you know I might (turn the stars and moon into light)
Title: you know I might (turn the stars and moon into light)
Pairing: sterek
Rating: G
Genre: romance
Length: 1400w
Summary: Derek learns that warmth exists even in the winter when Stiles is around.
you know I might (turn the stars and moon into light)
Derek believes in the magic of true love.
When he was young, they told him that the day he meets the one, the world will cease spinning.
The sun and clouds will freeze in the skies, and somewhere in another dimension, red strings are pulled and stars are aligned. The day he meets the one, he will find the other part of himself-the last missing piece of his existence.
The first time Derek meets Stiles Stilinski is the second week of senior year.
He is a scrawny kid, limbs long and awkwardly placed like he didn't know what to do with them. He's assigned to the seat next to Derek and promptly plops into it, casually dropping his backpack onto the floor and leaning towards Derek.
"Hey. I'm Stiles."
There's a conspiratorial smile on his face, like the two of them share a common secret, and Derek feels his heart skip a beat.
"I'm Derek."
And like that, the late summer sunlight dims in comparison to the blinding intensity of Stiles' smile.
They become unlikely friends-the new kid and the school's resident loner. Students point and whisper as they walk down the hallways together, fresh out of fourth period and ready to tackle an hour of Calculus. Derek never notices the eyes. He never notices anything but Stiles when he's around.
Derek likes the company of Stiles, even when the boy is asleep and drooling from the corner of his mouth during Homeroom. There's a comfortable aura about him, a nostalgic scent that Derek had refused to admit he's missed-until now.
The scent is strong on Stiles, a fragrance never escaping the detection of Derek's nose, even when he's barely getting out of his blue jeep and stepping into the school.
It takes Derek a while to place the scent, and he realizes what it is one day deep into the night. As the stars blink into the darkness outside his window, he whispers it to himself.
Happiness.
Here is the thing: Stiles is content-immensely satisfied with his stilted life. He lives with a single parent and his grades are the epitome of average (despite his higher than average IQ), but he stays bright and shining-an optimistic sun lighting up Derek's life. He fills up that empty void in Derek's chest that had grown over the years of solitude and loneliness-he fills it up with care and love and friendship and a quiet company that no one could ever replace.
As Stiles' smile melts away the heavy snow in Derek's heart, he finds himself falling deeper for the boy who lives on cheeky comebacks with every passing second.
The first time Stiles breaks Derek's heart is somewhere in the middle of February-fresh snow still coating the ground and snowflakes still dusting the bare branches of maples.
They're stamping their feet in an attempt to keep warm whilst waiting for the bus (Stiles' jeep was at the repair shop) when Stiles suddenly announces, "I've got a girlfriend."
The world spins into focus much too fast, throwing Derek's carefully constructed life off balance.
"Yeah?" Derek mutters after a prolonged second. He tries for a smile, but his cheeks ache from the false sincerity of it. The grin comes out a grimace instead, and he can only hope that Stiles will think it's from the biting cold.
Stiles doesn't notice.
He nods excitedly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his overlarge coat as he checks down the street eagerly for the bus. It is late.
"Yup. Her name's Lydia," he says, smiling fondly.
Derek knows Lydia. She is a nice girl-almost perfect. She has good grades, the looks, and the snarky righteous personality so rare in the superficial world today. She'd broken up with her old boyfriend, Jackson, under the pretense that he was a misogynist asshole who needed to dislodge the lacrosse stick up his pretentious ass.
It doesn't make him feel any better.
"That's great," he says quietly, just as he spots the bus rumbling down the street.
Stiles glances his way, seemingly having noticed his change in attitude.
"Is there something wrong?" He asks, taking a step closer to Derek so their forearms brushed against each other.
Derek feels the warmth of Stiles' body even through the thick layers of winter wear.
The bus is closer now. Stiles is still waiting for an answer.
Derek hesitates.
"Well-"
The bus screeches to a halt in front of them, the engine drowning out the last part of Derek's confession. His mouth forms the words, but the look on Stiles' face is pure bewilderment.
Derek thinks it's better than shock, disgust, resentment-anything that would have manifested itself on Stiles' face if he had heard the words.
"What did you say earlier?" Stiles asks when they are finally seated in the back of the warm bus.
Derek doesn't hesitate.
"Nothing," he says with a smile.
It comes out cheerful, though Derek is feeling anything but. Stiles buys it and nudges Derek with his shoulder-an unspoken display of affection. Derek closes his eyes and momentarily leans into the touch, letting himself indulge in this split moment of innocent contentment.
Stiles' scent is pungent against his nostrils as elation speeds up Stiles' pulse. Instead of finding the familiar comfort he had grown to associate Stiles with, Derek instead finds a slow burning pain that ebbs through his veins slowly, attacking major arteries and his heart in a clandestine manner.
It hurt to know that he will never be the cause of that happiness that made Stiles' heart beat the way Derek's did when he was around.
The first time Derek sees Stiles cry is also the first time Stiles appears at his doorstep eleven pm at night.
He opens the door to a light waft of spring rain and bitter, fresh tears. Stiles pushes past him wordlessly and trudges into the house, making himself at home on the couch as he buries himself under the coat and the many cushions sitting around.
Derek doesn't ask what's wrong, just lets Stiles take his anger out on the plush pillows-letting him punch them again and again until he looks like he's going to punch himself instead.
Then, Derek gently pulls the pillow away and sits down next to Stiles, patiently waiting for him to speak.
He's always patiently waiting.
The clock ticks on, and time blends into the next hour, but it slowly diminishes into a sluggish crawl when it reaches them.
Finally, Stiles says, "She broke up with me."
There's a pause.
Derek inhales sharply, and then exhales with a loud whoosh-but not from relief. Not from relief, but from the terrible gnawing pain that chewed at his heart as he watched teardrops slide their way down the slopes of Stiles' cheeks once again.
Stiles wipes them away furiously, sniffling, and lets out a broken laugh. Derek feels his heart shatter into a million of tiny shards.
"She said we weren't working out. Said she liked me, but not enough to be with me." Stiles looks at Derek.
The look in Stiles' eyes is one Derek's never seen before-hesitant and unsure of himself. Derek briefly wonders where the snarky and confident Stiles had gone.
"Said I never really paid much attention to her because my eyes were always on someone else," Stiles finishes in a whisper, eyes searching Derek's face.
Derek's mind has gone blank, unable to process the persistent nagging words that were jabbing at his brain.
"Really?" He chokes out after a moment. "That. That sucks."
"Mmh," Stiles replies vaguely and slides closer to Derek.
Now, he just looks nervous, but Derek notices that at least his eyes were dry.
"But you know, I...I realized that she was right."
"Oh."
Derek blinks rapidly as Stiles nods and leans a little closer.
"W-what are you doing," Derek says hurriedly, hands coming up to push half-heartedly against Stiles' shoulders.
Stiles lets out a small growl that surprises Derek.
"Goddammit, Derek Hale," Stiles mutters under his breath before breaching the distance between them and pressing his lips firmly against Derek's.
Outside, shooting stars began to rain from the sky-sending meteors streaking across velvet blue. Derek picks up the pieces of his broken heart and dusts them off.
"You make it so damned hard for me to see anyone else when you're around."
Pairing: sterek
Rating: G
Genre: romance
Length: 1400w
Summary: Derek learns that warmth exists even in the winter when Stiles is around.
you know I might (turn the stars and moon into light)
Derek believes in the magic of true love.
When he was young, they told him that the day he meets the one, the world will cease spinning.
The sun and clouds will freeze in the skies, and somewhere in another dimension, red strings are pulled and stars are aligned. The day he meets the one, he will find the other part of himself-the last missing piece of his existence.
The first time Derek meets Stiles Stilinski is the second week of senior year.
He is a scrawny kid, limbs long and awkwardly placed like he didn't know what to do with them. He's assigned to the seat next to Derek and promptly plops into it, casually dropping his backpack onto the floor and leaning towards Derek.
"Hey. I'm Stiles."
There's a conspiratorial smile on his face, like the two of them share a common secret, and Derek feels his heart skip a beat.
"I'm Derek."
And like that, the late summer sunlight dims in comparison to the blinding intensity of Stiles' smile.
They become unlikely friends-the new kid and the school's resident loner. Students point and whisper as they walk down the hallways together, fresh out of fourth period and ready to tackle an hour of Calculus. Derek never notices the eyes. He never notices anything but Stiles when he's around.
Derek likes the company of Stiles, even when the boy is asleep and drooling from the corner of his mouth during Homeroom. There's a comfortable aura about him, a nostalgic scent that Derek had refused to admit he's missed-until now.
The scent is strong on Stiles, a fragrance never escaping the detection of Derek's nose, even when he's barely getting out of his blue jeep and stepping into the school.
It takes Derek a while to place the scent, and he realizes what it is one day deep into the night. As the stars blink into the darkness outside his window, he whispers it to himself.
Happiness.
Here is the thing: Stiles is content-immensely satisfied with his stilted life. He lives with a single parent and his grades are the epitome of average (despite his higher than average IQ), but he stays bright and shining-an optimistic sun lighting up Derek's life. He fills up that empty void in Derek's chest that had grown over the years of solitude and loneliness-he fills it up with care and love and friendship and a quiet company that no one could ever replace.
As Stiles' smile melts away the heavy snow in Derek's heart, he finds himself falling deeper for the boy who lives on cheeky comebacks with every passing second.
The first time Stiles breaks Derek's heart is somewhere in the middle of February-fresh snow still coating the ground and snowflakes still dusting the bare branches of maples.
They're stamping their feet in an attempt to keep warm whilst waiting for the bus (Stiles' jeep was at the repair shop) when Stiles suddenly announces, "I've got a girlfriend."
The world spins into focus much too fast, throwing Derek's carefully constructed life off balance.
"Yeah?" Derek mutters after a prolonged second. He tries for a smile, but his cheeks ache from the false sincerity of it. The grin comes out a grimace instead, and he can only hope that Stiles will think it's from the biting cold.
Stiles doesn't notice.
He nods excitedly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his overlarge coat as he checks down the street eagerly for the bus. It is late.
"Yup. Her name's Lydia," he says, smiling fondly.
Derek knows Lydia. She is a nice girl-almost perfect. She has good grades, the looks, and the snarky righteous personality so rare in the superficial world today. She'd broken up with her old boyfriend, Jackson, under the pretense that he was a misogynist asshole who needed to dislodge the lacrosse stick up his pretentious ass.
It doesn't make him feel any better.
"That's great," he says quietly, just as he spots the bus rumbling down the street.
Stiles glances his way, seemingly having noticed his change in attitude.
"Is there something wrong?" He asks, taking a step closer to Derek so their forearms brushed against each other.
Derek feels the warmth of Stiles' body even through the thick layers of winter wear.
The bus is closer now. Stiles is still waiting for an answer.
Derek hesitates.
"Well-"
The bus screeches to a halt in front of them, the engine drowning out the last part of Derek's confession. His mouth forms the words, but the look on Stiles' face is pure bewilderment.
Derek thinks it's better than shock, disgust, resentment-anything that would have manifested itself on Stiles' face if he had heard the words.
"What did you say earlier?" Stiles asks when they are finally seated in the back of the warm bus.
Derek doesn't hesitate.
"Nothing," he says with a smile.
It comes out cheerful, though Derek is feeling anything but. Stiles buys it and nudges Derek with his shoulder-an unspoken display of affection. Derek closes his eyes and momentarily leans into the touch, letting himself indulge in this split moment of innocent contentment.
Stiles' scent is pungent against his nostrils as elation speeds up Stiles' pulse. Instead of finding the familiar comfort he had grown to associate Stiles with, Derek instead finds a slow burning pain that ebbs through his veins slowly, attacking major arteries and his heart in a clandestine manner.
It hurt to know that he will never be the cause of that happiness that made Stiles' heart beat the way Derek's did when he was around.
The first time Derek sees Stiles cry is also the first time Stiles appears at his doorstep eleven pm at night.
He opens the door to a light waft of spring rain and bitter, fresh tears. Stiles pushes past him wordlessly and trudges into the house, making himself at home on the couch as he buries himself under the coat and the many cushions sitting around.
Derek doesn't ask what's wrong, just lets Stiles take his anger out on the plush pillows-letting him punch them again and again until he looks like he's going to punch himself instead.
Then, Derek gently pulls the pillow away and sits down next to Stiles, patiently waiting for him to speak.
He's always patiently waiting.
The clock ticks on, and time blends into the next hour, but it slowly diminishes into a sluggish crawl when it reaches them.
Finally, Stiles says, "She broke up with me."
There's a pause.
Derek inhales sharply, and then exhales with a loud whoosh-but not from relief. Not from relief, but from the terrible gnawing pain that chewed at his heart as he watched teardrops slide their way down the slopes of Stiles' cheeks once again.
Stiles wipes them away furiously, sniffling, and lets out a broken laugh. Derek feels his heart shatter into a million of tiny shards.
"She said we weren't working out. Said she liked me, but not enough to be with me." Stiles looks at Derek.
The look in Stiles' eyes is one Derek's never seen before-hesitant and unsure of himself. Derek briefly wonders where the snarky and confident Stiles had gone.
"Said I never really paid much attention to her because my eyes were always on someone else," Stiles finishes in a whisper, eyes searching Derek's face.
Derek's mind has gone blank, unable to process the persistent nagging words that were jabbing at his brain.
"Really?" He chokes out after a moment. "That. That sucks."
"Mmh," Stiles replies vaguely and slides closer to Derek.
Now, he just looks nervous, but Derek notices that at least his eyes were dry.
"But you know, I...I realized that she was right."
"Oh."
Derek blinks rapidly as Stiles nods and leans a little closer.
"W-what are you doing," Derek says hurriedly, hands coming up to push half-heartedly against Stiles' shoulders.
Stiles lets out a small growl that surprises Derek.
"Goddammit, Derek Hale," Stiles mutters under his breath before breaching the distance between them and pressing his lips firmly against Derek's.
Outside, shooting stars began to rain from the sky-sending meteors streaking across velvet blue. Derek picks up the pieces of his broken heart and dusts them off.
"You make it so damned hard for me to see anyone else when you're around."