thinminthale:

Okay but but but I am CRAAAAVING some mountain man!Derek who returns to his family’s land with a small cottage that he shared with his giant family in a small, small village up in the forest filled mountains of a small country, where everything is a little old fashioned, where everything is simple and relaxed and safe, where he takes Erica, Isaac, Boyd and Jackson mushroom picking in the forest, showing them the territory they will inherit one day and teaching them about all the things they can use from nature, giving them so many foundations for their futures, giving them all the wealth that he has, all the knowledge and all the love and comfort of family, all the childhood experiences they never had, like apple picking and sword fighting with self made wooden sticks, and riding horses, rebuilding the house and their own rooms even though they mostly just share the living room anyway. They have apple trees and peach trees and plum trees, they have wild strawberries and raspberries and grapes and watermelons. They trade their mushrooms and animals they learn to hunt with milk and cheese from the neighbors, but they have their own chickens, who worship Isaac as their king. They get a foal that they raise on their own and who Erica learns to ride without a saddle or reins, they are like one being. Boyd tends to their little herb garden and learns to make the best home cooked meals from all home grown and self picked products. Jackson learns to love the mini tractor and tending to the fields and spending some time in the sun, working hard picking corn. Not only do they get to relax and just LIVE but they get to be kids again, learning with wide eyed fascination, running freely through the mountains, dressing in comfy t-shirts and old shorts and worn out sneakers and boots, dirt under their fingernails, and no one cares about who’s popular and who has what or how much money. They have a working bathroom but they always go get fresh water from one of the many springs around. They are a loving, healthy family, bound tight with nature.

And one day they stumble upon a newbie lost in the forest, who has bitten down nails, fancy sneakers, khaki pants and way too many layers of shirts, who picked all the wrong mushrooms, totally ran through like 10 different spiderwebs, tripped once or twice, stepped in the water from the springs, and is a total mess. He came to check out his heritage but he knows nothing about this life. He’s trying but Derek sees him accidentally poisoning himself or falling down the mountainside or getting kicked by the horse and he totally thinks Stiles should leave. The next few days Stiles proves that he can read a shit ton but Derek still knows much better and he is not impressed until he sees Stiles is actually a quick learner and is really smart, and might just be serious about getting in touch with his past and nature. Additionally Stiles is really good with the rest of the pack. They take to him. So Derek starts taking him in and teaching him.

It’s summer and Cora and Laura work in a nearby town and swing by on the weekends, and sometimes even more distanced cousins come to stay with them, and the little village comes together as well, so there aren’t even enough chairs for everyone when they eat late lunch/early dinners together. There’s a lot of food to go around, and fresh, cold watermelon they can eat with the juice dripping down their chins, and everyone joins in on playing ball afterward. Then as night falls they light a fire and play some music and life is good.

It’s late at night when most everyone has dispersed and the pack has started falling asleep that Stiles with his red hoodie hanging around his shoulders scoots closer to Derek with pink blooming cheeks, and the fire reflecting in his face, making his eyes glow golden and Derek can’t look at him for too long without getting lost and feeling like the newborn colt he had taken Stiles for I’m the beginning. So he stares out toward the moonlit valley and the dark peaks behind it, lets the warmth of Stiles’ thigh against his flood through his very soul. He’s tongue tied but Stiles talks, like always, and it soothes something in him. Stiles ends up confessing how much good the summer had done him. He talks about his mother and his panic attacks, and his ADHD, and the medications, and how much he struggled with life and how much easier and lighter he felt there, and he thanks Derek for taking him in and helping him, even going so far as accepting him in his house. Derek doesn’t want to interrupt him but he also wants him to stop thanking him because Stiles brought so much with him in return, for the pack, for him, he fit right in. Derek starts telling him about his past and how much this place meant to him, how it combined the past and a fresh start, he talks about how happy his parents would be to know there was someone to carry on the traditions, he talks so openheartedly like he hadn’t for years, and somewhere in the back Laura smiles softly to herself, reminding herself to give Stiles an extra tight hug tomorrow.

Derek catches himself at some point and huffs quietly.

“You’re really something,” he tells Stiles.

“Something good, I hope,” Stiles says and there is a nervous tone to his voice.

“Something good,” Derek confirms, risking a look over to him. It’s his undoing. He gets lost in those deep, heartfelt brown eyes, follows the moles down to the soft pink lips, that hang open. His gaze darts back up to Stiles’ eyes when he realizes Stiles is leaning in, and the blush spreads but Stiles stares back, hopeful.

Derek meets him in the middle.