Kiss Only you

Cold Lips of Silence

Derek's phone rings the next afternoon while he's still at the office, and he tosses aside his ruler, wiping his smudgy fingers on his jeans before reaching for it. The display says Stiles, and he frowns—Stiles only texts, he barely ever calls. "Hello?"
"Hey, Derek," he says, and at least he sounds fairly normal. Not hurt or panicked in any way, and Derek relaxes a little.
"What's up?"
The frustration in his sigh comes through crystal clear on the phone. "Thanks to this surprise fucking snowstorm, my flight back to California got cancelled."
Derek grimaces. Portland is not at all accustomed to snow, and he's not surprised that the current storm is messing with the flights. "That's awful. Did you get rebooked on another one?"
"Yeah," he says glumly, "but not 'til the 26th."
"Shit. I'm really sorry," Derek says. He knows how much Stiles loves Christmas and how much he was looking forward to seeing his dad.
"Listen, I know this is really presumptuous, but—"

"You should come over," Derek interrupts. He's pretty sure that's where Stiles was going, anyway. "Spend Christmas at my place."
There's silence on the other line for a few seconds. "Are you sure? I mean, I know we just started dating..."
"I mean it, of course you should come. If you want to."

"Okay," Stiles says, sounding relieved. "Okay, good. I'd really like that, actually."
Derek smiles, even though there isn't anyone there to see it. "Good. Me too. When do you want to come over?"
"Uh...tonight?" Stiles hedges, and Derek smiles again. "Or if that's—"
"Tonight is great," he says. It's the 23rd, which means they'll have two full days together before Stiles has to
leave. "I'll make dinner."

Derek laughs, thinking of his somewhat-sparsely decorated apartment, and nods. "Okay."
"And I know that before we said no gifts, but now..."
"I actually already broke that rule," he admits, thinking of the small box in his closet. "I was going to give it to you when you got back."
Stiles laughs. "Well, thank god because I got a gift for you, too. But I might get a couple more just so we have some things to open, you know?"
"Small things," Derek stresses. "Don't spend too much money on me."

"Dude, I make bank," he says with a scoff. "I will spend as much money on you as I want."
Derek sighs, but he's smiling. "Fine. I'll see you tonight?"
"I'll be there by seven," Stiles promises, and Derek exhales as he hangs up the phone. He's had some decent Christmases in the past few years, with Cora and various members of their new pack, but he's suddenly really looking forward to this one.

He hurries through the rest of the work he needs to finish and then packs up a few things in his bag to take home. The snow, which was annoying this morning, is suddenly a pleasant addition to the holiday atmosphere. The late afternoon sky is dark and heavy, and the snow muffles the sounds of the city as it blankets the streets and drapes over everyone's holiday decorations.
Portland is thankfully teeming with random little boutiques and stores, so it doesn't take long at all for Derek to find a few little gifts for Stiles. The grocery store is packed because of the storm, but Derek manages to get everything he needs without too many aggressive elbows thrown his way
.
When he gets back to his apartment, he looks around with a discerning eye. He's a little bit of a neat freak and thankfully doesn't have to do much tidying, but he still picks up and changes the sheets on the bed, tossing the current ones in the wash and replacing them with his slightly nicer set. He does have a guest room, but he can't really imagine Stiles using it. Still, he doesn't want to presume, so he makes sure that room is clean, too, with fresh towels in the bathroom.

Dinner is easy enough to throw together, and around 6:30, Derek frowns as he looks out the window at the snow still falling. He doubts that Stiles' Prius is all that trustworthy in the snow, so he finds his phone.

Do you want me to pick you up?
Nah, don't worry about it. It's not that far, I'll walk.
I'm coming to get you. Be ready in 15 minutes.
Derek gets a frowning emoji in response, but since that's not an actual no, he ignores it. The roads are mostly empty and barely plowed when he heads out, and he's never been more thankful for the Suburu's four-wheel drive.