Chapter Text
Stiles remembers sleep, remembers it well. Stiles and sleep are totally buds…or at least they used to be. Ever since everything with the nogitsune went down, sleeping just hasn’t been the same.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to sleep; Stiles is definitely ready for his sleep cycles to get back to normal. It’s just that every night when he lays down in bed, everything just feels off. Not even having his special pillow helps. Stiles remembers what drifting off to a good night’s sleep used to feel like, when every time he exhaled he felt like he was sinking deeper into the cocoon of his soft mattress and fluffy blankets. Now though, he feels like he’s floating just above the bed, unable to relax. His mattress feels stiff, his blankets feel scratchy, and his pillow—his beloved perfect pillow—feels lumpy and awkward beneath his head.
Stiles rolls over one more time, trying to get comfortable, before sighing and giving up.
“I can’t sleep,” he says aloud, to his ceiling. “At this point I’m considering climbing up on the roof to watch the sunrise. It would probably be more productive.”
The window slides open across the room, and Derek slides in. “How did you know I was up there?”
“Lucky guess,” Stiles says with a smirk that he’s sure Derek can see, even though it’s dark in Stiles’s room. Back when all of this started, Stiles had found Derek’s more stalker-ish tendencies profoundly creepy and more than a little invasive. Now though, when they’ve all lost so many friends, no one in the pack would begrudge Derek wanting to keep an eye on everyone and make sure that they were safe.
“You look exhausted,” Derek comments, with his usual lack of tact.
“Thanks for noticing,” Stiles says rolling his eyes. “You’re not looking too well-rested yourself, you know. When was the last time you got a full night of sleep?”
Derek shifts uncomfortably next to the window “I’ve been out a lot at night, making sure everything’s still calm out there,” Derek says, and then he’s quiet for a long moment. “And now I have, I guess, so I should go back to the loft and try to catch up that beauty sleep you keep insisting I need.”
“Or, you could not run all the way back across town and just crash here,” Stiles offers. “That option has the added bonus of you being able to make sure that nothing scarier than you crawls though my window tonight.”
“You sure?” Derek asks, glancing towards the door of. “Your Dad—”
“Doesn’t think you’re a murderer anymore and has actually asked for your help on multiple occasions. Come on, there’s no need to run yourself even more ragged.”
Derek grumbles something unintelligible under his breath, but moves towards the bed anyway.
Instead of asking Stiles to move over and getting in on the outside edge of the bed, like a normal person would, Derek climbs over Stiles and puts his back to the wall so that he has both Stiles and the window in his line of sight at the same time. Ever the guard dog, dude. Stiles barely resists the urge to say it out loud.
It’s awkward for a few moments, but then Derek settles in, and Stiles can feel Derek’s slow, steady breaths on the back of his neck. Somehow, despite the fact that there is a large grumpy werewolf in his bed, it’s a calming presence, and finally, finally, Stiles drifts off to sleep.
***
Stiles is woken up the next morning by another werewolf climbing through his bedroom window. This time, it’s Scott.
Stiles looks behind him, and then glances around the rest of the room, but Derek is nowhere to be seen.
“Looking for Derek?” Scott asks.
“Huh? Wha?” Stiles asks in return, still just barely awake.
“Your room reeks of him, dude. Did he stay here all night?”
“I don’t know,” Stiles says. “I don’t know when he left. He was lurking on the roof so I invited him in, but I don’t know how long he stayed. For all I know he bolted as soon as I fell asleep.”
“Well you actually fell asleep for once, so that’s something,” Scott says.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” Stiles concedes. “So what did you want? Some icky new danger afoot already?”
“Icky? No dude, we have that Chem project to work on. Did you forget?”
“No, I didn’t forget, I just didn’t think a Chem project warranted a window entrance. Why didn’t you just use the door?”
Scott just shrugs. “Window seemed easier, I guess.”
“Of course it did. Come on, let’s go see if there’s any coffee left downstairs, then we can attempt to work on Chemistry.”
***
They do manage to make some progress on their project in between video games. But before they know it, Scott has to leave to go home for dinner with his mom and Isaac. Stiles has dinner with his dad, plays some more video games, and suddenly Stiles is right back in the same place, staring at his ceiling, and wishing he could fall asleep.
Stiles hears his phone ring from beside his bed. When he looks at the screen, he’s not surprised to see that it’s Derek; most of his other friends would just text, and his Dad wouldn’t be calling when he’s right downstairs. He is surprised, though, at his ringtone. He usually keeps it on vibrate, and even if the volume did accidentally get turned on he would expect to hear the default tone, but instead he hears it playing the heavy beat of a familiar song.
There’s this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow…
Stiles answers the call before the song can get any further, nearly knocking over the glass of water sitting next to it. “Hello?”
“Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’m on my way to you,” Derek says.
“Something up or are you just making your rounds?” Stiles asks, hoping there’s nothing big to worry about.
“Just making my rounds, figured I’d let you know in case you were talking to your empty roof again.”
“Very funny, how far out are you?” Stiles crosses the room to open the window for Derek and almost gets kicked in the face as Derek swings into the room. “I guess you’re pretty close, then,” Stiles says into his phone and then ends the call.
“Arctic Monkeys?” Derek asks with a raised eyebrow.
“You heard that? Scott was over earlier, he must have changed it.”
“And you didn’t even notice he’d taken it?”
“Yeah, he’s getting good at being sneaky. We’re lucky he’s one of the good guys,” Stiles says. “I’m surprised you even recognized the song.”
“Isaac listened to AM a lot when it first came out,” Derek explains. “It’s better than some of the other music he listens to.”
Stiles smiles, knowing that he’s thinking back to when half the pack had decided that a Lorde song should be the pack’s theme song.
“Yeah, it’s a good album,” Stiles agrees. “I’m just not sure why Scott made it my ringtone. His idea of a dumb joke, I guess.”
“Well, it’s a fitting song for you,” Derek smirks. It looks suspiciously like his I’m about to make a joke at Stiles’s expense smirk. “Too busy being yours to fall for somebody new, that’s the story of you and Lydia to a T.”
“Yeah, I guess it does,” Stiles says with a nervous laugh. The only problem with that theory is that Scott didn’t set it as his Lydia ringtone. He looks down at his phone and goes to the sound settings to check if his suspicions are correct. It’s not his general ringtone, it’s a personalized ringtone, just for Derek. Well, shit.
“So how is it out there? Still all quiet?” Stiles asks, trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, everyone’s safe for now.”
“Good. So…did you end up getting any sleep last night? You were gone by the time I woke up,” Stiles tries not to sound too disappointed.
“You don’t have to worry about me so much,” Derek says, as he goes over to Stiles’s bed, takes off his shoes, and lays down. Apparently he’s staying again. Was sorta hoping that you’d stay. “Maybe I just sleep better once I know that everyone’s alright.”
“So does that mean that you did sleep last night?” Stiles asks stubbornly as he gets back into bed next to Derek.
“Yes, I did. And don’t think I didn’t notice that you feel asleep, too.”
“Maybe I just sleep better once I know that everyone is safe,” Stiles throws back at him as he closes his eyes, hoping that Derek will still be there in the morning.