Title: right in front of me
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Derek/Stiles
Rating: T
Summary: Derek sleeps; Stiles pines.
Warnings: none
Words: 285


Derek is sound asleep on the couch, one arm thrown over his face. He didn’t clean up before collapsing there the night before, so his shirt is torn and bloody and he’s got dried mud ground deep into the knees of his jeans. There’s even a leaf in his hair, and Stiles’s fingers itch to brush it out.

Stiles could have died last night. Derek saved him. It’s only the latest in a long line of mutual life-saving. It’s been going on since he was sixteen, and Stiles should be used to it by now, but he’s not. Or maybe it’s the way his feelings have changed over the years that he’s trying to get used to.

See, Stiles has recently come to the conclusion that he doesn’t just like Derek as a person, or hell, love him as a friend. He doesn’t just want to get in his pants or climb him like a tree, either (but oh ho ho does he ever want). But he’s got feelings that go beyond all that right into ‘let’s exchange rings and vows and raise children together’.

Stiles is in love with Derek. After ten-ish years he’s finally come to grips with that fact. There’s just no way he’s jeopardizing their friendship. He’s got Derek in his life, they look to each other for support, even for comfort. He’s not losing that.

He gives in and reaches out, brushing the leaf from Derek’s hair with his fingertips. In his sleep, Derek’s lips twitch into a sweet smile.

Stiles goes to the kitchen and starts up breakfast for the packmates who stayed the night. It can be his thank you to Derek for the life-saving bit.