A/N: Okay so this is a short Sterek one-shot, first posted on AO3, let me know what you think!

AU: No werewolves. Set when Stiles is 21 in Beacon Hills. Stiles has been off at college studying and has come back to visit and is staying with Isaac and Scott. He hasn’t seen Derek since he left, almost three years ago. He’s only in town for a week.

Stiles rubbed his eyes angrily as he heard the pounding at the front door. At 3am he wasn’t really expecting any visitors. How had Scott or Isaac not heard this? Maybe they had but just chose to ignore it.

                It wasn’t even his house and he was going to answer the door? Why? Welcome back to Beacon Hills Stiles.

He fumbled around looking for a set of keys, it was dark and for some reason he hadn’t thought to turn on a light on the way down the hall. His fingers latched around the cold metal and he turned to the door, clumsily unlocking the wooden deadlock and pulling the fly-wire back.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Stiles snapped at the dark figure with his back to the door.

As he turned around to put a face to the voice Stiles felt his chest tighten and his breath was cut short. He knew that face, that square jaw and grey-green eyes… and that same leather jacket that he was sure hadn’t changed in three years.

“I thought I might find you here.” Derek said as he leant on the wall.

“What are you – why are you here?” Stiles said, his face turning to stone and his stomach churning as all of the memories he’d tried so hard to forget flooded him again.

Derek gave him a goofy smile before he stumbled forward and crashed into the door.

“Holy shit – are you drunk?” Stiles said as he watched Derek wave his hand dismissively and walk, scratch that, stumble through the door. “Well by all means, come on in!” he said sarcastically as he locked up the door again.

He followed Derek down the hall just in time to see him collapse on the couch and squint in the new light as Stiles flicked the switch. He could finally get a good look at him, and he hadn’t changed a bit. He was still wearing the same clothes and had the same hair-cut as always but something was different about him.

Derek looked up at him with a lopsided grin and Stiles shook his head. This couldn’t be the man he left behind all those years ago. Just thinking about the last time he saw Derek made him get angry at the fact that he was here right now.

“You never told me you were coming back.” He slurred.

“Why would I?” He replied.

He tilted his head to the side but Stiles wasn’t amused.

“Derek, why did you come looking for me? We haven’t spoken to one another in three years it’s not like we have things to catch up on.”

He heard a door creak behind him and spun around to see Isaac and Scott walking towards them in a bit of a daze. “What’s going on? Who was at the door?” Scott said.

“Oh, I’m glad you heard that.” Stiles muttered.

“Shit!” Isaac cussed when he saw Derek, who was now holding his head in his hands.

“What’s he doing here? Who told him I was going to be staying here?” Stiles hissed.

This was exactly why he hadn’t stayed with his dad.

Scott and Isaac exchanged glances that Stiles didn’t understand and Derek made a groaning sound from the couch.

“I’ll go and set up the fold out in the lounge.” Isaac muttered.

“What does it matter if he knew you were here? I didn’t think it was a problem.” Scott said.

Stiles sighed, rubbing his temples. “It’s not.” He grunted.

He never told Scott why he was so desperate to get away from Derek, or why he hadn’t made the trip all the way back here in so long. He hadn’t told anybody about the night of graduation and how he’d completely made a fool of himself.

“Well then it’s just annoying that he’s here… again.” Scott rubbed his eyes.

“Again, what do you mean ‘again’?” Stiles asked.

“Oh nothing, he does this sometimes. Don’t ask me why because he won't tell me and I really don’t care because it’s… three am! God damn it Derek!” He said.

“Fold out’s down.” Isaac said, coming in and wrapping his arms around Scott.

“Alright, better get him in before he vomits all over the good couch.” He replied, nuzzling into Isaac’s neck.

Stiles sighed, they seemed pretty used to this. “I’ll do it.”

“It’s alright, we’ve got all of his favourite bedtime stories on hand.” Scott said and Isaac chuckled, his eyes closed sleepily.

“His favourite is red riding hood.” Isaac said with a croaky voice.

“I’m glad the two of you find this funny.” Stiles said and they looked over at Derek who really didn’t look well.

“Blankets are in the closet in the hall and there might still be a bucket in there from last time.” Isaac said. “Come on.” He tugged at Scott’s hips as he tried to go back to bed.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, no, it’s fine. I’m awake now anyway.” Stiles said as he glared over at Derek.

Scott nodded and let Isaac drag him back to bed. God, how Stiles envied them.

He sighed as he looked down at Derek and shook his head. “Come on then.” He groaned as he leant down to hoist Derek up.

There was a time when having Derek this close to him would have been better than words could describe, but now… now it was like a horrible nightmare. He hasn’t thought about him in so long, and for a good reason.

Derek’s near-dead weight rested on his shoulder as they hobbled into the lounge. When the bed was close enough Stiles tried to drop him down but Derek just pulled him along with him. He ducked his head to slip through Derek’s grasp and grunted.

“Sit with me.” Derek groaned.

“Go to sleep.” Stiles said stiffly.

“Please?” Stiles swallowed hard at the soft pleading tone of his voice.

He didn’t realise that Derek’s voice could still do that to him. He tried to force himself away but he was here now, and Derek was vulnerable, so he sat beside him.

He didn’t say anything, he just sat awkwardly next to him in the dark.

His hands clenched into fists when he felt Derek’s hand slip up onto his leg. His fingertips glanced back and forth and inched closer to the inside of his thigh. Stiles grabbed his hand roughly and threw it back at him.

“Don’t do that.” He said.

“Come on…” Derek said with a hoarse voice as he sat up and pressed his loose wet lips to his cheek.

“No!” Stiles tried to shove him away as he tugged him back down.

He managed to climb off the bed and put his hand on his forehead as he processed everything.

“You used to want me you know.” Derek said as he lay back on the bed and groaned again.

 “Once.” Stiles said coldly. “But I was a kid. It didn’t mean anything and what I did was a stupid mistake.” He stepped back and went to leave him alone.

“I shouldn’t have left.” Derek muttered.

“You didn’t, I did, and I didn’t come back.” Stiles sighed, wishing that he had really forgotten about him.

“That night, I wish I never left you. I should have… if I just-”

“Just don’t Derek. I don’t want to hear about how guilty you are for bruising my ego back then and you don’t need to pretend to feel bad about it now so just… go to sleep, you’re fucking drunk.” And Stiles walked out like Derek had that night that everything went wrong.

Stiles hardly slept that night. He felt like crying after seeing Derek again. How could he come back and say all those things after utterly breaking his heart? Why did he wait all this time to say something if it meant that much?

He hated Derek for doing that to him. He hated him. If he cared back then he should have said something. Not now when he’s moved on.

When he’s mostly moved on.

The next morning he trudged groggily out into the kitchen where Scott and Isaac were shamelessly making out against the fridge.

“Guys, come on, Stiles doesn’t need to see that.” He groaned and they backed away from one another with devilish smiles on their faces.

“Sorry, we don’t usually have guests.” Isaac said.

“How was Derek last night?” Scott asked.

“A pain. Is he gone yet?” Stiles said harshly.

The other two looked at one another before Scott answered. “Nope, still here. Right here, actually.” He nodded his head in the direction of a very shabby looking Derek stumbling into the room.

Stiles didn’t look at him, he didn’t want to face him but Derek’s eyes were burning holes into his back and he didn’t know how long he could avoid him.

“Uh… Scott, I think I need your help with something.” Isaac said, grabbing his wrist and trying to pull him away.

“What is it?” Scott said, hopelessly oblivious to the ploy.

“It’s more fun if I let you figure it out.” Isaac grinned and Scott looked as though he got a shiver from his words.

“Right, um, excuse us.” They scampered off and Stiles shook his head while he rubbed his eyes.

“Fucking hound dogs, the both of you.” He muttered.

“Stiles?” Derek’s hung-over voice broke the silence between them but Stiles was having none of it.

“I’m not really interested in talking Derek.” He said harshly.

“Please? Look, I want to… I need to apologise for what I did last night.” He turned to see Derek looking pretty sheepish and nodded.

“It’s fine, just go and sober up.” Stiles said.

“… and for what I did that made you hate me so much.” Stiles froze, he didn’t want to revisit this, he had done that enough.

“It’s all in the past Derek and I would much rather it stayed that way.”

“I didn’t know what to say back then, what could I say?”

“Clearly you don’t know when to drop something. I came on to you and you rejected me, okay? Can we leave it at that?” Stiles snapped.

“That’s not what happened and you know it.” Stiles looked away from him and shook his head.

“Yeah well it sounds better than the truth.”

Derek sighed, his guilt had been eating him up all these years and all he had really wanted was to tell Stiles how big a mistake he made.

“I know I led you on.” He said.

Stiles turned completely away, not wanting to hear his play by play.

“I made you feel like I wanted you too and then-”

“And then you told me to grow up. So I did.”

Derek thought back to that night and wished he hadn’t made such a big mistake.

It was his graduation night and Derek had come to one of the after parties to see him. The two of them had been getting pretty close in the months leading up to it. If Stiles had a problem he would go to Derek first to talk about it, even before Scott. Derek was the one to help him get fit for lacrosse and managed to get him in shape to play in the team for senior year, he came to every game. And when they would crash at Derek’s place they would share a bed, sometimes getting cosy with one another when it was cold.

Stiles couldn’t help but fall for him, wouldn’t anyone? So he led Derek away from the group and into a quiet bedroom where he turned out the lights and kissed him. Not just a friendly peck on the cheek but a full frontal assault that resulted in the colliding of tongues and the crushing of their chests into one another.

It wasn’t just one sided, Derek’s hands had been clawing at him mercilessly like they needed him just as much and he had definitely wanted him the same. The kiss had finally made him realise it but he wouldn’t admit it, wouldn’t say that this was what he had been thinking of for weeks. How could he? Stiles was a teenager and Derek had a girlfriend, Kate. He couldn’t just do this to her.

So he shoved Stiles back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He asked him what the hell he was doing and Stiles just sort of shook his head with disbelief at the sharp edge to his voice.

“I care about you Derek… a lot actually…”

“Well stop it. You’re just a kid, you don’t know anything and you’re not old enough to know how to feel so why don’t you just grow up?”

“I thought…”

“What? That I could feel the same? I have a girlfriend Stiles, and that’s not going to change because you just announced that you have feelings for me. Just grow up Stiles.” He said as he pushed past him and out the door, knowing that it would be better that way.

“I shouldn’t have said those things to you.” He said softly.

Stiles scoffed and folded his arms as he leant against the fridge. “Well clearly you did. If you were sorry you had three years to call and apologise but I never heard another word.”

“I wanted to call you, I just thought that-”

“That what Derek?” Stiles asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I wouldn’t have been good for you.” He said.

Stiles shook his head. “Yeah, because that’s what I cared about, at seventeen I just knew that I fucking loved you not whether or not is was all going to work out.”

Derek’s eyes shot up. “You loved me?” He asked.

“Yeah, loved, past tense Derek.” Stiles turned away and didn’t see him walk towards him.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, I’ve wanted to say that since I walked out.” He said, standing close enough for Stiles to feel his presence.

“I don’t want to hear your apologies now Derek.” He said softly.

“I was just… I was scared of what I was feeling.” Stiles sucked in his bottom lip and tried to pretend that his heart wasn’t pounding like crazy in his chest. “It wasn’t until you left that I realised that… well you were gone and it felt like-”

“Derek…” Stiles pleaded.

“Stiles, I-”

“I’m going back to college in a few days.” He said.

He felt Derek’s hand graze his cheek and he looked up at him, his body pulsating at the touch that he had longed for. He closed his eyes tightly and knew that he shouldn’t be standing there, he had tried so hard to put Derek out of his mind but when he felt their lips brush together he couldn’t force himself to pull away.

He reached out to put his palm on Derek’s chest pushing him back and drawing him closer at the same time. Derek’s hands cupped his face and held him tightly as he let this moment overtake him the way it should have that night three years ago.

Their lips parted and Stiles slipped his tongue behind his teeth, letting it dance with Derek’s as he was pressed back against the fridge. He had dreamt of this moment since the first time he had realised his feelings for Derek. All he ever wanted was for him to take him in his arms and kiss him like he meant it.

And he meant it. His hands dropped from his face to his waist and pulled him in closer, blind to their surroundings and focussed only on apologising to Stiles in the best way he could think of, to make up for the lost time.

He pulled his lips away and leant his forehead against Stiles’. “Well I love you,” He whispered, “present tense, and you’ve been driving me crazy for three years.”

“Well whose fault is that?” Stiles gave a small smile, breathing in Derek’s musky scent and hearing little more than his words and his heart beat in his ears.

“You’re still going to drive me crazy aren’t you?”

“If you’ll let me this time, then yeah.” Stiles said.

“I’m not making that mistake again, I’ll let you do anything.” He said.

Stiles smiled. “This is most definitely not what I expected from Beacon Hills.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” He said as he leant back in for another kiss that he didn’t intend on stopping.