“I got a little bit of sleep, but mostly I was too excited for you to be home,” Derek admitted, voice a little weaker than usual as he kept his eyes locked on the little box. He was prepared to talk as much as he needed to, as long as it would take for Stiles to notice to box. In fact, he opened his mouth to answer his next question, about to go grab his food from the kitchen, when the fork fell and clattered against the tray and the syrup jar was knocked over in the quest for the ring box, which Stiles had his hands on now.
Doing a little damage control, Derek slid the tray safely away in an attempt the salvage the food in his boyfriend’s excitement. He watched as Stiles looked at the ring and tried to form words, but really it was just a few noises and hand gestures that made Derek laugh, scooting closer as he took the box gently from Stiles’s hands.
“You’re my favorite person in the world. And I want to make you breakfast every morning, and kiss your drool-covered mouth to wake you up, and listen to you tell me stories,” Derek started to say, fidgeting with the ring and taking it out of the box. “You’ve really turned my life around for the better. And I can’t imagine living life without you by my side to help steady me. To keep me calm when I need it, and to help me loosen up when I’m too serious. I need that – I need you, okay?”
God, he felt like he was rambling, but everything had been built up so much in their time apart that Derek didn’t want to leave anyone out, “I want to be the reason that you smile every day, just like you are for me. I want to be that for you forever.” He offered the ring out to Stiles with one hand, the anticipation at full blast now, “Will you marry me?” he added on, hands actually shaking a little now, licking his lips and watching Stiles.
*******************
And there Derek was again, perfectly saving his pancakes from complete and utter annihilation in Stiles’ excitement, laughing at his awkwardness and just generally being a beautiful person. It made his heart swell with everything. Joy, excitement, anxiety, exhilaration.
When Derek took the box, his fingers were shaking and Stiles had to look down and count each one, flexing them in turn, then turning to his boyfriend with wide eyes as he spoke. Stiles wasn’t a big crier, he was usually the type of person that was shocked into silence, or who immediately got distracted by planning something for revenge. Even in happy movies, he just grinned and chuckled at everyone else who had tears down their faces. But it would be a blatant lie if he claimed that there weren’t tears beading down his eyes that slid down his cheeks when he grinned so hard that his eyes almost closed.
Flinging himself at Derek, Stiles took the ring and pushed it onto his finger, clambering into his boyfriend – no, fiance’s – lap and kissing him silly. “Yes. Oh my god, Derek. You didn’t even need to ask. God, I love you so much and I had already asked – oh my god, were you in on this with my dad? Is that why he was so against me proposing to you for Christmas? Because, if not, we’re going to have a problem, but given that you have a good head on your shoulders…” he trailed off, shaking his head with a smile that hurt his cheeks as he held up his hand in front of Derek’s face.
“Look!” Stiles chirped, rolling around in Derek’s lap so that his back was against his boyfriend’s chest and his hand was outstretched in front of the both of them. He tilted his head back and rested it on Derek’s shoulder, “I think it’s the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and you’re the first. But you could have proposed to me with a ringpop and I wouldn’t have cared, because I want to drool on your shoulder, and make you watch awful comedy movies with me, and have you console me when I mess up cooking rice – and I want that, and a cat, and a vegetable garden, all with you. Forever.”
theproblemwithstardust 