Baking My Way Into Your Heart - From Unexpected Part II (Nighttime at the Stilinski House)

POV: Stiles

Stiles collapsed into his father's bed, tired after an exciting day of events. Clicking off the bedside lamp, he reached for Sourwolf, hugging him to his chest as he let his eyes droop in their sleepiness. He pulled the comforter over his shoulder and buried his face in his pillow, breathing in the comforting scent of his father's aftershave. Although he wished he could have spent the day with his dad, he couldn't complain about getting the chance to spend more time with Derek.

Admittedly, he was surprised by the sudden invite to dinner, but he was also very grateful. He was never very fond of being home alone, so getting a chance to go out with company was like a God's send. It was made all the more amusing by Derek's family.

Stiles snickered to himself, remembering Peter's comment about bakers being good with their hands and tongues. He snickered again at the way the comment had startled poor Derek. The older boy was clearly embarrassed by nearly everything his uncle had said, but Stiles found Peter quite the comedian.

And Laura was pretty sassy herself. She reminded him a bit of Lydia. He actually couldn't believe that someone like her was terrified by the same movie he had been when he first watched 'The Ring.'

'But to be fair, that movie is freakin' scary. The way that girl climbed out of the well and just slowly did that creepy walk towards the screen. Oh my God. And then suddenly, she was no longer just in the TV, she was actually climbing out of the TV!'

Stiles popped his eyes back open, frowning as he tried to see in the dark. 'It's okay. It was just a movie… I didn't even watch it tonight.' But the image of the girl was clear as if he had.

He shut his eyes tightly, squeezing his wolf against him, pulling his blanket up over his head. 'There is no creepy girl out there- There is no creepy girl out there-' He repeated the mantra in his head, but it didn't help his heart from speeding up. Stiles curled up tighter. Maybe if he made himself smaller, no evil little girls could find him.

He tried to forget the movie. He tried to get the image out of his mind. But despite being hidden under the blanket, he felt utterly exposed. Like maybe something would reach out and touch his back.

Stiles shot up in bed, not liking that idea at all. He scrambled over to the bedside lamp, fumbling for the switch, nearly knocking it down in the process. The room flooded with light as Stiles drew his legs up and hid behind his wolf as he peeked around the room.

'Calm down. The room is empty. There's no one in here but me.' Even though he knew this to be true, he couldn't help but be paranoid. 'But what if I'm not alone in this room? What if there's someone hiding in the closet?'

His eyes darted to the closed door as he bit nervously on his lip. 'No, no, no…' he inwardly whimpered. 'What if someone is watching me through the slats of the door?'

This was not good. This was not good at all. He couldn't do this. Sleep did not seem like an option at this particular moment in time. 'Maybe… maybe Derek is still awake,' Stiles sucked in an air of relief. 'Yeah! That's good! Derek will help me forget that stupid movie. We'll play cards again and we'll talk and everything will be okay. I need Derek.'

Casting one last glance at the closed closet door, Stiles leapt out of bed and scurried to the door, hand sliding against the wall in the darkened hallway to find the light switch. Flipping it on, he hurried back in the room to turn off the bedside lamp and then hurried back into the light. Stiles made his way to his bedroom, opening the door as quietly as he could.

"Derek?" he whispered into the dark. "Derek, you awake?"

Stiles slipped into the room, going over to his desk where he knew a deck of cards would be sitting. With Sourwolf under one arm and the cards in his hand, he was prepared to wake up his sleeping friend. He looked towards his bed and blinked. No. Oh no. That couldn't be right.

Derek was gone.

'Oh shit!' Stiles said, flailing around for the light switch. As the room flooded with light, his heart only sped up realizing Derek was nowhere to be found.

'Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. Maybe he's actually under the covers.' The cards fell from his hand as he hurried to the bed to pull back the blanket. It was no good. The bed was empty.

'Did someone get him? Is he okay? Where is he? Is he hurt? Oh no, is he dead? Derek, where are you?'

There was a hitch in his breathing as he felt a panic attack coming on. 'No, not now. I need to find Derek!'

With the blanket still in his hand, Stiles ran out of the room and flew down the stairs. He reached for the light in the downstairs hall. Just as he was going to grab his shoes, he saw a figure on the couch.

His initial reaction was fear. 'There's a stranger on my couch!' But soon, he began to recognize the person lying there. 'It's Derek. Is he okay?' Stiles made his way over, the shine from the hall lighting the way. Stiles bent over the back of the couch, holding his hand out just under Derek's nose to make sure his friend was still breathing. Stiles sighed in relief. He was. Nothing bad had happened to Derek. He was just sleeping.

'Okay, so maybe I overreacted a little bit. Nothing bad is gonna happen to Derek. He's strong. He can take care of himself like he did today in the woods.' Stiles sat down on the back of the couch, watching his sleeping friend. 'That was pretty awesome though. That boar was freakin' huge. I bet if he wanted to, Derek probably could have wrestled that thing into submission.' He chuckled to himself.

Stiles got off the couch and walked over to the other side to get a better look at the sleeping figure. He traced his finger between Derek's eyebrows, over the frown lines that were invisible now due to his relaxed state. 'He's usually scowling,' Stiles mused. Finally letting go of the blanket and setting Sourwolf down beside him, Stiles lightly pressed his forefingers to the corners of Derek's mouth, pushing them down into a frown. He laughed to himself, seeing the familiar sight. He pushed them upward this time, forcing Derek to smile. This only made Stiles laugh even more. He withdrew one finger and moved the other just below Derek's bottom lip. He moved it up and down, making his mouth open and close.

"My name is Mr. Hale and I'm gonna huff and I'm gonna puff and I'm gonna eat all your cake! Muahahaha! Oh what? What was that? I don't understand your awesome and totally relevant pop culture references but I understand Marvel references because I wanna be just like Wolverine. Got it, bub?"

He brought his other hand back up, pushing Derek's nose up lightly as he made sniffing noises. "Hm? What is that? What is that smell? Is that… lemon? Ooh I looooove lemon. Please Stiles. My body is ready if you just give me a delicious lemony treat. Better yet, I'll eat it off you and it'll be two treats in one."

Stiles was cracking up now. Part of him knew it was wrong to be messing with Derek in his sleep while the other part was just plain dumbstruck that the older boy could even sleep through something like this. Stiles pulled his hands back, resting his chin on his arms as he leaned against the couch. He studied Derek some more. He listened to his even breathing, watched the steady rise and fall of his chest.

Stiles smiled. 'He's even cool when he sleeps.'

Stiles moved one arm back out, unable to resist the urge to touch. He traced one finger lightly over a sharp cheekbone then down to the pronounced jaw. Then he ran his thumb against the stubble there, each strand scratchy against his skin. He tucked his arm back under his chin and sighed.

"I'm gonna tell you a little secret okay?" Stiles whispered. "I really really like you, Derek. I sometimes feel like I act a little too clingy, but I can't help it. I just really like being with you. You make me happy." He sighed again, his soft smile falling from his face. "I… I hope that one day… maybe… maybe you'll like me too."

Stiles adjusted himself so that he was up on his knees, looking down at Derek's sleeping face. He brushed the back of his hand against Derek's cheek, caressing it softly. Then, leaning in, he placed the faintest of kisses on the corner of Derek's lips, not daring to move further than that.

"Good night, Derek," he breathed, once he pulled away.

Stiles reached for the blanket, draping it over the older boy, before standing, picking up his wolf, and making his way back up the stairs. He made it all the way to his dad's bedroom door before he froze, the thoughts from earlier resurfacing. Stiles bit his lip.

'M-maybe Derek wouldn't mind…'

He went back to his room, shut off the light and closed the door behind him. Then he turned off the light in the hall before making his way back downstairs. Finally, he shut off the hallway light, submerging himself in darkness as he crept back over to the couch. He was just about to slide in next to Derek when he remembered what was behind him.

Feeling his heart thumping in his chest, Stiles gave in to his ridiculous urge, walked over to the TV and moved it so that the screen was facing down. Had he been in his room, that thing would be back to facing the open window, staring at a twelve-foot drop. Satisfied, Stiles lifted up the covers and slipped in next to Derek.

There wasn't exactly a lot of room to begin with, so Stiles did the best he could to squeeze in. He turned on his side, hugging Sourwolf once more.

It was then, when Stiles was teetering on the edge of the couch, that Derek finally moved, adjusting his position on the couch so that he, too, was more on his side. Stiles was able to scoot forward. He smiled before closing his eyes to finally let sleep take him away. A few quiet moments later, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt two arms wrap around him. Stiles felt himself being pulled in so that he didn't really have a choice but to use Derek's chest as a pillow.

"Derek?" Stiles said, looking up. The boy in question was still sound asleep. Stiles smiled. He pulled the blanket over his shoulder and buried his face in his pillow, breathing in the comforting scent of pure Derek. Then, safe from the shadows in the arms of his protector, Stiles finally went to sleep.

Notes: Sometimes when I write from one character's POV, I still have thoughts on what other characters say, do, or think, but since it doesn't go with the story, those thoughts stay in my head. That was the case with this part. But then Izaya91 asked to see Stiles' POV during this part, so I figured 'why not?' So I wrote it out and sent it through a PM haha. And then they asked if I was going to post it for other people to read. So again, I figured 'why not?' And here you have it. So if you like it, you should thank Izaya91 haha.

Also, if you have any other suggestions, feel free to ask. Who knows? You might see it here.