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Senior year of college is something that Stiles has been waiting a long time for, and he thinks he deserves a few skipped classes here and there to rest up and be his best on the days that he tries. Besides, he can always have Scott help him catch up whenever he's free.
He's already halfway through exam week and the air is significantly warmer than it's been in a while, and Stiles finds himself, more often than not, splayed out on the lush green grass of the college's campus near the old oak tree that Scott leans against when he reads. The sky seems a lot bluer nowadays, and the clouds much more sparse -- California hasn't seen a spring of horrendous downpour since the middle of his high school years, and Stiles is glad for it.
Scott turns a page in his book, his expression passive as Stiles plays with some grass between his fingers. He furrows his brow, and Stiles tilts his head to get a better look at him from his position. "I think this book is due today." Scott mumbles out loud, and Stiles smiles lazily -- he's not even halfway through the book, but Stiles is almost sure that Scott wouldn't care whether or not he gets a fee from the library.
It's weird, Scott really likes reading books nowadays, ever since Allison found a huge interest in the literature she was reading in her English class. Now, the guy just pounds through books like it's nothing, and Stiles finds it kind of cute how dedicated he is to her.
Stiles hefts himself up and leans, one of his hands planted firmly in the grass. "I could run by the library and drop it off for you." he beams. "Even pick out another one, if you like."
Scott looks up and scoffs, grinning. "Yeah, like you could figure out how the library works. You only ever go there to check out movies so you and Derek can make out on the couch."
"You wound me, McCall!" Stiles clutches a hand to his chest, mocking insult. Scott's got a point, though -- Stiles doesn't often take books out from the library. Most of the time, he goes to take out DVDs, because the college's library is ridiculously more diverse than the Beacon Hills local library was. And yes, sometimes when he's watching those movies, he and Derek end up making out on the sofa.
But when don't they do that?
Scott closes the book and chuckles. "See, ever since you told me about that, I can't help but imagine that you guys never legitimately watch movies."
"So you imagine me and Derek making out, you mean?"
Stiles gets a firm punch to the shoulder, and he laughs.
Scott slips the book back into his bag and stands up, and Stiles does the same, hefting his bag over his shoulder. Scott has an earlier exam than he does, but he likes to walk with him, anyway -- it's probably silly, how much time they spend with each other when they could both be meeting new people, but apparently, old habits die hard.
"Are you doing anything on Friday? After exams?" Scott asks as they begin the walk toward Scott's class building, and Stiles looks at him inquisitively.
He shrugs. "Not really, no. I was probably gonna drive back and visit my dad before going to find Derek. What, you wanna go to a movie or something?"
Scott shakes his head, and he bites his lip. He looks honestly conflicted about something, and Stiles isn't the best at reading people, so he immediately gets nervous. He puts his hand on Scott's shoulder and shakes him gently, and Scott stops walking.
He looks at Stiles, and his eyes flash yellow. Stiles swallows. "You have to promise me not to tell anyone. Especially not Allison."
"Cross my heart, dude." Stiles replies quickly, and even adds the motion to it. Scott hesitates for another moment or two, but eventually sighs. His voice is low when he speaks.
He fumbles with his words for a moment. "I was hoping you would come with me to... well, I was. I kind of... wanted to pick out a... ring."
This gives Stiles pause. "I don't really see you as the ring type, man." Scott rolls his eyes.
"It's not for me." He grabs Stiles' shoulders and looks him straight in the eye. "It's... I want to get Allison a ring. You know, not just some dinky ring, but... you know, a ring."
An engagement ring.
Stiles feels his stomach drop. "Dude." he mumbles, and Scott laughs nervously.
The werewolf takes his hands off Stiles' shoulder and looks away quickly, shrugging. "Remember last week when I kind of... ditched you to drive back to Beacon Hills?"
Stiles nods. "When you went to visit your mom? Yeah, I remember, I ended up inviting Derek over." Stiles shrugs, and says nonchalantly, "I should probably get this out now, but we were having really awesome sex."
"I did not need to know that." Scott screws his eyes shut, and Stiles laughs -- he was honestly surprised by how accepting Scott was at first about Stiles' relationship with Derek, but now it's just funny to mess with him. "I didn't really go to visit my mom. Well, I mean, I dropped by, but I went back mainly to talk to Chris."
It takes Stiles a second to put two and two together, but his laugh is abrupt, mostly pure excitement and elation for his friend. "You asked him for his daughter's hand? Dude, what did he do?"
Scott shrugs casually. "I dunno. There was a lot of yelling, and I got a gun pointed at me at one point, but he eventually relented. He said," Scott puffs up his chest as he tries to imitate Chris Argent's voice, "if my daughter's gonna marry a werewolf, I guess you're not half bad."
Stiles bursts out laughing at that, and Scott lets the air out of his chest too, laughing. Stiles can't help but think that the two of them probably wouldn't fit in with anybody else on campus, anyway, so at the very least they have each other.
Stiles claps Scott on the back and grins. "Just call me up whenever you're ready then, huh?" he tells Scott with a grin. "I'll make sure my schedule's open."
His friend's smile is open and grateful, and Stiles finds it hard to believe that this is the kid he met when he was so young -- the kid that's going to propose to Allison Argent, the daughter of one of the most renowned werewolf hunters in California, when he's a werewolf himself.
Stiles is sometimes pleasantly surprised by Scott's maturity.
They resume their walk to Scott's class, and the stride is mostly silent, with a few odd topics coming up here and there as they move, until:
"So, when are you and Derek moving into that house you found?"
Stiles looks at Scott, a bit surprised by the sudden question. "We're hoping to get most of the big stuff in by Saturday afternoon. Plates and forks and stuff can wait until Sunday, I guess."
Scott chuckles a bit to himself. "I honestly can't believe you're moving in with him." He looks at Stiles with a smile. "You remember when we hated him, right?"
"Well, yeah," Stiles replies, almost half-heartedly, and he knows that this is a perfect opportunity to joke (he tends to that with everything, not just his relationship with Derek, but sometimes even Derek makes dry little quips about that, so it's not like it makes much of a difference.) But he gets overwhelmed by this sudden sentimentality, and ends up quietly replying, "but then he told me that he loved me."
But Scott takes it in stride, and just grins. "If I'd known it was that easy, I would have done that years ago."
Stiles laughs and punches Scott's shoulder. "Shut up! Besides, he has a Camaro. That's pretty cool, too. Do you have a Camaro?"
And Stiles quips at Scott all the way to his class, but there's a weird sort of elation suddenly in his heart that he can't seem to push down -- thinking of all the times Derek's whispered I love you in the quiet hours of morning or in the dead of night really gets to him, apparently. He reminds himself that he should probably be worrying about his own exam.
Besides, he'll have plenty of time to hear it again and again once they move into that house of theirs.
--
Stiles gets a call from his dad Saturday morning.
"Stiles?" the speaker crackles with static for a minute before clearing up, and Stiles can hear his dad's voice of the phone. "How have exams been?"
Stiles leans against the stop sign and grins, though he knows his dad can't see it. "I think they went over pretty well. But that's just me." His dad chuckles.
"I tried to call last night, but you didn't pick up."
Stiles crosses his arms, one hand still holding his phone up to his ear. "Yeah, I was out with Scott. He wanted to pick out a ring for --" He pauses suddenly and blanches, because Scott expressly told him not to mention it to anyone. He even used the werewolf eyes thing for emphasis. "Wait, uh, completely forget I said that."
But the sheriff's already interested. "Did you just say a ring, Stiles?" Apparently, his dad is better at coming to conclusions than he is, because he gets the point pretty quick. "Is Scott gonna propose to Allison?"
Stiles scolds himself inwardly. "Don't tell anyone, alright? I promised him I'd keep it a secret, and I think I just blew it."
"You're forgetting I'm a cop, you know." The sheriff chuckles. "But that's pretty crazy, isn't it? I never would have thought that kid would have the guts to do it, what with her dad. He's not still hunting for Scott's head, is he?"
Stiles grins -- it's been a while since his dad learned about the whole werewolf issue (it was kind of unavoidable, what with dating Derek) and he still can't help but find it funny that Allison's family is almost constantly out for Scott's blood. "Scott went and got his blessing and everything. It was adorable, I'm sure." Stiles unzips his sweatshirt a bit, feeling warm in the spring air. "They're driving back to Beacon Hills today. I bet he'll bring her through that nature path they both like so much and do it there."
"So you and Derek will probably be moved in by then?"
Stiles nods. "Bet so."
His dad hums, and it crackles over the speaker. "Then call me if you need anything later, alright? I could come over if you two need any more manpower."
"You're forgetting that my boyfriend's a werewolf again, dad."
His dad laughs. "I know, I know, I'm joking. But, seriously, don't hesitate to call, okay? In fact, I'd rather you did once you're settled."
Stiles rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, alright." He sees a large Silverado pull around the corner down the street, and pushes himself off the stop sign. "Derek's here, dad. I'll call you later, I promise. And if you're gonna stop by, call me first, alright?"
His dad groans over the cell phone. "Stiles, don't be lewd."
Stiles laughs, and says a quick, "Love you too, dad." before ending the call. The Silverado pulls up next to the stop sign -- Derek rented it so they can help the movers with some smaller stuff, and Derek still complains that it doesn't run as smoothly as the Camaro.
Stiles waves to him quickly before jogging around the front of the Silverado to get to the passenger's side. He climbs in (it's a lot higher than the Camaro, and he still isn't very used to it) and situates himself.
Derek leans over and pecks him on the lips, and slips his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. "Did I hear something about a proposal?"
Stiles yelps a bit in the back of his throat and has to resist the urge to punch himself in the face -- of course he had to forget about the werewolf hearing or whatever. His shoulders sag. "I am the worst at keeping secrets, dude."
Derek smiles at him. "I'll fight you to the death for best man." That, though, makes Stiles laugh, and he smirks at Derek.
"You're on, Big Bad."
--
They have most of their larger furniture successfully moved in by the evening, thanks to the movers and that odd, leather-clad brunette with the surprisingly ridiculous strength (did Stiles mention that that guy is his boyfriend? Because he is.) They can live for a few days with plastic cutlery and paper plates, because honestly, Stiles' shoulders are sore.
The only problem is that their sofa ended up being a fraction of an inch too big for the space they have in the living room.
Stiles ends up making coffee at an ungodly hour in the evening, and Derek buries his face into Stiles' neck, growling. "I could have sworn I measured it right." Stiles kisses his temple.
"Don't worry about it. Just gives us an excuse to go to the mall again and get those awesome fries in the food court." Derek hums in affirmation and lets his hands fall on Stiles' hips. "Be careful, I don't wanna get coffee on you."
Derek lifts his head and looks at Stiles, his brow furrowed. "You wanna go for a drive?"
Stiles blinks in surprise. He knows the sofa is in the bed of the Silverado, but Derek doesn't intend on returning it now, does he? It's almost midnight, for Christ's sake. "What are you talking about?" Stiles looks down -- he's already in moth-bitten sweatpants and his feet feel like they're actually going to break, they're so sore. "Where would we go?"
Derek grin is wolfish. "Just trust me."
Stiles' coffee gets abandoned on the counter top. It doesn't take long for it to get cold.
--
Derek ends up taking some odd curves and turns down some old, dark passages, and he eventually mumbles, "Close your eyes. I want it to be a surprise."
Stiles scoffs, but he does as he's told. "There's no way you're taking me somewhere you haven't taken me before."
He can hear Derek's smile in his voice. "You're right. We've been here before."
Stiles feels the truck incline, and he furrows his brow. There aren't any hills nearby the house... how long have they been driving, anyway? He didn't really pay attention -- he's too tired, really -- but he now he wishes he had, because --
Derek shuts off the engine. "Alright, go ahead."
Stiles opens his eyes, and the light from the high beams blurs his vision for a moment, but he blinks rapidly and turns his head to look out the window, and... he grins. "We haven't been here since Christmas." he breathes.
The other man is already climbing out of the Silverado. "Come on, follow me." He shuts the driver's side door, and Stiles is quick to react, taking off his seatbelt and practically kicking his door open.
He gets out just in time to see Derek climb into the bed of the truck, and Stiles follows him. The sofa in the back is still strapped down -- they were planning on packing it back up the next morning before bringing it to return it, so it's still uncovered -- and Derek collapses onto it.
He finds his place, almost immediately, on the right side of the sofa, and Stiles smiles. He follows suit and takes his place on the left, and Derek slings an arm around his shoulders.
"Too bad we don't have some movies, huh?" Stiles asks quietly, and Derek shrugs.
"I dunno." he replies, and he leans down, kissing Stiles softly. "I think this isn't half bad."
The stars at the top of the hill -- Stiles' hill, the hill that means so much to him and so much to Derek and so much to that his mother -- are as bright as ever, and the spring air blankets over them warmly.
Stiles can't help but feel like it's his mother, glad to see her son and his boyfriend watching the stars from a couch in the back of their truck, but... well, no. That'd be ridiculous.
"Thank you." he says quietly, and Derek kisses his temple. Stiles will get a call in the morning from Scott and Allison to make the big, happy announcement, and his dad will stop by to say hello and check out the place, but for right now... well.
She's a lot more than just "glad," he figures.