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Stiles thought back to the dinner he had just had; it had started out bad and gotten complicated somewhere in the middle, but at least it ended on a good note.
Once Stiles had put the last clean dish away he turned to face his father, who was leaning against the counter and staring at Stiles expectantly.
“So... you're dating an exonerated murderer.” He scratched behind his ear and looked at Stiles awkwardly.
Stiles sighed exasperatedly. “Dad, can you stop bringing that up? He had nothing to do with it, that's what 'exonerated' means.”
They both sat there for a long time, shifting on their feet awkwardly, neither of them saying anything. But then Stiles spoke up hesitantly, choosing his words carefully.
“You know, dad...” Stiles breathed sharply out of his nose and paused for a second before continuing,” I, uh, I love h-him.” Stiles quickly looked up at the ceiling, so as to not meet the Sheriff's eyes, scared of how he would react.
It was the Sheriff's turn to sigh as he brought up his hands to rub his eyes.
“Wow, Stiles. Normal people would've built up to a statement like that, but not you, you just jumped right in, huh?”
“Well, that's kind of the point, dad. There's nothing else to say except 'I love him'. It's as simple as that.”
The Sheriff shook his head a bit as he said, “Nothing is ever simple with you Stiles.”
Stiles didn't hesitate this time. “Derek is.”
Stiles stated it simply, believing his own words with every fiber of his being. Despite the fact that his boyfriend was a werewolf, despite the fact he was an orphan, despite his complicated history, he was simple.
“He... he keeps me grounded and slows me down, he makes me enjoy things more deeply.” Stiles looked down at the floor and sighed deeply, not expecting his dad to understand.
The Sheriff took a step towards Stiles and turned his back to him before leaning up against the sink, positioning himself next to Stiles.
Turning to face Stiles he said quietly, “I know what you mean.” He looked away from Stiles nervously, and then brought up the one subject that could make this discussion just as stressful for him as it already was for Stiles. “It sounds exactly like how I felt when I first met your mom.”
Stiles looked up from the floor to stare at his dad. This was not what he expected.
Turning his head back to face Stiles, the Sheriff said, “Stiles, I want you to promise me something.”
A promise?
“Promise me that he loves you too.”
Stiles eyebrow went up for a second, but then he realized his father's concern. He just wanted to make sure Stiles was being treated well, it made sense.
Stiles only allowed himself to hesitate for a second before saying, “I promise. He loves me too.”
The concern on John's face disappeared to make way for a smile, contagiously causing Stiles to smile too.
“Good.”
As Stiles traveled up the stairs and walked over to his room he thought about what had just happened.
Heh, he accepted it, that's not what I expected, at least not so soon.
The door to his bedroom opened just as he came to a stop in front of it, seemingly on its own, but Stiles knew better. After all, if Derek hadn't been waiting in his room to talk about the dinner, Stiles would've had to punish him.
“So? How did it go?”
Stiles didn't answer until he had shuffled over to his bed to sit down.
Without even looking at Derek, he said quietly, “Great. Better than I expected.”
Derek sat down to join him. As he kissed Stiles softly on the temple he whispered, “Good.”
Finally turning to meet Derek's eyes, Stiles grinned widely. “There's just one condition.” Stiles looked at Derek mischievously. “Well, it's more of a promise. One that mustn't be broken.”
“A promise? What are you talking about?”
Stiles rested his head on Derek's shoulder before saying, “Fret not, m'dear; this promise couldn't possibly be broken, we have nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so. Well anyway, I'm glad he accepted our relationship. It makes my life a lot easier to not have to hide the fact that I love the Sheriff's son.”
Stiles hid the smile forming on his lips as he said, “See? I told you we have nothing to worry about.”
Stiles ignored the confusion on his sourwolf's face as he pressed his lips against the closest piece of exposed skin he could find.
End