's what he and Peter would say. Honestly, I think they just wanted their home back. It had taken longer than it usually did to build a house, what with Beacon Hills being invaded by Witches - Witches, of all things - other Werewolves and the like. I was just glad nothing came near the house! Imagine it, all of our hard work ruined, all because of some asshole trying to kill us.

But we were close. We were so close to finishing the house and getting the five of them moved in.

This was one of the reasons we had, on December 3rd, for throwing a Christmas Party! Well, a surprise Christmas Party.

For Derek.

In his loft.

Peter was helping by keeping Derek out of the house, giving the Alpha some shit about needing help with Christmas shopping. Derek hadn't wanted to go at first, then Peter used the Isaac card. It was a sure fire way to make anyone in the Pack do whatever you want - say it was for Isaac. I mean, the guy hadn't had a proper Christmas, or birthday, since his Mom died. He still thought Santa Clause was real, for crying out loud! No one had the heart to tell the guy otherwise. So, as soon as Peter mentioned Isaac, Derek agreed to go, being dragged out of the loft the minute the affirmation left his mouth.

That was when the rest of us jumped in.

As soon as Erica had texted us all that Derek was out of the loft, Operation Surprise Party was a go! Boyd and Allison were in charge of food; Jackson, Danny and Lydia were in charge of music; Scott, Isaac and Erica were in charge of decorating. And me? Well, I was just in charge. They had all decided that, since it was my idea in the first place, I should be the one to oversee it all and take the blame for anything that went wrong. But that wasn't to say I didn't help out! I dipped in and out of everything, helping wherever I could without being a menace; solving any problems that arose.

Boyd and Allison were well on the way with the food. They had made a lot of it after school one day, Allison storing it at her house so Derek wouldn't get suspicious. All they had to do was cook some of it off, make the cake and other confectionary, set it up and then they were done.

Jackson, Danny and Lydia had a lot of ideas for music, all of them stored on Danny's laptop. All they had to do was go through them all, taking out any that no one wanted, then hook up Danny's laptop to the speakers and then they were done. Well, they would be, once they decided which ones they should cut...

Scott, Isaac and Erica had managed to get a tree, standing it in the corner of the room. They had decided that the tree would have red and blue lights, gold and silver tinsel, and a range of different ornaments and baubles, with an angel on the top. The banners were going up after the tree, a mix of blues, golds and reds; little Christmas knick knacks to be scattered around the room. It wasn't a lot, but it still felt very Christmassy.

We even had all the presents to each other ready to be piled under the tree - all we need was for Derek and Peter to put theirs under it!

It was all coming together and it looked awesome. If Derek didn't like it, I wasn't sure what I would do...

As we progressed with getting everything ready for the party, I was getting more and more nervous. I couldn't say for sure what Derek's reaction would be. I couldn't say for sure if he would accept it, or if he would trash it all and tell us to get out.

I guess you could say I was panicking just a little.

But, hey, you did when it came to the person you had very non-platonic feelings for...

Yes, that's right, I had feelings for the Sourwolf! But it wasn't my fault, you couldn't really control this kind of thing. I mean, come on, who could control who they ended up falling in love with? Show me a person that could!

It was strange, realising how I felt for the Alpha wolf. I mean, for years, I thought I was in love with Lydia. I thought Lydia was the one I wanted. Then I realised that myinfatuation with Lydia was only because I admired her intelligence and confidence. I only realised it after I found out about her kissing Scott.

So, yeah, just panicking about Derek's reaction, to my idea for a party, just a little.

"When did Peter say they were coming back?" Allison called from the kitchen.

"Well, hopefully, he'll wait until we text him, like I said." I sighed, pinning up one of the banners. "Whether he listened or not is a different story."

"I doubt it." Jackson snorted.

I hated to admit it, but I agreed with Jackson. Even though Peter wasn't a psychotic asshole anymore, he could still be a jackass. I don't know if he meant to be a lot of the time, maybe sometimes it was accidental, but who knew what was going through that head of his.

"I wonder if Derek will like it." Isaac mused, placing a snowman ornament on the coffee table.

"We can only hope, Pup." I said.

"What if he doesn't?"

And we were back to that.

Everyone went quite, stopping what they were doing for a moment. We all glanced at each other, none of us wanting to even entertain that outcome. We just wanted Derek to enjoy himself, to like the idea of all of us having a good time together because we actually could for once.

That was all we wanted, all I wanted.

I mean, this was the first time that Scott and I had a group of people to do anything like this with. Before, we only had each other and our parents. There was only four of us. Now, we had each other, our parents and a group of nine other people. It was the first time we actually had friends to celebrate with. Proper friends. Friends we saw every day; friends that actually looked out for us; friends that had, literally, saved our lives and us theirs.

Isaac, Erica and Boyd didn't even have friends until they became part of the Pack, literally being forced into our lives. It had taken a lot for them all to find their feet, trying to figure out how it was all supposed to work. They had come a long way and they were better for it, the three of them relaxing enough to finally accept and trust us all. Hell, Erica and Boyd even started dating, even Isaac started dating Danny!

Jackson, Lydia and Danny were similar. Yes, they had all been friends and they were the popular kids. We all thought they had the better deal. Then, when the three of them had started to calm down around us, we had found out just how wrong we were. Even though they had a lot of people around them, it didn't mean that they thought of those people as friends. Which, yeah, made sense to us. In a way, we were the first group of people they thought of as friends.

Allison... Allison had come to the school as a new girl, she knew none of us. She was probably scared as hell that she wasn't even going to befriend anyone, just be alone for the rest of her time at High School! We hadn't even heard her speak of any old friends before, making me doubt if she even had many, if any, because of all the moving around. With us, she had friends, a boyfriend... She had people that understood her.

We just wanted to have some fun, with the friends we finally had. Especially since it was Christmas. That was all we wanted.

"I don't know." I muttered, climbing down from the stepladder I was on. "I honestly don't."

We were so close to finishing setting up when the door opened, Derek walking through the door as Peter tried to stop him.

We all froze, staring wide eyed as we waited for the reaction.

Derek stopped mid-step, his eyes narrowing, glaring as he slowly started to look around the room, looking at what we had done to his loft. The air around him was tense, filling everyone with this sense of dread.

Suddenly, I regretted my idea of a surprise Christmas Party.

"Surprise..." I smiled, weakly, trying to stop my hands from shaking as we watched him.

Derek's eyes snapped to me, a low growling coming from under his breath, as he dropped the bags in his hands onto the steps. His hands balled into loose fists, Alpha red starting to seep into the irises of his eyes.

Uh oh...

"What did you do to my loft?" Derek asked, slowly, threateningly.

"We decorated it." Isaac smiled, shuffling a little closer to Danny. "For Christmas."

"We thought we'd throw you a surprise Christmas Party." Boyd told him, rubbing the back of his neck.

With very deliberate steps, Derek walked down the steps, coming further into the loft. He came towards me, carefully, almost like he was trying to keep himself calm. This was what I didn't want. I didn't want the pissed off Alpha wolf. I wanted the Derek we all would see glimpses of, the Derek he tried to hide because he thought he'd lose respect as an Alpha.

I just wanted him to be happy...

I wanted all of them to be happy.

Unfortunately, I seemed to have failed that.

"Who's idea was this?" Derek demanded, his gaze still trained on me.

"That, uh... It was mine." I sighed, wrapping my arms around my torso.

I watched as Derek nodded to himself for a moment, his eyebrows raising and mouth curling slightly.

"What made you think this was a good idea? What made you think I would want this?" he bellowed, that roar only a Werewolf could have seeping into his voice, making everything shake slightly. "Why the fuck would you do this?!"

It hurt me.

Probably more than it should have, but it hurt me.

I didn't hear anything else he was saying, I completely blocked it out as my head dropped to stare at the ground and hugged myself a little tighter. No one else spoke up, not wanting to face the wrath of the Alpha wolf, not even Scott.

I was standing there, facing the pissed off Alpha that I had feelings for, with no one to back me up.

That just made it hurt all the more.

"Maybe because I'm in love with you, you idiot!" I yelled. "I wanted to make this Christmas memorable, special, for all the right reasons!"

Derek's jaw snapped shut the minute I finished speaking.

To be honest, I hadn't even realised what I had admitted until I saw the shocked, wide eyed look he and the others were giving me.

"Whatever." I whispered.

Barging past Derek, I grabbed my backpack and left.

I had gone straight home.

I had pulled into the drive, gone into the house, ran upstairs and threw myself face down onto my bed, my backpack dropped just inside the door. My hands came up to fist the hair on the back of my head.

I didn't understand why I had to let slip that I loved him.

In front of everyone!

I didn't know why I thought a party was a good idea. I didn't know what I was thinking when I suggested it to all of them. Well, that was it. I wasn't thinking. I didn't think it through and, if I had, I would have realised that it was a bad idea!

I felt so stupid.

I felt like such an idiot.

Sighing, I let go of my hair, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling.

How would I be able to face them all again? I mean, sure, we had all grown as a Pack, but: Derek could still be an angry dude; Peter could still be a sarcastic zombie; Jackson could still be a jerk... I didn't know how any of them would react and, after Derek's reaction to the party, I didn't want to find out.

I wanted to sleep.

I wanted to close my eyes and fall asleep, just so I didn't have to think about it anymore. I just wanted the day to be over already. I didn't want to lie there and have to torture myself by going over what happened, again and again and again.

Clenching my eyes shut, I dragged my hands down over my face. I felt like I wanted to scream; like I wanted to punch something. I wanted to feel something other than this embarrassed shame that had been consuming me since Derek had walked into his loft.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." I muttered to myself, over and over.

I'd be lucky if I was ever be able to show my face to them again.

The next day, I was constantly being rung and texted by everyone in the Pack. I ended up turning my cell phone off, burying myself under the covers of my bed and curling myself into a cocoon of softness.

It was comforting.

It made me feel just that little bit better.

I was wondering how long I would have to hide out, until they all forgot about what had happened. Though, if I did that, I probably wouldn't be seeing some of them for years, if ever again... I didn't think I could go that long without seeing Scott, or even Isaac.

I probably wouldn't be able to go two weeks without, at least, speaking to them. Hell, I probably wouldn't last two days.

Groaning to myself, I wrapped myself tighter in the covers, dragging them closer towards me as I pressed my face further into my pillow. I didn't want to get up. I didn't want to move. I just wanted to stay in bed until it was all over and done with. I didn't want to have to face anyone of them for as long as I could stand.

God, I'm pathetic.

It was, literally, as I thought that that there was a knock at my window. I was going to ignore it, I was going to just leave it alone and not bother moving, hoping that they would understand that I didn't want to see anyone.

But they kept knocking, getting more insistent.

"Go away, Scott!" I called out, thinking that it could only be Scott outside.

It usually was. Scott was the only one that ever knocked, if he was coming into my room through my window.

The only reply I got was more knocking.

Growling, softly, to myself, I flipped off the covers, wriggling out my bed to yank up the blind covering my windows.

That was when I saw Derek.

For a moment, I hesitated before unlocking and pulling open my window. I folded my arms across my chest, refusing to look him in the eyes as I glared down at the carpet on my floor.

"What the hell do you want?" I grumbled.

Derek didn't say anything.

He just sat there quietly.

I lifted my head, only slightly, just to see just what he was doing... Which was when I saw him pointing to something above our heads.

Mistletoe had been stuck above my window, hanging above our heads between us.

"It's bad luck not to kiss under it." Derek said, calmly.

Before I could say anything, Derek's lips were gently pressed to mine.

I pulled back almost instantly, staring wide eyed at the Alpha wolf in front of me, not fully understanding what was going on. But then I saw the look on Derek's face. He seemed a little, dare I say, nervous.

That look was the reason I lifted my right arm until I could cup a hand around Derek's neck, dragging him closer as I kissed him again. As I hooked my left hand around Derek's neck, my right drifted up to tangle in his hair. I felt Derek relax slightly as he moved into my room, his arms coming up to wrap around me, dragging me as close to him as possible by my lower back.

I couldn't remember a time I felt better.

Honestly, I couldn't say what had happened.

Somehow, it had gone from Derek kissing me, to the two of us sitting in the living room on the couch, my back pressed tightly against Derek's chest as his arms snaked around me, holding me close.

I didn't really care, to be honest. I was happy with the results.

Derek had told me why he had been so angry when he saw the party. The Hale House fire had been right before Christmas and he hadn't celebrated the holiday at all since that day. Seeing the decorations, hearing the music and smelling the food just brought back all the memories of his family. The memories of things he could no longer do anymore with them.

Derek had told me how, when he finally registered what I had said, I was already long gone. He told me how he wanted to come after me, but Scott had stopped him, telling him it probably wasn't the best idea. He hadn't wanted to listen at first but, giving it some thought, realised that Scott, being my best friend and all, knew me better than he did and decided to listen to the loveable idiot.

Derek had told me how he thought of everything he could to try and show me that, yes, he did feel the same. That, no, I didn't have to feel embarrassed about letting it slip out. That was when he came up with the idea of mistletoe - well, after seeing a fake sprig of it, buried deep in the box of decorations.

I couldn't get my head around it. Derek Hale liked me. Me? It just didn't compute. For so long, I thought this was something that would go on, unrequited. But I was wrong.

"So you aren't going to say that I'm too young to know what love is, like your did with Scott about Allison?" I asked, trying to tease but too worried about the answer for it to really come through.

"No. I'm not. Because I was wrong." Derek admitted. "Allison is Scott's Mate. Just like you are mine."

And, yeah, that made me stop.

Wriggling out from Derek's grip, I managed to turn around and face the Alpha wolf. I watched as a small tinge of pink flooded across his face, making him look years younger.

"Mate? As in Mate Mate?" I squeaked.

Derek nodded, fiddling with a loose tread on one of the couch cushions.

"What, um... What does that mean?" I coughed, biting my lip slightly.

"It means that you're mine." Derek explained. "Werewolves, like normal wolves, mate for life. We have one Mate and one Mate only. You're my Mate."

"How long have you known this?"

"Since you and Scott came looking for his inhaler."

Staring at the wolf in front of me, I couldn't help but love how embarrassed he looked, how hesitant he seemed to be to tell me any of it. It was just so new, just so different seeing him act this way.

Smiling slightly to myself, I shuffled back so I was closer to him, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. It was so much softer than it looked!

"Next time, just tell me, Sourwolf." I grinned.

Before he could say anything, I pulled him in gently by his hair, kissing him again.

I didn't see anyone in the Pack until a week later.

Derek and I had taken the week to talk things through, to really get to know each other and see if we were on the same page. He even took me out to dinner, on a date! I had told Dad right from the start, not wanting to keep any secrets from him anymore. He was, surprisingly, very calm about it all, though he did threaten Derek when he thought I wasn't listening.

No, I didn't see any of the others until December 11th.

I was sure they had all figured out what was going on. I mean, after my outburst and Derek wanting to come after me, I would think it was a little obvious. Especially since they hadn't really seen either of us for the last week. Besides, the wolves would smell Derek on me and me on Derek.

Apparently, they had been warned not to do or say anything stupid.

I couldn't help but find it kind of funny. And kind of sweet that Derek thought to say anything.

Of course, I could tell they wanted to say something. They wanted to talk to me about it, but they were a little worried about saying the wrong thing. That was why I ended up ushering them all out of the loft, telling Derek and Peter I'd have them all back soon and that they shouldn't follow us. Pretty much, as soon as I had walked out of the building with them all, I had a text from Derek, making sure that I was alright and they hadn't upset me or anything.

Was it bad that I liked that?

I ended up taking the Betas of the Pack to a nearby diner. It was one that we went to a lot. Just a simple diner, no bells and whistles about it, but the food was amazing! Sometimes we would go there for lunch, sometimes we'd go after school and have a little something. We went there whenever we could, for whatever reason we could find.

It was only when we had placed our order that I finally spoke.

"Ok, let it out." I told them, leaning my elbows on the table.

But they said nothing, opting for just looking between each other.

"Oh, come on! Nothing will happen to you." I sighed, chuckling slightly.

And let it out they did.

Although, they didn't say what I thought they would.

I thought some of them would poke fun. Especially Jackson. I honestly thought they would take the piss.

Nope.

All of them were going on about how 'it was about bloody time, and how they 'knew all along', things like that. I felt bad for judging their reactions. I felt bad for thinking they wouldn't be supportive. They weren't the same as they used to be.

We had a nice time at the diner. It gave the nine of us some time to just say whatever we wanted, without having the two elder wolves growling. It was there that I told them this new idea I had, one that I had thought over a lot; one I knew would go down well.

Two weeks later, on Christmas Day, that was when the idea was revealed to Derek and Peter. We had blindfolded the two of them, driving them to where we needed them to be. To be honest, I was rather excited about this idea!

Derek and Peter had been complaining the whole way. It even got to the point where I had to keep Derek's blindfold on him, even having to go as far as distracting him with my mouth. It was the worth the slight embarrassment when I heard the complaints from the others, even more worth it when I felt Derek smiling, his arms wrapping around my waist and dragging me onto his lap. Not exactly legal, I know, but it wasn't like we'd be found by anyone.

The moment the cars stopped, we had to stop Derek and Peter from launching themselves out of the cars, making sure that, even with their wolfy powers, they didn't fall and hurt themselves.

We walked the two to the perfect spot.

Everyone gathered around behind them, Isaac ready to take off Peter's blindfold and me ready to take off Derek's.

With a count down from three, we pushed the blindfolds up their heads, none of us being able to hold back our grins.

The first thing the two Hales saw? The completed-inside-and-out, new, Hale House.

When it had sunk in what they were seeing, the two dragged us all in for a hug, Derek sneaking a kiss to me, right before dragging us all into the house.

I loved Christmas.

This was written for my very good friend The Magnus Bane as part of our little box swap (I'm from the UK, she's from the US) ^_^ Hope you like it, dude! P.S. I know Christmas is gone, but I wanted her to get the box before I put it up XD

Please, please review XD

Thanks a lot everybody and Happy 2017 XD