“Derek,” Stiles said with a dramatic sigh. “We as a pack need to establish a Christmas tradition that also doesn’t cost us a lot of money because we’re all broke college kids.”
“Not all of us,” Derek mumbled under his breath. Stiles put the slips of paper with everyone’s name on them into a gaudy, glittery Santa hat. Derek had no idea where Isaac even found the damned thing, and Derek tried not to find it adorable when Stiles squealed over it.
“Yes, Derek, we know you’re an old rich man with no time for our youngster shenanigans,” Erica laughed as she pulled a name out of the hat. The hat was then passed to Boyd, then Lydia and so on to each pack member until only Derek remained. He pulled the last slip out and immediately put it in his pocket.
“Aren’t you going to look?” Scott asked as he and Allison got up to leave.
“I’ll look at it later. I don’t see why you’re all making such a big deal about this,” Derek grumbled. It was a lie. He secretly loved that his pack wanted to start their own tradition, but it dug at the old scars of his own lost family traditions.
“Look, man,” Scott muttered, pulling Derek aside. “I know you’re not really into all this, but could you please try? Christmas is kind of a big thing for Stiles.”
That piqued Derek’s interest. “Stiles?”
“Yeah. I know you don’t really like him that much” – if only Scott knew how untrue that was – “but Christmas was his Mom’s favorite holiday. He and the sheriff stopped celebrating as much after she died, but Stiles always wanted to. I think now that he has a family again and things are a bit settled supernaturally, he wanted to give it a shot. Please don’t ruin this for him.”
Derek was shocked, and a little bit hurt. “I’d never do that to him.”
Scott winced. “I know, man, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re a great guy, I just know how Stiles can be a little pushy sometimes about this stuff.”
Derek nodded and gave Scott a wry grin to let him know it was okay. “Yeah, he can sometimes. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure this is the best Christmas the pack has ever had.”
Scott beamed at him, and Derek, for once, felt like he had done something right. “Awesome, you’re the best Alpha, dude.”
Derek coughed, hoping no one could see the blood rushing to his face. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. Now get out of here, all of you,” Derek said, raising his voice at the end to address the entire pack.
As they shuffled out, Derek could hear Stiles saying to everyone, “I just want you all to know, to whoever got me, I expect to be pampered like the precious diamond I am.”
His announcement was met with groans, sighs, and from Jackson, “Don’t you mean coal, Stilinski?”
“I resent that! I am definitely better than…”
Derek chuckled as their voices drifted down the hallway. He would keep his promise to Scott. He was going to make this the very best Christmas any of the pack had ever experienced, especially Stiles. He finally pulled the slip of paper out of his pocket, and his heart dropped when he read the name.
‘Stiles’
“Well, shit.”
Derek was at a loss. Despite his promise to make this Stiles’ best Christmas, he had no idea what to get the guy. He first thought about calling Scott for an idea, but he didn’t want to go there just yet. He could do this, he could figure it out on his own. How difficult could it be? He only had to buy the perfect present for the guy he may or may not have been in love with for the past three years.
Yeah, he was going to need some help. Some professional help.
Lydia!
She would know the perfect gift for Stiles. Derek grabbed his phone and texted her immediately.
‘I need an idea for a gift for Stiles. –Derek’
‘Ugh, I should have known he would end up getting the sugar daddy for his Secret Santa. Please do us all a favor and buy him a new wardrobe. –Lydia <3’
‘I’m serious, Lydia. –Derek’
‘So am I. Have you seen the amount of plaid in that boy’s closet? It’s disgusting. –Lydia <3’
‘There’s nothing wrong with the way he dresses. He wears what makes him comfortable, what the hell is wrong with that? –Derek’
‘OMG, how can no one else see how gone you are on him? Look, I gave you my suggestion. I know Stiles joked about being pampered, but he really doesn’t care what he gets, especially if it’s from you. Hell, you could put a bow on your dick and he’d die of happiness right there. –Lydia <3’
Derek felt blood rush to both his face and his groin at Lydia’s suggestion, an insane one at that. While she was right about Derek being gone on Stiles, he severely doubted those feelings were mutual.
‘I have no idea what you are talking about. And you are being no help at all. –Derek’
‘Uh-huh, sure. Look, I have better things to do than help you two sort your UST out. If you really like the guy, you’ll be able to figure something out, Derek…and I really hope you do. You two should be happy. –Lydia <3’
Derek didn’t know if he should be angry or touched. Since he was still gift-less and idea-less, he settled for angry.
He hated to admit defeat, but everything he had thought of for Stiles seemed either too insincere or way too over-the-top. For example, he spent two hours debating whether or not to give Stiles a bag full of cash for school or an all-expenses-paid vacation for him and his dad. When he realized both of these were unreasonable options, Derek decided to call Scott.
“Dude, you should have called me first thing!”
Derek rolled his eyes, refraining from correcting Scott’s nickname for him. Scott was helping him, he could let it slide.
“I know, I’m sorry. Can you help me?”
“Well, Star Wars is coming out. Take him to go see it.”
“Won’t he have already seen it by the time we do the gift exchange?” Derek asked.
“Oh yeah,” Scott replied, as if that never occurred to him. “Well, what if you got him a Star Wars themed present?”
“Aren’t you getting him the movie poster?”
“Oh, right,” Scott said, his voice dropping. Derek could practically picture the puppy-dog pout on the kid’s face right now.
“Well, you could get him a different poster. Or a t-shirt!”
“Scott, do you have any ideas that aren’t Star Wars related?” Derek asked, rubbing his hand across his face in frustration.
“What’s wrong with that? He loves Star Wars!”
“I know, Scott, but since you were saying how important this Christmas was to him, I wanted to get him something a little more meaningful.”
“Oh. That’s really awesome of you, man,” Scott said, the smile clear in his voice. “I know what you should do! You should totally ask his dad!”
Derek’s eyes widened. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? He was on great terms with the man, considering Derek was a deputy now and was friends with the sheriff.
“Scott, you’re a genius,” Derek praised.
“You know, I keep trying to tell people that, but they never lis-”
Derek hung up before Scott could finish. He had a shift coming up soon, he could ask the sheriff at work. This would be perfect.
This was decidedly not perfect.
After a very long talk with the sheriff that may have included some old Christmas stories and tears on both their parts, Derek had chosen to make cookies with the recipe the sheriff had given him. It had been Claudia’s secret recipe, and according to the sheriff – “John, please, Derek. You’re practically family” – Stiles loved them more than anything when he was a kid.
It was a fairly simple recipe. They were regular sugar cookies, but with a hidden dash of cinnamon thrown in. Derek thought it would be best to wait until just before the Christmas party to make them so they would be fresh.
However, Derek did not foresee that his oven apparently burned with the fires of hell. Within five minutes, of popping the cookies in, the kitchen was filled with black smoke and the delectable pastries he had hoped for were charred beyond recognition.
Derek threw the cookies out, and started fanning out the kitchen, trying to ignore both the flashbacks of the fire and the sinking feeling in his stomach. He just wanted to find the perfect gift for Stiles.
Maybe he had enough time to whip up another batch and beg a neighbor to use their oven. Just as this thought crossed Derek’s mind, the door to the loft pulled open.
“Hey, sorry I’m a little early, I was just too exci- whoa, what happened in here?”
Oh great, Stiles was here. That was just fan-fucking-tastic.
The man rushed into the kitchen, grabbing at Derek’s arm to look him over.
“Are you okay?” Stiles said. Stiles, perfect Stiles, always worrying about everybody else. He deserves to have the perfect Christmas, and now Derek’s gone and ruined it just like Scott said he would.
“Derek, look at me. Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s fucking not okay,” Derek said, perhaps a bit too harshly if the way Stiles recoiled was anything to go by. He immediately softened. “I’m sorry, I just.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Just tell me what happened.”
“I just wanted everything to be perfect for you,” Derek admitted, hanging his head in defeat.
Stiles, for his part, was completely stunned. “For…for me?”
“I had your name for Secret Santa,” Derek confessed, and then it was like he couldn’t stop. “I tried so hard to think of the perfect gift for you, but nothing seemed right. So I asked Lydia and she just told me to get you new clothes or something. I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea. Then I asked Scott, because I thought, ‘Hey, he’ll definitely know what Stiles would want.’ But he just kept telling me to get you Star Wars stuff. So then I asked your dad and he gave me the recipe for your mom’s cookies. I tried to make them, but the oven was broken and burned them all and I just…I keep fucking everything up and I’m so sorry I couldn’t give you the Christmas you deserve.”
By the time Derek ended his rant, Stiles was speechless. Usually Derek would joke about Stiles having nothing to say, but given the circumstances he didn’t find it very funny. He probably just revealed way too much about his feelings for Stiles. He waited for Stiles to say something, anything, but the man just stood staring at Derek as if he’d never see him before. Just when Derek was about to apologize again, the loft door opened.
“Hey guys, who’s ready to part…oh what’s going on?”
Scott came to a stop outside the kitchen.
“I was just-”
“Out,” Stiles interrupted him, speaking for the first time in ten minutes.
“What? Dude, we all-”
“I don’t care, out. We’re rescheduling the party for tomorrow night. Tell the pack.”
“Fine, but you owe me,” Scott grumbled as he exited the loft.
While Derek was grateful that the whole pack wouldn’t be present to witness his humiliation, he dreaded what Stiles had to say to him.
“Stiles, I’m so-”
“Shush,” Stiles said, raising a hand to silence him as well. “Go over there.” He pointed toward the living room, so Derek made his way over there, thinking maybe Stiles just didn’t want to talk in the kitchen that smelled of his mother’s burned cookies. God, Derek really messed up.
“Stop, right there,” Stiles said when Derek was only at the edge of the kitchen. Now Derek was confused. Did Stiles not want to talk? Oh God, was Stiles going to make Derek stay 100 feet away from him at all times now? Had he totally creeped Stiles out with his overbearing feelings? Figures he would not only ruin Stiles’ Christmas, but he would ruin their friendship was well.
“Stiles, would you just-”
“Shut up, I have to psych myself up for this, dude.”
Derek felt his brows furrow in confusion. Stiles shook himself out a little, and seemed to be mumbling to himself. Finally, he nodded, looked Derek straight in the eye, and lunged.
Considering Derek was expecting a punch to the face, he was very pleasantly surprised to feel two warm lips against his own. He froze for all of two seconds before an indescribable noise left his throat and he kissed Stiles back.
Derek had no idea what was happening, but he was going to enjoy every minute of it. He felt Stiles arms wrap around his shoulders, one hand digging into his hair and pulling hard. Derek moaned and retaliated by gripping Stiles ass with both hands and pulling them flush together, drawing the sweetest noise Derek had ever heard from Stiles mouth.
When Stiles released Derek’s mouth to bite down his neck, Derek panted out, “Stiles, what is this?”
Stiles pulled away with a laugh. “My perfect Christmas present, of course.”
When Derek looked at him dumb-founded, Stiles rolled his eyes and pointed above Derek’s head with a smirk. Derek looked up to see the small sprig of fake mistletoe Erica had hung in the doorway earlier that week.
“You,” Derek began, looking back at Stiles. “You just wanted a kiss?”
Stiles smirk faded into a sincere smile. “Not just any kiss. A kiss from you.”
“But…but I fucked up. I couldn’t even get you a gift,” Derek argued.
“Derek, you got me the perfect gift. You showed me how much you cared about me, and you tried to make me happy. I don’t need some physical object, I just need you.”
Derek had no response to that. Stiles face suddenly became pale in the wake of Derek’s silence.
“Unless, of course, I totally misinterpreted what you were saying and you meant you cared for me in the very friendly, pack-type way. In which case, I am so sorry I just forced myself on you, oh god-”
“No, you were right. Very non-friendly, pack-type feelings. More romantic, date-type feelings here,” Derek said, cutting him off before he could freak out.
Stiles’ eyes grew wide before another smirk settled on his face.
“Yeah? Dude, you’re totally into me. You want to hit this, admit i-”
Derek decided shutting Stiles up with kissing was a good idea. After all, they were still under the mistletoe, and who said Stiles gift ended at one kiss?
I’ve known this one girl since we were 4 months old, but we grew apart after middle school. We’re still friends, but not anywhere as close as we used to be. I’m still best friends with another girl I met in middle school, though.
hi, i'm the worst friend but also <333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
