Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (Sterek) (Destiel)

He loves you

Derek sat quietly as Dean, Sam, Cas, and Stiles talked with Jodie. It was obvious they were excited to have killed Ramiel.

"So Derek, I understand you and Stiles met in Beacon Hills," Jodie turned her attention to the alpha.

"We did," Derek nodded.

"But you two weren't friends," Jodie glanced at Stiles.

"We had a complicated relationship," Derek set his fork down.

"I'm going to assume it's still complicated, which is why there is so much tension between you two?" Jodie asked with motherly concern.

Stiles shifted while Derek fought to keep from looking at the youngest Winchester.

"We're friends now," Stiles answered, staring down at his plate.

Derek frowned at Stiles as he heard the sputter of his heartbeat. "Your heart skipped."

Stiles' eyes met Derek's.

Derek suddenly smelled anxiety coming off of Stiles.

"Uh oh," Dean muttered shoving a bite of chicken into his mouth.

"You don't think we're friends?" Derek asked when Stiles showed no sign of responding.

"Derek, we talked about this earlier, a friend wouldn't be a trigger for you," Stiles sighed.

"So what is this between us then?" Derek snapped. His wolf was not happy with what Stiles was getting at.

"I don't know, Derek, you tell me. You're the one whose wolf sees me as a trigger and an anchor. I can't be both, it doesn't make sense," Stiles snapped back.

Derek clenched his jaw, "Trust me, it's confusing for me too."

Stiles rolled his eyes but didn't respond.

"Stiles, I know what that means, don't just shut down," Jodie piped in. She had learned the different mannerisms and quirks of each of the brothers, and she played mom when necessary.

"There's nothing left to say, Jodie. We're friends, maybe," Stiles shrugged.

"There's no maybe, Stiles," Derek growled, "do you not see me as a friend?" Derek knew things were tense but did last night really change their relationship completely?

"Yeah, I do, but..." Stiles paused with a frustrated sigh.

Derek felt his heart drop, "You're lying," Derek's voice was quiet.

Derek sensed Stiles start to panic. If he didn't see Derek as a friend, then what did he see him as? Derek wanted to ask but he had to be careful, Stiles was a trigger and the last thing he needed was to wolf out at the dinner table.

Stiles froze. He'd done his best to keep his heart rate steady, but had ultimately failed.

The table was silent as Stiles struggled to think of something to say.

"Derek..." Stiles sighed heavily.

"Don't," Derek growled.

Silence fell over the table once again.

"This is fun," Dean smiled uncomfortably as Sam shifted in his seat.

Suddenly Stiles stood, leaving the room.

Derek glared down at his plate. He fought the urge to follow the hunter. He knew that Stiles wasn't going to say anything good and Derek didn't want to hear anymore rejection of any form.

"He loves you you know," Jodie spoke then causing Derek to look at her with a confused frown, "he doesn't see you as a friend because he loves you."

Derek shook his head, "He doesn't." 

"What makes you so sure?" Jodie asked. 

"He's told me many times that he'll never fall in love. He says it's too dangerous," Derek answered, his voice quiet.

"Do you really think he can help that?" Jodie gave Derek a pointed look.

"You two are literally made for each other, isn't that what being mates means?" Dean piped in.

"Not necessarily. He may be my mate, but he's not a werewolf so it's not the same thing for him. It's rare for a human to be a werewolf's mate. And even if he did feel the same way right now, that may change for him; for a werewolf that never changes." Derek answered sadly.

"I know Stiles and I know he loves you," Jodie looked at Derek sympathetically.

"You need to tell him, Derek. He deserves to know," Sam spoke up then.

"No, I'm not going to tell him. If he wants to be with me of his own accord then that's one thing but I refuse to make him feel obligated, and I know he would if I told him," Derek shook his head. He wished they would let it go, no matter what was going on between him and Stiles, he refused to tell Stiles he was Derek's mate. 

Stiles closed himself in the room he and Derek would be sharing that night. He saw Derek's bag sitting on the bed. It reminded him of the notebook. He pulled up the picture he had snapped looking over the list. Pulling out the laptop he pulled up the lore of halfbreed werewolves. He typed in the words Derek had listed.

'Mood, scent, trigger, anchor, physical, emotional, uncontrollable, mutual, dangerous.'

There were pages on each of the words listed. It would take hours for Stiles to go through them all. He stared down at the list.

'Mood' The two of them were more irritable with each other as of late. 'Scent' Did Stiles scent change towards Derek? 'Trigger' He was a trigger for Derek. 'Anchor' He was also an anchor for Derek. 'Physical' They were both physically attracted to each other. 'Emotional' They had an emotional connection, obviously. 'Uncontrollable' Derek's shifts were uncontrollable. 'Mutual' Why did Derek have an X next to 'mutual'? Did he not think Stiles felt anything towards him? 'Dangerous' Why had he written 'dangerous', What did that mean?

As Stiles worked through his thoughts he looked into the lore on werewolf triggers. 

Stiles felt his jaw drop slightly as he read the words on the page.

A trigger for a werewolf is someone or something that elicits an uncontrollable shift. Usually a trigger is an enemy or threat. Sometimes, though, a trigger is caused by an emotional connection to a mate that has not been claimed. 

Stiles was sure he wasn't an enemy or threat, that meant...

"No way," Stiles whispered as he looked at the list once again. It made sense though, Derek had been tempted to claim him last night and had almost done so.

  Stiles closed out his laptop and the picture before laying back on the bed. He wanted to ask Derek, but would Derek be honest with him? What if he was Derek's mate? He knew he'd developed feelings for Derek beyond physical attraction. That was why his heart had skipped when he had been asked if he saw Derek as a friend. He wanted Derek as more than a friend and last night hadn't helped matters. He had hoped that once the two had slept together they wouldn't be as drawn to each other, but that had only confirmed Stiles' feelings for the alpha. But if he was Derek's mate why was Derek avoiding him? Why had he told Stiles he didn't want to mark him? Why did Derek regret last night? Unless...

"Mutual." Stiles recalled the X next to the word. Derek didn't think Stiles would return his feelings. Derek was afraid of rejection. 

"Which is why I'm dangerous." Stiles sighed with realization. 

He was Derek's mate.