Mated

Chapter Three -

Derek ((finally)) considers that Stiles "might" be his mate

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Stiles sighs, sliding his back against his locker. He hadn't had any sleep the night before. He had been kept up by a heartbeat in his heat. A heartbeat. And it wasn't his own. He checked several times to see if it kept in time with his own heart. It didn't. He was hearing someone else's beating heart in his head. He was smelling wolfsbane at random. He couldn't focus at all. Well... His focus was worse than usual. It was freaking him the fuck out. Was he psychically connected to someone now? 

"Scott. Scott!" Stiles whisper shouted to his friend sitting in front of him. 

"What?" Scott mumbled in between his teeth. 

"Scott, I think I'm going crazy." Stiles hissed.

"Yeah, I think you're going crazy too." Scott replied.

"Scott!" He whined.

"Alright, alright. I'll humor you... Why?"

Stiles sat back in his seat. "I've been hearing a heartbeat in my head." He said. "And smelling wolfsbane while I'm sitting alone in my room. And feeling like I've read books I've never touched. Weird shit like that. Like... Someone is tapping into my thoughts and putting memories and feelings into my head."

"Uh huh." Scott deadpanned. "You're going crazy."

"That's not helping!" Stiles hissed.

"I said I'd listen. I never said I was going to be helpful." Scott reminded his best friend. "But if it makes you feel any better, something is different about you. Like... The way you smell changed. You don't smell like coconuts anymore. You smell like pine trees and rain."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Stiles asked. 

"I don't know? Dude, just chill. As long as you're not hearing voices, I'm sure you're fine."

Stiles huffed. Scott hadn't helped. All he had done was add one more worry to his list. Pine trees and rain? Was he sleepwalking or something? Why did he smell different? Damn it, he liked the smell of his coconut shampoo! 

He sat back with a sigh. Same shit, different day. 

    —•☽♡❍♡☾•—

Derek leaned forward into the stream of the shower. His muscles burned pleasantly from the run he had gone on earlier. Derek liked to run. It cleared his head and let his wolf blow off some steam. After all, he couldn't control it forever. Eventually he needed to let loose some of his rage. 

But now his run was over. Now he had time to think. Really think. Think about the things he had been feeling. About Stiles. The fact that last night he had admitted to Laura that he was in love with Stiles. Derek reached out for his soap. His arms flexed as he lathered his hair up and ran his hands through it. Maybe he had just been sleep deprived when he said it... No. He was never tired during the night. It was just part of being a werewolf. He hadn't been tired. Unfortunately, he couldn't blame his words on that. 

Why? Why Stiles? He had no chance with Stiles. No boy as smart as Stiles would ever deign to be with a man like him. All he would do was put Stiles in danger. He already had put Stiles in danger an alarming amount of times. All because Stiles was near him... Derek groaned in frustration. It wasn't right to drag a human into his life. The right thing was to give Stiles up. Let him finally get together with Lydia and have lots of human babies and live a normal life. The normal life Derek could never have. Especially not with a boy like Stiles. 

He bit down into his lower lip. Hard. Pain helped him think. It helped him control himself. He could feel the wolf writhing just beneath the skin. Both he and his wolf wanted Stiles. Derek knew that could only mean one thing. The thing he had been fighting all along. 

His wolf had chosen Stiles to be his mate. 

It wasn't fair. Falling in love with a human was often a cruel thing for a werewolf. Humans often rejected them. Being mated to Scott would be easier. Scott could understand him. He could relate to Derek. Derek didn't have to protect Scott... Okay. That was a lie. Scott was a goddamn idiot. Derek had needed to protect him from the moment he got the bite. But it would be easier to protect Scott. Scott could heal faster. He was stronger. He had the power, the instinct, the senses... All things that Stiles didn't have. The lack of those things made Stiles harder to protect. And Stiles was a firecracker. He didn't take Derek's shit or listen to him when he told him not to do something. When Derek told Stiles something was dangerous, Stiles would charge at it without thinking. Stiles was fearless. That was good. But also extremely difficult to handle and control. 

Derek sighed, pressing his face up against the tile walls of his shower. This wasn't good. He couldn't find a way that this could work. What would Stiles think? Was Stiles even into him? Did Stiles like him at all? He seemed to like expressing his displeasure with Derek's attitude quite a lot. Derek wasn't sure if Stiles even considered Derek as a friend, much less a lifelong mate. Damn, this was hard! 

He tipped his head back and let the water melt the suds out of his hair. Yeah. This was going to be a long shower.

    —•☽♡❍♡☾•—

Stiles threw his pencil across the room. This was hopeless! It was driving him crazy! Not just his usual brand of crazy, for real crazy. The steady thumping of the heartbeat in his head was never ending. He swore, pulling at his hair. It was giving him a headache. He couldn't do his homework like this. 

The moon was bright in the sky. It was just coming up on the horizon. Stiles watched it rise above the trees. In the back of his mind he wondered was Scott was doing. Was he staring up at the moon, counting the days until the full moon. What was Isaac doing? Or Derek? Stiles hoped that they were all happy tonight. Especially Derek. That guy didn't smile enough. Stiles hoped that he was going to smile tonight. 

He looked over to the picture on his wall, hidden behind his computer. A picture of his mom. Mom had always been proud of Stiles, even when the teachers at daycare told her that he was doing poorly. 

You're going to grow up and do great things. I know you will. She would smile at him, pull him up onto her lap, and bop his nose. Mother knows best, after all.

Stiles smiled at the pleasant memory. Mom always knew what to say. He was so confused. He wished she was here now. 

Just be yourself. She said. I love you, I know someone else will. One day, you'll find that special girl or guy that's going to take you away from me. And when they do, I'm going to kick their ass and make them promise to take care of you.

Stiles remembers being horrified by his mother saying such things. Ew! No way! A guy?! I'm going to be with a girl, mama!

Don't assume. She said, looking over at Stiles' father. Believe it or not, I said the exact same thing when I was a teenager and I ended up being married to your father.

Now that Stiles looked back on it, he realized that his mom basically just said that she was a lesbian. He laughed out loud. Oh, how right she had been. It was wrong for him to assume he was straight. He ended up being so fucking bisexual it wasn't even funny. Well, great minds think alike. Stiles smiled. She really was the best mom in the world. 

Stiles didn't get any homework done that night. He stayed up and watched the moon move across the sky. Hoping... Praying... That his mom was up in heaven, looking at the same moon he was.

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*Makes a headcannon that Stiles' mom was gay*

*Dabs*

-💕 Bubblegum 💕