It was after Derek became Alpha that Stiles started feeling it.

At first it was little things; when his eyes momentarily flashed red or a smile tugged at his lips, he couldn't stop it – Stiles' heart began to beat just a little faster. It soon got worse, even just small things like when Derek walked into the room or spoke and when he growled.

Holy crap, growling really got Stiles going.

And when he was sat directly next to Scott and Derek was just across the room; he had be in control. He needed to control his heartbeat, his breathing and most of all; he had to stop thinking of undressing the Alpha because otherwise they'd smell the lust, the want and the desire that was coursing through him.

Usually, when it came to Derek, Stiles kept out of his way. He'd started to avoid the old Hale house in order to avoid the remaining Hale. And he only hung out with Scott when he knew there was no change of Derek coming in through the window (although, this meant he never hung out with Scott because he was always Allison and Stiles was defiantly not going to be a third wheel). And in the unfortunate event where they ended up in the same room, Stiles would literally stand and walk out, not even bothering to make some crappy excuse.

Stiles kept his avoidance tactics up for nearly two weeks until one night where Stiles was sat at his desk, doing some research about different types of Wolfsbane when he heard the window squeak slightly.

He jumped and span his chair round to be met with a very angry looking Derek. His jaw tight, fists clenched and eyes going from green to red every few seconds, as if he were doing his very best to stay in his human state.

"Derek" Stiles said, trying to breathe steadily.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked, voice rough and strained.

"I-I don't know what..." he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "... you mean" he finished lamely.

"You're avoiding me." Derek said, taking a step forward.

Stiles couldn't help but swallow and he began to sweat a little. "You're a little... angry. And I'm breakable so please don't wolf-out and kill me" he gulped again and his heart started beating faster as Derek's eyes flashed red again. "St-Stop with the eye thing" he gestured quickly to his own eyes.

"You know as well as I do that you like my eyes" he grumbled, glancing around the room before taking yet another step toward the younger boy.

Stiles was abruptly reduced to a blubbering mess as he tried to form an actual sentence. He pressed himself back against his desk as Derek crowded into his personal space and put a hand either side of him.

"Just, tell me... what" he sighed "Why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not?" he answered, and it was probably the worse lie he'd ever told.

"Bullshit"

"Alright, I'm avoiding you" he shrugged, "but why do you care? You don't even like me... I'd thought you'd be pretty happy about it"

"Well, I'm not" he mumbled and they're proximity was beginning to make Stiles a little woozy because he was putting so much effort into his control and all the while he felt like he wanted to throw up because he genuinely believes that this time, Derek really is going to kill him.

"Umm... Why?" he asked, the question hanging in the air.

There was silence for several seconds until Derek sighed again and pressed their bodies together completely.

"I'm going to kiss you now" Derek said, his nose nudging Stiles' to get him to move his mouth to a better position.

"Yeah..." he whispered "oka–"

Lips pressed against his lightly, just enough to make his heart go crazy and all self restraint go out the window. After a few moments of the short kiss, Stiles pulled away slightly to take a breath causing Derek to growl. Stiles' pupils blew wide and lust overtook his entire body; he hooked his arms around Derek's neck and smashed their lips together. Before Stiles really knew what was happening, he had Derek's tongue exploring his mouth while his fingers were holding onto dark hair like he's fall off the world without it.

They continued to kiss until Stiles suddenly let out a mumble of pain and Derek released him. His eyes searching for something he'd done wrong, but Stiles just grinned, his eyes hooded. He turned slightly and produced a stapler.

"It was digging into my back" he said sheepishly, a light blush covering his cheeks.

Knowing that it wasn't him causing the younger boy pain; Derek just took the stapler, placed it back onto the desk and then picked Stiles up by his hips and threw him onto the bed. Before stripping off his leather jacket and settling himself over the other.

"God, if I'd know this would have happened, I'd have ignored you from the start" Stiles grinned, his hands reaching up to grab a handful of his t-shirt and pull him down for another kiss.

And that, if how the two of them started out.

It was nearly five months after that first night and as a couple, Derek and Stiles worked quite well... they'd fallen into many habits that should have come after years of being around each other but they fit together so naturally that neither of them gave it a second thought. Scott however endlessly complained about it, while Allison thought it was adorable.

Stiles loved how he'd been let into Derek's heart; discovering that he Alpha was actually quite romantic but instead of huge displays of affection, he'd do the little things every single day, just to make him smile. For example, every single morning when Stiles woke up without another body warming his bed, he'd find Post-It notes all over; on the steering wheel of his Jeep, his locker, and he'd once found one attached to Scott's back (which he had not been pleased about).

They liked to spend their nights together, curled up in bed (normally Stiles' because Derek had just crawled effortlessly through the window) and on nights where they couldn't spend the night together, Derek would drop by and give him a kiss goodnight.

But what made Stiles smile more than anything was that Derek wasn't ashamed of him. The morning after their first kiss, they'd gone out to get some waffles for breakfast and when they'd jumped out of the Jeep, Derek took his hand and twisted their fingers together like they did it every day. It wasn't a question of when they'd go public because they never even tried to hide it. Hell, Derek wasn't even afraid to kiss Stiles when his Dad was in the room, and his Dad had a gun.

It was a Tuesday morning and Stiles had woken up late, his boyfriend gone, leaving the window slightly a-jar.

There was a note stuck to his pillow, and Stiles picked it up, reading the messy handwriting he knew so well – 'You're a doofus.' – He frowned at the words because usually, they were something loving, informing him of a stupid habit he had, so this was very unlike Derek... Stiles rolled onto his back and looked at the note again, and now that it was in the light; he could see something written on the other side. He flipped it over – 'but you're my doofus' – and that was enough to bring a silly grin to his face.

He busied himself with getting ready for school, continuing to find little notes everywhere.

On the bathroom mirror – 'You bite your lip when you're nervous'

On the cereal box – 'Scott says you smell like me'

In the Jeep – 'Have a good day and don't die in gym'

So by the time Stiles reached school (just on time for the bell), he had a smile across his face and a little spring in his step that made it look like he was prancing. He had just enough time to run to his locker to retrieve his books (and another note from Derek – which he put in his pocket to read later) before he went off to English.

He slumped in his chair, not bothering to listen to whatever Mr. Sprinkles (Stiles nicknamed him that after his first class in Freshman year when he'd come in with a tie with multicoloured sprinkles all over it) was saying. It was about five minutes until the bell when Stiles remembered the last note from Derek, he discreetly pulled it out of his pocket.

'When you fall asleep on my chest, I use your head as a book rest'

Stiles let out an abrupt snort of laughter and the room went silent. Scott (along with pretty much every other person in the room) gave him a questioning look.

"Is something funny?" Mr. Sprinkles said in his dull, drawling voice.

"No." Stiles answered quickly, trying to slide the note under his text book but the movement was caught and Mr. Sprinkles' eyes twinkled.

"A note?" he asked accusingly "You know the rules, I have to read it out"

Stiles looked around frantically, because he really didn't fancy everyone knowing that his boyfriend used him as a book rest. But his options were running low as the teacher grew closer and Stiles did the only thing he could think of and shoved the small piece of paper into his mouth, chewed a couple times and swallowed hard.

Mr. Sprinkles was stunned; his mouth open and eyes wide "In all my years of teaching, I've never seen a student eat a note" he mumbled, shaking his head before turning back to the blackboard. Scott caught his eye and covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh.

Stiles had never been more relieved than when the bell rang and they were allowed to leave because English was torture. Scott threw an arm around his shoulders and laughed loudly "I can't believe you ate it" he managed "what did it even say?"

"Nothing" he replied

"Nothing? Then why did you eat it?" he questioned.

Shit, he really should have seen that coming. "It was just one of my notes from Derek, I didn't want him to read it"

Scott grimaced "Oh" was all he replied. Scott wasn't against the two of them dating, he just hated it being shoved in his face.

They walked to the locker room without really talking and once there, Stiles groaned and hit his head against the wall dramatically.

"What's up?" Scott asked, tugging off his shirt

"I took my Lacrosse kit home to wash it and I've forgotten it" he sighed

"You never forget your kit, Coach won't mind once" he offered, not really believing his own words "maybe you should tell him you hit your head last night and can't play"

"That's a good idea" he said, taking a seat and waiting for his friend before they headed out onto the field. Stiles did what Scott suggested and told Coach that he'd hit his head and couldn't play, so he was told to go sit on the bench and be quiet.

It was about half-way through the game and Scott had scored twice; Stiles sat at the sidelines and cheered his friend on. It was as he was jumping up and down; cheering because Scott had knocked Jackson on his ass when strong arms wrapped around his waist.

Stiles let out a less than manly squeak before turning to find his boyfriend giving him the biggest grin of shiny white teeth.

"Hey there," Derek said, leaning down to rest their foreheads together.

"Hey yourself" Stiles whispered back, putting his arms around Derek's neck before going up on his toes to capture his lips.

He was just biting down on the Alpha's bottom lip when a shrill whistle caused Derek to wince and pull away sharply with a small growl. The two boys glanced over at the pitch to see Coach storming towards them while the rest of the game had stopped to watch them in confusion (which was expected because although Stiles never hid his relationship, he didn't go around shouting about his Werewolf boyfriend).

"Stilinski!" he yelled "just because you aren't playing doesn't mean that you can make out with every stranger that passes by!"

"He's not a stranger" Stiles answered, hoping to defuse the situation and not get detention "he's my boyfriend"

"I don't care wh- Derek?" Coach asked abruptly "Derek Hale?"

Derek gave him a small smile, still not releasing his tight grip on the younger boy "Hey Coach" he said and Stiles knew that tone; it was his do-you-mind-I'm-obviously-busy tone.

"How are you doing? I haven't seen you in years" Coach said, any anger at Stiles seeming to have disappeared

Derek shrugged, his shoulders tight "I left town, now I'm back" he replied shortly

"Well, it's good to see you so well." Coach seemed completely oblivious to the fact he wasn't wanted there at that second. "See you around" he turned to walk away when Derek caught his attention again.

"Hey, would you mind if I hung out for a little while? I mean, Stiles isn't even playing and I haven't seen him in a couple of days" Derek said and Stiles was certain that his eyes flashed red for a second.

"I suppose" Coach replied "it might get him to shut up... but don't get too busy over here, or I'll have to get you to leave"

"I understand" Derek replied and Coach left; restarting the game.

They held hands as they walked over to the bleachers and took a seat at the bottom, Stiles rested his head onto Derek's shoulder and sighed in content.

"Why are you here?" Stiles asked before quickly adding "not that I don't want you here because I do, I really do"

Derek chuckled "I had some free time and was going to catch you at lunch but I could hear you yelling at Scott from a mile away"

He blushed slightly "Sorry, so... you know that note you left in my locker?" Derek nodded "well, I kinda ate it"

He received an incredulous look "You... ate it?" he repeated, checking he'd heard right.

"Yeah, it was either that or Mr. Sprinkles took it off me and read it out" he shrugged "and I also don't appreciate being used as a book rest"

Derek ignored his protest "So, in order to avoid the note being read out... you ate it?"

"Yes" Stiles said blankly, in an attempt to keep a straight face but he quickly broke and laughed "I panicked and just... ate it"

"How did I end up with such a doofus?" he asked himself

"Hey, I'm your doofus" he grinned back.

"I know" Derek said, pressing his lips against Stiles' temple.

Lunch quickly rolled around and Derek decided to stay and he followed Stiles to the Cafeteria and sat down opposite Scott and Allison. They talked quietly, trying to ignore the stares that were coming from all directions as Derek wrapped his arm around Stiles' waist.

Scott grimaced "Derek, how are you keeping a straight face when you can hear what their saying about you?" he shot a glance to a table of Sophomore girls a couple meters away

Stiles' eyes narrowed in their direction "What are they saying?"

"You don't want to know" Scott replied, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth. "but just know that they're appreciating his face"

Stiles suddenly grinned "Oh, that's okay. I thought you meant they were being rude"

Allison raised an eyebrow "Doesn't it bother you that pretty much every girl in the room is checking out your boyfriend?"

"Nope" he shrugged "because he's mine... they can only look, but I can touch"

He placed a hand on Derek's cheek and pulled his face round so that their lips met briefly. "Was that really necessary?" Derek asked quietly against his lips.

"You're allowed to leave me covered in hickeys and claw marks and that one fucking time you bit me... so I'm allowed to stake my claim too" he argued

"I suppose you are" Derek said, kissing him again and earning a groan from Scott but Stiles just flipped him off and smiled into his kiss. When they pulled away, the table of girls were sat there with their mouths open like goldfish.

It was about half an hour later when Derek announced he should probably go and although Stiles protested, he understood. But he was quiet surprised when Derek sniffed at the air and frowned before removing his leather jacket and placing it around Stiles' shoulders for him to put his arms into.

"The temperature is dropping – it's going to rain and you don't have a coat" he answered the questioning glance.

"What about you?"

"I'm running home" Stiles knew the implications behind that, the secret message that only the four of them would understand.

"Okay, be safe" Stiles replied as Derek stood (cue room look at him) and lifted the younger boy's knuckles to his lips.

"You too, I'll come over tonight?" his other hand took hold of Stiles' chin and angled his face.

"Yeah" he replied as lips met his in a goodbye kiss. In the background he could hear Scott making fake-vomiting noises. Derek left soon after that and Stiles shoved his hands into the pockets of the leather jacket, the warmth that Derek's body had filled it with still there.

His hand curled around a small piece of paper and he pulled it out; another Post-It note.

'You're the best thing since sliced bread'