The two danced together, and this time, Stiles felt right. They danced through slow songs and generic club music, every beat rang through to their core. And with every sway and dip and twist, every grip of Derek's fingers, tug at his waist, tilt of his head, Stiles felt just a little bit more free. Just a little bit more himself. Like nothing had ever happened. The Pack were trying to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible, and Stiles was thankful for that, but right now, here, dancing in Derek's arms, that's where he felt the most normal.

By the time Derek pulled him close, stopped their dancing, Stiles was feeling on top of the world. Empty of all thought of Scott, Kira, the dream, even of Daron. Weightless and airy. Happy.

And rather sweaty.

"Do you want to go home?" Derek murmured, breath hot against Stiles' ear. As much as Stiles' would love to stay, dance with Derek forever, he also did want to leave before he got too tired.

"Yeah, sure, when we get out I'll text Lydia."

Derek nodded, took Stiles' hand and led him out the door.

~~~~~

Stiles fell onto his bed and smiled up at Derek, dark eyes bright with joy, "Thank you."

Derek's frowned, "What for?"

"Tonight, it... it was amazing." Derek sat on the edge of Stiles' bed, his back to Stiles. Sometimes it was difficult; keeping so close to him after everything. Now was one of those times. All Derek wanted to do was hold him until he felt better. Until life was easier. Until the world stopped spinning. "And thank you for sticking by me through all of this, including when I was passed out." Like Derek would leave Stiles to go through this alone. The mere idea of doing such a thing made him feel sick.

"You scared me, Sti." Derek rubbed at his face, "I- They all said that you would be okay, but seeing you so... so weak, so still, I just didn't know." And sometimes it all felt like too much. Sometimes the urge to tell Stiles every thought he'd had about him was too strong. And after seeing Stiles so carefree today, so content even after everything, the guilt that he'd felt seared his veins, crawled through them and scalded his heart. "I broke my promise," just those four words let cold flood through him; relief at finally saying them, even if it was only a small start. It was better than nothing.

"Oh, Derek..." Stiles moved to wrap his arms around Derek, rest his chin on Derek's shoulder. Derek shut his eyes, pushed away the nagging voice that told him going on was a bad idea, opened his eyes again.

"I was so scared, Stiles. I can't lose you. And I kept blaming myself, if I lost you, if you died, it would've been my fault." In that moment, he couldn't bring himself to look at Stiles. Shame twined around him, keeping him still. Tightening its grip when he tried to defy it.

"It would not have been your fault, Derek." Stiles stood up, moved in front of Derek and crouched down. Derek turned away. "Look at me." Still, he didn't. "Derek," Stiles cupped Derek's face in his hands, wiping an unfaithful tear away with his thumb before guiding him until their eyes met. "It is not your fault, do you understand me?" There was a split second where Stiles' words hung in the air. The seriousness of the moment so solid in comparison to the light, joyous high they had both been riding when in the club.

The only response Derek could come up with was, "Stiles, I cannot lose you." He fought for his voice, held onto it tightly when it tried to break, carefully slowed his breathing.

"You haven't, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Stiles leaned forward, pressed a kiss to Derek's forehead, gripped his hand tightly.

Derek let himself believe that it meant more than it did.

His broken promise wasn't the only thing he had thought about while Stiles was out. Hearing those words, feeling Stiles' reassurance and quiet strength despite everything had made him all the more sure of the conclusion he had come to while thinking. If he had lost Stiles, he wouldn't have been able to cope. It was a lot of pressure to put on one person. But Stiles was more than just Derek's anchor, it had taken a while for Derek to notice that.

He needed to know, and now was as good a time as any to ask. Almost losing him had made Derek realise that he couldn't just wait for things to happen, he had to try, had to take action himself, even if they'd talked like this before. But that fact just seemed to make everything harder, their past conversation seemed to haunt this room, pull on his words, make him cautious, "Stiles, do you know what it means to be someone's mate?"

Stiles stood up, running his fingers through his hair as he did so, the tension of the moment melting away a little, only to be filled with the strong scent of curiosity, "Uh, yeah, I do. Sort of."

"What do you know?"

"I know that they aren't anything like how they are so often portrayed – mates are never created for each other, it's a bond that's forged between and by two or more people, slowly, over a long period of time. Their love runs deeper than most relationships, but being mates doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be in a romantic relationship. It can be purely platonic... Oh, and the bond can be solidified in a few different ways, but once it has been, it's nearly impossible to break." Stiles let out a long breath. "I researched it a while ago but I think that's everything."

"Almost everything."

"What'd I miss?" Stiles stopped pacing the room to sit down next to Derek.

"A mate bond is usually only forged between supernaturals, but occasionally, under certain circumstances, it can be between a supernatural and... a human." Derek tilted his head away at the last word, hoping maybe Stiles wouldn't hear it.

"Yeah, I know." Stiles sighed, an undertone of recognition in his voice, "When did you realise?" It didn't surprise Derek that Stiles had worked it out, too.

"When you were out, I had a lot of time to think. Put pieces together." Small things: instincts he hadn't realised he had, knowing when Stiles wasn't okay, and when he was in danger. When he growled at Lydia despite knowing that she was just trying to help. It was just things that seemed insignificant at the time, but now...

"I don't think the bond is fully formed yet. And it obviously hasn't been solidified." Stiles stated.

"Do you want to stop it?" Just saying the words out loud hurt, it made Derek feel childish, like he was in highschool again.

"What? No! No, that's not why I said that." Derek tilted his head back towards Stiles and Stiles' heartbeat picked up, rang loudly in Derek's ears, his own interrupting the moments it was quiet. "I just- before, we said 'one day' in the future because I wasn't ready, but now... is it different?" Stiles' hands found Derek's, tightened around them. Derek let his thumb soothe over Stiles' knuckles, hoping to calm him.

"Different how?"

Stiles sat back slightly, preparing himself before saying, "It's stupid, but I can't stop thinking about it. In my dream – nightmare, whatever – you said some things. Things like how you didn't want to be with me, you didn't want me in The Pack because I'm human, you called me nothing, no-one. And I know, it was just a dream, but I can't help but think..." There was more to it than that but there was no point in pushing Stiles to tell him more than he was ready to talk about. And this wasn't the right time, either.

"I would never think less of you, Stiles. Whatever I said in your head means nothing out here. I want to be with you. You're so incredibly important to me. You're strong, and smart and you make me feel comfortable in myself again. You are everything I want and more." It felt odd; saying all of that out loud. But It was true.

Stiles' eyes were bright, beautiful, clear, "Then I'm ready now." Those words unlocked Derek's lungs and let in a rush of air.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, very."

Derek smiled, moved closer, "Can I kiss you?"

"Oh, now you ask, huh?" Stiles smirked. Derek pulled away, face warm.

"I- um..."

"Dude, I'm joking. Yes, you can kiss me." This time, it was slow, careful, and nowhere near perfect but that was okay, they had time to practice.

Stiles pulled back laughing, ran gentle fingers over Derek's stubble, kissed along the path they made. "So, I can officially call you my boyfriend now?"

"Yes, you can."

"And what about 'babe' and all the other cheesy nicknames?"

"Does my answer to that really matter?"

"Nope." Stiles beamed, "Derek Hale, my boyfriend." He sighed, wistfully, "When are we gonna tell the others?"

"Whenever you like." Derek held onto Stiles' free hand, squeezed it tightly, glad that he could hear Stiles' heartbeat, feel the heat of his skin. It all meant one thing: Stiles was alive. "We should take this slowly." Though their mate bond was almost fully forged, Stiles was still only seventeen, and Derek had already dealt with a lot of rushed relationships. None of them had worked out. So, even if this was already very different from all his previous relationships, he couldn't risk losing Stiles; didn't want to dive headfirst without checking the water's depth, first.

"Of course, if that's what you want. Can we tell my dad tomorrow though? I don't want to keep secrets from him, anymore."

"He already thinks we're dating." They were close before. How much would things change now? Bar the fact that he felt lighter because they had finally gotten everything out in the open, and proud that he could call Stiles his boyfriend, he didn't feel much different, did he?

"Oh god, he's going to be so annoying about it, isn't he?"

Derek laughed when Stiles pulled away to throw himself into his pillows. "I'm sure it won't be that bad," Derek muttered, lying down next to Stiles and pulling him in close, not yet ready to let go of him. Then again, maybe he was feeling very different.

~~~~~

Apparently it could be that bad. Noah immediately groaned, put down his coffee and said, "Seriously, you couldn't have waited a few more days?"

"Why?" Stiles drew out the word, squinting at his dad.

"Because Lydia bet that you would get together after the party. I bet that you would dance around each other for a few more days, until Stiles accidentally babbled something about loving you." He gestured at Derek who just leaned away slightly, arms folded, eyebrow raised.

"You bet on our relationship?" Stiles' voice rose, but his laughter was very poorly hidden.

"Yeah, and we would've bet on who would provoke the conversation too except we all thought that it would be Stiles. Well, everyone except Isaac."

Stiles flailed and Derek ducked to avoid being thwacked over the head. Stiles shot him an apologetic look before turning back to his dad, "You all bet on our relationship? Dad, you're a fully grown adult, why in all of the gods' names did you bet real ass money on when me and Derek would get together?"

"Because you two are so obvious... So, were we right, did Stiles bring it up first?"

"Technically, no." Derek said, sliding closer to Stiles and wrapping an arm around his waist.

Noah blinked slowly, "How?"

Stiles smiled, eyes glinting, "That's none of your business."

"Fair enough. Alright well, I have to go grocery shopping so Derek, I'll give you the 'Dad Speech' later on. And kid, I'm happy for you and I'll obviously support you, no matter what." Derek pulled away from Stiles for a moment so that Noah could hug Stiles before leaving.

"Told you so," Stiles mumbled.

Derek shook his head, "Yeah, you did."

*****

The next week and a half went well, bar the nightmares that Stiles would occasionally wake up from – Derek would always be there to calm him down and listen if he needed to talk. Things began to feel normal again, Stiles slowly got used to being human. Derek didn't press Stiles to tell him about that night, instead, he waited for him. Stiles was grateful for that.

Telling The Pack about their relationship went well, too. None of them had been surprised, Lydia had been glad that she had won the bet, and Isaac had spent a day mocking them all for being wrong about Stiles. And they had a couple of Pack Nights, in which they spent trying to make Stiles feel as normal as possible. Everyone was trying their best, and it was paying off.

Then, when Derek and Stiles were reading, Stiles' head in Derek's lap, Derek's fingers running through Stiles' hair, a knock sounded from the front door. Timid at first, then again but stronger. Stiles looked up at Derek for a sign; recognition of the scent, a glimmer of a smile, anything. Derek's face was completely blank.