Derek celebrates Hanukkah with Stiles.

Derek stood outside the Stilinski residence, fidgeting nervously. He had been standing here for the past 5 minutes but he couldn’t get his feet to move forward. He knew he was being ridiculous, he had been here a hundred times before. But this was special - this was celebrating the holidays with his boyfriend and his father. The relationship was still relatively knew. Derek had never celebrated Hanukkah with anyone before.. and..and..

And Derek hasn’t spent the holidays with family in a really long time, okay? He’s hoping he doesn’t forget how to act in front of parents… not that he hasn’t met the Sheriff before. Hell, the three of them had lunch together last weekend. The Sheriff had given his threatening ‘hurt my son and I use wolfsbane bullets on you’ speach weeks ago, they were past that. Stiles and Derek’s relationship was accepted and had the man’s blessings. Everything would be fine, he just needed to calm down.

Stiles opened the door to peek out at him before he had the chance to knock.

“What are you doing?” Stiles asked, looking at Derek and then looking behind Derek like there would be something else there keeping Derek outside.

“I-um, nothing. Nothing, just got here,” Derek said, smiling at his boyfriend and stepping into the house behind him. “I uh, got you two presents. That’s a thing you do, right? Hanukkah presents?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, but he somehow made it look fond. “Yes, Derek, we do presents. It’s just spread out over 8 days instead of one morning. And we have a candle instead of a tree.”

Derek nodded seriously, “right, and you eat latkes instead of turkeys, and you play with dreidels.”

Stiles laughed, “look at you, have you been researching again?”

Derek felt his face warm, “maybe.”

“You know I never thought I would use the word cute to describe you, but you seem to be getting more adorable everyday.” Stiles said, wrapping his arms around Derek’s shoulders and leaning in for a kiss. Derek kissed him back softly, keeping the kiss light. He loved the feel of Stiles lips, the warmth of his arms. Every day he got to spend with Stiles felt like a Christ-uh, a Hanukkah miracle.

He pulled away when he heard the Sheriff start walking into the room.

“Sheriff,” Derek said, shaking the older man’s hand.

“Derek, glad you could join us. Come to the kitchen, dinner is almost ready.”

“Thank you for inviting me.” Derek said as he followed the two to the kitchen, “I brought you some wine.” He put the bottle on the table, grimacing at the bow around the label. That looked really Christmasy, did you wrap Hanukkah presents?

“Thank you Derek, that’s very thoughtful. We usually do presents after dinner, after we light the next candle, so that’s when you’ll be getting yours from me.”

“Oh, Oh- you didn’t- I mean, I wasn’t expecting anything-I-”

“Alright big guy,” Stiles interrupted his stammering, which he appreciated, “how about you have a seat. Dad, pour the wine, and I’ll start setting out the food!”

“Oh, did you want-? I could help with-”

“Nope, you sit down,” Stiles pushed on his shoulders until he sat on one of the chairs around the table. Derek looked around, noticing that the table was set with nice plates instead of the usual chipped ones he usually saw being used at the Stilinski's. Underneath the plates were placemats designed with silver swirls, and there were already lit candles on the table. Derek smiled, he could practically picture Stiles setting this all up.

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He glanced behind him, intending to compliment Stiles on his decorating, but paused when he saw Stiles and his father signing at each other furiously. Derek had been trying to learn sign for a little over a year now, but he could not keep up with anything they were saying. He thinks he spots the words nervous.. And be nice? They both look exasperated with each other though, so whatever it is can’t be good.

Stiles stilled his movements as soon as he saw Derek looking. “Dad, pour the wine.” He said, before turning to the counter and grabbing platters of food.

Soon the three of them are sitting around the table, plates filled with food and glasses full of wine. Although Stiles is only allowed one of those, since he is still technically underage.

They talk about Stiles’ university courses, and how he did on his last few exams. They talk about the Sheriff’s job at the station, and Derek’s job applications around town. It’s nice, and Derek can feel himself relaxing with the familiar flow of conversation. That is, until the Sheriff brings the topic back to Derek’s job hunt.

“You know, Derek, we’re always looking for new deputies. It doesn’t take long to go through training to become a cop, and you would have a job lined up for you right out of school. If you were interested.”

Both Derek and Stiles stilled, until Stiles leaned toward him and starting hitting his arm in excitement. “Oh my God, dude! That would be awesome! You would be a great deputy!”

Derek frowned at Stiles, pushing his hand away before turning back to the Sheriff, “I- thank you for the offer, sir. I’m not sure what to say.”

The Sheriff shrugged good naturally, “I don’t need an answer right now, son. Just think about it.”

“Yeah, of course.” Derek nodded. Stiles backed off, but Derek could tell from the gleam in his eyes that the subject would be brought up again tomorrow… and probably every day after that until he gave his answer.

They sat for a beat in silence before the Sheriff rose to his feet, grabbing a few of the dishes. Derek and Stiles stood as well.

“No no, Stiles did most of the cooking so I’ll clean up. You two go set up in the living room.”

“Thanks, Pops,” Stiles patted his father on the shoulder as he walked out, pulling Derek after him when he hesitated.

“Shouldn’t I offer to help clean?” Derek asked in a whisper, huffing when Stiles pulled him down onto the couch beside him.

“No, he’s fine.” Stiles said, waving a hand, “you need to calm down, dude. It’s just me and my dad, you see us all the time.”

“I know. I know, it’s only that I haven’t spent a holiday with anyone else in a while.”

“We had Chinese together last year,” Stiles said, nudging him gently.

“I know,” Derek smiled, reaching for Stiles hand and interlocking their fingers, “it was the best Christmas I had had in a long time.”

Stiles beamed at him before sobering his expression, “I get it though, it must be hard. I wish you could spend the holidays with your own family, not just the substitute.”

Derek frowned, “you’re pack. You are my family.”

Stiles blushed and glanced away, but he was also smiling so Derek counted it as a win. “Erica and Lydia have planned a whole pack Christmas this year for the 23rd. So no more lonely Christmases for you.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, but this is special to me too. Thank you for sharing your family time with me.”

Stiles squeezed his hand. “This is actually the first time it’s been more than the two of us since.. Since my mom. It’s special for me too.”

Derek squeezed back, and the two sat in their own thoughts for a minute. Remembering past holidays spent with their families.

Stiles being Stiles though, never sits still for long, and soon he was hoping off the couch, dragging Derek towards the living room window and the candle sitting on a table beside it.

“This is our menora. This is the last night of Hanukkah, so tonight they’ll all be lit up! I missed the first night, because stupid university doesn’t care about non-Christian holidays and forced me to take an exam that day, but the first and last are the most important… or at least they are to us, I don’t actually know what other Jewish people do.”

Derek laughed, watching the flames of all the candles in the menora dance. “It’s beautiful.”

The Sheriff walked out soon after that, and the three of them stood around and as Stiles lit the last candle. Stiles and his father said something as he lit it that Derek didn’t understand, but he was happy to stand and watch. He felt like he was being welcomed into their little home.

Afterwards Stiles dragged him back to the couch, and started throwing the presents around. Literally throwing, Derek actually had to catch one out of the air while the Sheriff yelled at his son to sit down.

Derek was surprised to receive a watch from Stiles’ father. A nice one with a leather band. Stiles gave him a picture of the two of them, set in a simple black frame. The picture was from the ‘staying at home’ party last summer, and Derek honestly didn’t remember it being taken. They looked happy together though, and Derek loved it.

Derek gave Stiles tickets to a Mets game. It was months away, and he didn’t actually have the physical tickets yet. He was worried that it was a bit presumptuous that they would still be able to go to a game together in a few months, but Stiles didn’t seem to notice that. By the way he was now jumping around the couch, Derek thinks the gift was a success. John looked amused by Stiles antics until Derek told him that there was a ticket for him too, and then suddenly both men were jumping around the couch.

Well.. Derek had always wondered where Stiles got his craziness from.

The night ended was coffee and pastries. Stiles told him stories of how his mother used to spend hours in the kitchen making pastries by hand, but neither of the Stilinski men had the patience for it. Derek told them his own stories, about how his parents used to spend hours in the kitchen cooking for the whole pack, at least 30 people and werewolves, and how they used to force Derek into helping every year.

It was bittersweet, but it was the first time Derek had talked about his holidays with his family. It felt right to share it with them.

After the Sheriff had gone up to bed, Derek and Stiles curled up on the couch together. They shared soft kisses and gentle caresses. Derek felt a warmth in his chest burning softly as he watched Stiles head rise and fall on his chest.

It wasn’t the same as Christmas with his family, but nothing would be the same like that again.

It wasn’t the same.. But it still felt perfect.