“you have to be very careful with your omega,” a voice says behind derek.
he turns sharply. catches his breath, and breathes.
“didn’t i tell you to stop doing that?” he says.
peter looks at him innocently.
“alpha,” he says. “what do you think that means?”
“it means stop sneaking up on me,” derek says, and tries to just keep walking home without listening anymore, but peter says, “it means that if you’re not exceedingly careful, the culmination of even the most well-meaning courtship can leave a trusting omega irreparably traumatized.”
“so i’ll be careful,” derek says, and peter says, “of course, even the most delicate approach will be painful for your poor omega.”
“no it won’t,” derek says. “i’ll—obviously i’ll be careful, the first time. very careful.”
it feels wrong even talking about stiles like this. even thinking of him like that. your poor omega.
peter’s obviously never met an omega like stiles. which is probably for the best, the way he’s talking about it.
derek’s never gonna be that kind of alpha. unless someone like that comes near stiles, maybe.
but only to protect him from it.
it takes peter a million years to finally say what about alphas is actually so much more dangerous for omegas. and by then, derek’s half-sure peter just means that alphas have stronger hormones. which everyone knows, and which you learn to rein in in like the first year of puberty if you’re not a complete dick, so hopefully it’s obvious that derek doesn’t need an extra warning.
but then peter’s like, “i’m talking about knotting.”
and that’s something that derek’s never even thought about before.
“that’s real?” he says, and peter’s immediately too pleased with himself. “i mean, nice try. i know that’s not real.”
“oh, but it is,” peter says. “though there are half a dozen terms for it. the lover’s lock is my favorite, personally.”
“you’re fucking with me,” derek says, and peter says, “i’m warning you.”
but… that can’t just be normal. just because derek’s an alpha, he’s not just gonna, automatically…
“do omegas know?” derek says, and them, “how do i stop it? or control it, or whatever it is. how do i make it not a bad thing?”
if stiles, if he was with stiles? if everything went right, somehow, leading up to it, if stiles liked him, and trusted him, and then, suddenly—
“so you see why i felt the need to warn you,” peter says, and derek nods, and nods.
but there has to be a way to stop it. there has to be.
to—concentrate on something else, until it becomes a muscle he can relax when it happens. or to—take care of it, himself, ahead of time, so when he’s with stiles, he can just be normal.
but if it really is that dangerous? maybe alphas shouldn’t date omegas at all.
if the risk’s that high? maybe it’s just not worth it.
but there’s no good way to explain it. why he’s suddenly pulling back, when stiles is kissing him, why derek keeps slowing them down.
“whoa,” stiles says, like there’s already some sign of it on derek’s face. “wait, wait. derek, hey. what just happened?”
“what?” derek says, and then, “it’s nothing.”
“yeah, i always break away mid-makeout when it’s nothing,” stiles jokes, but derek doesn’t laugh, and stiles’ eyes widen. “no, seriously. do you wanna, like, stop?”
no. but maybe that’s why the answer should be an unequivocal yes.
or, what do you think about knotting? because i’m starting to think i shouldn’t trust myself.
but that feels way too forward.
so really, there’s no good answer.
“break time,” stiles decides, and derek nods. “chill time, bro time.”
that, derek’s less sure about. but stiles puts an arm around him, and kind of slumps in against derek’s shirt.
it can’t just be normal. but even if it is, derek’s not gonna be one more asshole alpha.
whatever it takes to keep things safe, he’ll do it. and if there’s really no way around it? then they just won’t.
nothing’s worth stiles being traumatized.
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