mlmsrogers:

*clutches heart* Oh god, okay. Imagine this, my friend

The first time it happens, it’s after a night of research and both of them fell asleep somewhere along the way. It’s the small, barely audible whimpers and the moving around that wakes Stiles up. He sits up on the couch and looks over at where Derek fell asleep on the bed. Where Derek is shifting around and whimpering quietly, obviously having a nightmare

Stiles doesn’t even think when he stands up and walks over, and he does what his mom used to do to him when he was having bad dreams as a kid. He carefully lays down behind Derek, wraps an arm around his middle in a comforting and protective hold, and he combs his fingers through Derek’s surprisingly soft hair with his one hand and holding Derek’s with his other, hushing him softly

Derek doesn’t really calm down, so Stiles starts whispering things to him, things like “you’re okay” and “I got you” and “Not going anywhere, Derek, I promise,” and that seems to work so he continues and eventually Derek calms down. Stiles stays put for at least half an hour before he carefully leaves the bed and goes back to the couch for more sleep. Because it would be awkward if Derek woke up and Stiles was spooning him. Right?

When Stiles wakes up the next morning, he’s practically upside down on the couch, the blanket he used barely on him, and there’s a plate of breakfast on the table in front of him. Derek is sitting a bit from him, back at the research and with an empty plate of breakfast of his own by his side

After a few more nights like that over a few weeks, there’s suddenly a lot more research to do even though evil in Beacon Hills has become a rarity (because maybe Derek realized that he sleeps better after spending the day with Stiles, and research is the only excuse he can come up with) and Stiles ends up practically living at the loft, helping Derek through nightmares at night

And then one night Derek wakes up in the middle of a particularly bad nightmare to find Stiles running his fingers through his hair, spooning him, but he’s way too freaked out to care about that and just rolls over, buries his face in Stiles’ neck and breathes in. Because Stiles smells like safety and comfort, smells like home

When his heartbeat isn’t loud in his ears and he’s calmed down though, he pulls back and looks at Stiles. Just looks at him. And Stiles, embarrassed and panicked, pulls his hands back, laughs nervously, and says “Ahhah um, you were having a nightmare. I was just- I was just comforting you.” And Derek just continues to stare at him, surprised because no one has comforted him like Stiles has since his mom

Stiles takes Derek’s silence as anger, so he nods and moves to get away, removing his hands from Derek’s hair and hand. “I’ll just, uh, leave you alone,” he says but Derek grabs him and tells him to stay. So they cuddle and it’s awkward at first, Stiles’ heart pounding hard in his chest, but after Derek whispers “Thank you” just before falling asleep again, this time on Stiles’ chest, Stiles calms down a little and lets himself fall asleep too, arms around Derek

Derek stops using the research excuse and just straight up asks Stiles if he wants to come and stay the night. Stiles, of course, says yes every time because he’s all for cuddling with Derek. And maybe after a few times of nightly cuddles, Derek rolls over one night and kisses Stiles, Stiles kissing back immediately

And comforting cuddles turn to naked cuddling/spooning with the occasional inappropriate touches, and neither of them have ever slept better than when they’re in each other’s arms