“Waiter? I bet Isaac would put a good word in for you at that diner.” Stiles suggested, lounging on the couch beside Derek as they flipped through Netflix genres.

“Same problem as with retail, I’m not a people person.”

Stiles grunted, throwing popcorn in his mouth and crunching with a thoughtful look on his face.

It was Saturday night, Stiles had shown up at the loft that afternoon like usual. Derek had first given him space to work on his essays, but since he had hesitantly brought up the idea of him getting a job Stiles had dropped his school work to focus on him.

“Cook? You could work in the back, only talk to the waiters?”

Derek thought about that before nodding. He sat up to write it down on their list of job ideas, beside security guard and SPCA worker. Derek wasn’t actually sure he could get a job at the SPCA with no experience, but Stiles thought it would be funny if he worked with dogs. Derek hasn’t found a reason to disagree with that one.

“You could also just go out there, ask around to see what’s available. Beggars don’t get choices or whatever they say.” Stiles said, ending with a shrug and a grunt.

Derek assumed all the grunting was because Stiles had all of his midterms last week, and the poor guy was exhausted. Looking at him now, he could still see bags under Stiles eyes.

“You should sleep more,” Derek said. For the fifth time that night.

Stiles just grunted again.

“You’re starting to sound like me,” Derek joked.

Stiles shrugged, “bound to happen eventually, we spend a lot of time together.”

He didn’t even sound surprised. Or upset. Or have any reaction at all.

“You spend a lot of time with Scott, and you don’t sound like him.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow at him, “dude.”

Derek snorted, “touche.”

They sat in silence for a minute. Stiles finally chose one of the many crime shows, turning it on and then completely ignoring it to reopen his laptop and edit an essay. Derek watched the episode, enjoying it more than he thought it would. He wondered if Stiles put it on for him more than for himself.

“Should we order in pizza?” Stiles asked, about halfway through the episode.

“No, I got stuff for stir fry. I’ll make it after this.”

“Awesome, want help?” Stiles asked, glancing over at him.

“No it’s okay. You finish your work so we can watch a movie or something after.”

Stiles smiled and nodded, turning back to his writing.

It was only after Derek had made them dinner, they ate the dinner at his kitchen counter, and they were halfway through watching the latest X-Men movie, that Derek realized that this was becoming a thing. Like, a thing. An extremely domestic, relationshipy, thing.

And by Stiles relaxed lounging on the sofa beside him, pressed up against Derek’s side like it was no big deal, Derek was suspecting that Stiles knew it.

When the fuck had this happened?

--

Stiles crashed at his place that night, sleeping in Isaac’s old bed.. Like he had done every Saturday night since school started. Derek had a mild freak out as soon as Stiles shut the bedroom door behind him.

Because seriously, when had this happened? How had he not notice?

That’s not true, he had noticed. He had thought about the two of them before… he had thought about Stiles wanting more. But Stiles was supposed to be experiencing life as a first year university student. He hasn’t been though. Why hadn’t he? Oh god, maybe he thought Derek wanted this. Maybe Derek was forcing Stiles to spend all his spare time with him and he hadn’t even noticed-

The bedroom door opens again and Stiles comes sauntering out, this time only wearing soft looking pajama pants.

“Hey Der,” Stiles says through a yawn, making his way towards the bathroom. He paused halfway there when Derek doesn’t do or say anything. “Um, you okay? You’re kind of just standing in the middle of the room.. not moving.”

“I’m fine,” he says, but it sounds off to his own ears. “Tired.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow, taking a few steps back towards him, “Okay, I might not be a werewolf but I’m pretty sure that’s a lie. What’s up, buttercup?”

Derek frowns, “don’t call me buttercup.”

Stiles rolls his eyes, “alrighty what’s up grumpy gills?”

“Don’t call me- whatever. It’s nothing, go to bed.”

“Ah, but there is something.”

Derek closed his eyes. Stiles was infuriating, how was he entertaining the idea of a relationship with this annoying man?

“Go to bed Stiles.”

“No, tell me what’s wrong.”

Derek sighs dramatically, before going to take a seat on the couch. Stiles follows him.

“Well?”

Derek fixes his eyes in the couch, avoiding Stiles prying eyes, “are we dating?”

Stiles leans forward, “sorry, what? I think I misheard that, did you just ask if we were dating?”

Derek looks at him, glowering, “yes. Are we?”

Stiles starts laughing, throwing his head back and clutching his stomach like this is hilarious.

“Stiles, I’m serious!”

Stiles glanced back at him. He isn’t sure if the younger man heard his words, but he definitely got the message because his expression sobered, his eyes growing concerned.

“Dude, I think we would notice if we were dating.”

Derek thinks about that before shaking his head. “But we practically are. You stay at my place at least once every week. We text everyday. We have a routine!”

Stiles flailed his arms around, “but, dude, we don’t do couple things. We don’t.. Okay you cooked dinner for me. But we haven’t!.. oh wait, we cuddled in the couch tonight. Uh, we don’t kiss? And I’m pretty sure I would have at least noticed us having sex!”

“Do you want to?”

Stiles face went bright right, Derek realized he found it adorable. God, he was already deep in this wasn’t he?

“Want to..have sex?” Stiles asked, his voice an octave higher than normal.

“With me.”

Stiles face went impossibly redder. “Well like, yes, look at.” Stiles moved his hand, waving it around Derek’s whole body, “but I’m like,” Stiles turned the hand to wave at himself, “would you want to?!”

Derek nodded, “yes.”

Stiles licked his lips, “Okay. And then, what? Are we dating? Cause man, I totally would, I would date the shit out of you.. if you want that.”

“I want,” Derek barely managed to say before he was moving, hands coming up to cup Stiles face, bring their lips together.

Stiles moaned into it, pressing stronger, opening his mouth to kick at Derek’s lips.

Derek opened his own, moving his tongue with Stiles’, growling at the taste of him. He grabbed Stiles hips, pulling him into his lap.

They both immediately started grinding, rubbing up against each other. Derek doesn’t know the last time he was this hard, and Stiles is definitely getting there as well.

Stiles starts moving his hands, pulling Derek’s shirt off, moving off Derek’s mouth to lick his neck, hands roving over Derek’s chest.

“Fuck, Stiles,” Derek murmurs, moving his own hands to their pants, unbuttoning his and pushing Stiles’ down. Once he has both of them clasped in one of his hands he begins to rock.

“Derek,” Stiles moves back up, resting their foreheads against each other. His voice sounds wrecked. “Derek.”

They both rock and grind. Stiles keeps moving his hands everywhere. Touching their cocks, his abs, Derek’s hair, Derek’s neck, their arms.

It doesn’t take long until Stiles is spurting into Derek’s hand, slouching against Derek and kissing his neck afterwards.

Derek moved his hand to focus on his own straining erection, using Stiles seed as lube. He buries his face is Stiles neck, inhaling Stiles sent and coming in a few quick strokes.

They stay like that, panting and curled against each other. If Derek possessed an ability to think right now, he might be wondering why it had taken them so long to get to this point.