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It started when he found an old Grimm’s edition with folktales. In german.
Lydia and Derek knew archaic latin. And spanish, and little bit of french and frankly Stiles felt a little jealous because they were the most smart and beautiful people he knew and that was just so unfair. Ugh! Like honestly they couldn't be more perfect.
So when he noticed no one in the pack new german he took the chance and sign up to learn it.
Frau Barbara Müller was tall, green eyes and blond hair. She talked to Stiles kindly with a thick accent since the first time he attended to class, even if he entered a little late. That made him feel comfortable even when he made terrible mistakes, like confuse Haus (house) or Maus (mouse).
He’s got all kinds of classmates. Hans and Russell, an old couple trying new things together to keep the flame alive. Stiles loved them immediately, they looked so cute. Taylor was a 15 year old who's grandma was forcing her to learn their old tongue -but even if she complained a lot it was obvious she liked it-. And then it was Carla, a single mom that decided to do something for herself that wasn't related to her son Rafa. She was struggling with the fact he was 14 and didn't need her as much as before.
Stiles wanted to tell her that no matter how big Rafa would get, he will always need her.
A few weeks interacting with this people and he couldn't wait for tuesday nights. They were so… normal. And being around them helped Stiles understand why he choose to follow his father's steps into law enforcement.
….
“For this week’s homework I want you to write about your 'friend’. Some story you'd like to tell so you can practice writing.” Frau Müller said.
Next to Stiles Taylor huff annoyingly. Hans and Russell laughed and Carla seemed worried. But Stiles had tons of stories with his best friend Scott to tell. Even if this was gonna be his first writing he was excited.
…
“That's it.” Lydia clasped her hands, officially ending the pack meeting.
Most of them had plans and started to leave.
“Hey, are you coming?” Scott asked from the door.
Stiles was too comfy on his spot on the old sofa to move. “Nah, I have a paper to write.” He answered lazily.
Scott gave him that silly stupid smile he had been throwing at Stiles the last few months and left.
“What's wrong?” Of course Derek sniff his frustration. The man was sitting next to him sipping from a cup of coffee.
“I don't know. Scott 's been acting weird lately.” He complained.
“Hm…” What's all he answered.
“Anyways can you hand me my backpack?” Stiles asked.
“It's right next to you.” Derek raised an eyebrow stating the obvious.
That was indeed true but, but grabbing it implied movement and Stiles was comfy. That's why he told Scott no to movies and it was 100% true.
“Deeereeeek.” He whined, sinking further into the cushions and under Derek's thighs.
The man sighed tiredly but stood up and handed Stiles his bag.
“Why do you have to do your homework here?” Derek murmured on his way to the kitchen and Stiles knew he was ready to start dinner.
“You know you’ll be lonely without me.” He breath knowing the wolf heard him right.
It became a thing after Stiles discovered Derek's ability to cook. He always found an excuse to stay after pack meetings or dropped by the loft around the time. Derek huffed and grunted but always put an extra plate for Stiles.
Ok, so maybe Stiles had a slight idea of what Scott's smiles were about but still, he wasn't ready to think about it. Derek and him were friends . After everything they’ve been together, they were friends.
Freund.
It wasn't hard to start writing his paper for german knowing he didn't have to worry about dinner.
…
“Stiles?” Miss Müller called him during class.
“Yes?”
“Here is your paper. You have some grammar mistakes but it's pretty good. And…” she smiled a little. “I really enjoyed your story.”
…
It was something he did now, talk about Derek in class. It was only logical because they were an uneven number.
Russell talked about Hans, Carla about Taylor and Stiles… he talked about Derek during the speaking exercises.
“So he is the reason you take german?” Carla asked one night.
“In german please?” Frau Müller remind her.
“Ist er der Grund weshalb du Deutsch lernst?” Carla said with only a little struggle.
“Ja.” Stiles shrugged trying to hide his blush. It's not as if Derek was the sole reason. Not really, but he still didn't know the words for : “just one of the reasons.”
…
One night Hans asked him about the dish Derek made, the one Stiles wrote about because dear Lord that dinner deserved all the praises in the world.
“Can you ask him for the recipe?”
“Sure.” Stiles said happy to share the glory of vegetables and cheese empanadas that he got to take home for his dad because they were not just yummy but healthy .
…
One night Russell said: “ Stiles und sein Freund erinnern mich manchmal an uns. ” He held Hans’s gaze and smiled warmly.
Stiles had to look away because he couldn't believe, after all his shared stories about him and Derek, Russell thought they were anything like them. That was obviously wrong.
Russell and Hans were the kind of couple that could know what the other was thinking with just one look.
…
“Have you translated all of that?” Derek asked a little surprised.
“Yup.” Stiles smirked proud of himself. It had taken a few months and a lot of help but he got a few thick chapters of the book.
Derek sat right next to him, looking over Stiles shoulder.
“What does Degen means?"
Stiles felt the breath on his cheek and he willed his heart to not stutter and his face not to blush. And of course failed miserably.
“It’s a kind of sword.” he cleared his throat a couple of times. “It's a story about a curse that could only be broken with this sword.”
Stiles body was hot in every part that touched Derek's.
“Can you read to me?” Derek asked and of course Stiles did. He needed to busy himself to not do something stupid like turned his face and kiss Derek.
He kept reading out loud struggling with words even after Derek stood and went to the kitchen to start dinner, and the domesticity of it made Stiles chest hurt.
…
“Here.” Frau Müller pointed at his paper. “You used touch instead of Tuch. It's a common mistake.”
But Stiles had really studied like a lot! Specially now that Derek liked to listen to him talking in german.
As if reading his mind Frau Müller pat his shoulder a little too strong. “Don't worry. You are doing it exceptionally. You just started.”
“That's true, my Großmutter it's actually surprised you can keep up with us.” Taylor nodded.
“We’ve been together for over a year.” Carla added. “You just started.”
...
“You didn't even try them.” Stiles complained.
“I didn't say anything.” Derek huffed a laugh.
“Your eyebrows did.” He pointed accusingly. His fingers inches apart of the beauty that was Derek's relaxed and smiley face.
A sense of utter dread fell upon Stiles. He took a step back and walked out of the kitchen.
“What's wrong?” Derek asked following him.
What's wrong? Everything is wrong! Stiles wanted to scream. Everything I want is right there and I can't have it.
“Nothing, I just realised something and… I’ve got to go.”
“Stiles.” Was the last thing he heard before leaving the loft.
He was way too deep now. He couldn't deny his feelings anymore. He liked Derek. He liked liked Derek. He cared about him, he worried about him constantly. Stiles texed to Derek every day. He spent more time in the loft than his home.
He had more than a simple crush. He was in too deep.
…
“You ok?” Were the first words Derek said on the phone.
“Hey Derek. Yeah, just arrived to my german class.” Stiles looked at the time. He had three minutes before they start. “What's up?”
“Nothing, just… you haven’t been around.” Derek sounded as if it pained him to say that and Stiles’ heart started to beat faster.
He had been trying to control his heart and feelings so he wouldn't give himself up. But who was he kidding, he couldn't control anything when he was near Derek Hale.
So he did what he did best. Tried to use humor. “What, you miss me?”
Hans gave him a thumbs up and a wink that made him blush fiercely.
For a moment there was no answer.
“Guten Tag.” Frau Müller entered the room.
“I’ll call you later.” Derek said before hanging up.
Stiles stared at his phone, biting his lower lip, thinking before the voice of his teacher brought him back to the class.
…
Stiles went back to the loft the next day after his dad had told him: “Stop moping and go see him.” during their lunch.
He had accidentally confessed how he felt to his dad during the weekend and surprisingly his father wasn't shock at all.
…
They were doing grocery shopping and it was so normal that he couldn't stop staring.
Derek Hale, Wesen of the night, standing in front of the cereal aisle in plain daylight. It was too much for Stiles’ easily flustered heart.
They had made the list together before coming. Stiles and Derek. Together.
Scott had talked to him the day before trying to convince Stiles he should finally confess his feelings, but… was it worth it? Put this easy, heartwarming-thing they had at risk?
“Oh, Stiles.” A familiar voice made him close his mouth and turn. “ Guten Morgen. Wie geht es dir? ”
“Frau Müller. Hi! I'm great. Wir kaufen etwas ein. Oh, and this is Derek-”
“Your boyfriend!” She beamed. “So nice to finally put a face to the name. Stiles had talked a lot about you.”
Derek and Stiles had come a long from reluctant enemies to trustworthy allies, to almost-kind-of-friends but not exactly friends. To actually friends, even if Stiles wanted more. The thing is Frau Muller´s words hit him hard.
Boyfriend.
Why would she call him and Derek boyfriends?
“It's nice to meet you too.” Derek answered after a minute recovering faster than Stiles. “I heard a lot about you.”
“You should come by some time. The class would love to hear one of your adventures with Stiles first hand.”
Stiles saw Derek´s ears go red from the corner of his eye and he could feel his face blush too.
“I would love to go.” Derek answered and Stiles was torn between hope and complete embarrassment only managing a wavering smile towards his teacher.
“Well, I leave you to it.” She smiled to both. “See you in class, Stiles.”
They stayed looking at her walk away down the aisle for a while until Derek tuned to the cereals again going for the lucky charms.
Stiles followed him to the cash registrator, completely red face, heart beating like crazy and mind reviewing every possible interaction since he started german class to figure out how come Frau Muller arrived to the conclusion that he and Derek were dating.
He texted to Taylor a quick question.
Is there a different way to say friend than Freund?
Her answer came immediately.
Of course! How else are you gonna make the difference? when you are talking about your friend or talking about your boyfriend.
Stiles couldn't believe it. He had been calling Derek his boyfriend for months! How could he even begin to explain now.
In retrospective, he did talk about Derek all the time. He wrote about the time he got stuck on a tree trying to take a little cat down and Derek came to their rescue like a knight in shiny armor. He also talked a lot about Derek's eyebrows and their magical language that Stiles secretly loved to decipher. And Derek´s cooking, he never missed to describe with detail the delicious and blissful gift that was Derek´s cooking.
He dared to look up and saw Derek´s uncertain frown. The knowledge that he had come to know Derek Hale almost as good as Scott was terrifying, to think about how important he was for Stiles. What Stiles did, and would do to protect Derek. What he was willing to do to make him happy.
Ok, so maybe the grocery store wasn't the best place to have an epiphany about your true feeling but he couldn´t stop now.
“Fun fact.” He said walking straight ahead to the car. “It seems that I'm not as good in german as I thought I was.”
Derek stopped walking a few steps before reaching the car. Stiles turned to meet his intense eyes. Waiting .
“I may have been talking about us ...” he almost choked with the word us, he wanted them to be an us so damn much. “Using the wrong words.”
Derek´s made a face Stiles hadn't seen before, took a deep breath, sniffing the air, probably trying to read Stiles chemo signals. Fuck .
Stiles needed to have better control of his stuttering heart and telling scent because that was fucking hot.
Derek took a few step closer, grocery bags resting over the car's roof now.
“The wrong words?” He asked stepping into Stiles space, pinning him against the car. Breathing catching. Skin tingling.
“Um...well, more like wrong term?” He managed, caught between Derek´s enchanting eyes.
“You sound unsure.” Derek was so close.
“Um, well. I…” Stiles felt dizzy, Derek´s warm body almost touching him. Just inches apart. “What are we?” the words escaped him in a blur.
Derek´s shaking hand rested against his cheek. Thumb stroking his skin softly. Stiles was burning up slowly and couldn't be happier. This was happening. It wasn't a dream.
“Stiles.” Was all Derek said before Stiles dared forward, soft lips welcoming his. The kiss was the culmination of years of frustration and want and yet it was slow and tender. Slow consuming fire. The promise of more. Of time. Together.
~*~
“Guten Tag.” Frau Müller entered the room. “Today we have a special guest.” She said smiling to Derek.
“And maybe future student?” Stiles squeezed his boyfriend's hand.
Carla and Taylor cheered excitedly. Russell gave Stiles a wink and Hans had already asked Derek about recipes.
Yeah… he could see the two of them taking german classes together. Something they could do as a couple .
Derek planted a quick kiss in his cheek before the class started.
Together. Stiles liked the sound of that.