A Little Too Much Stiles?

Chapter 18

So, maybe Stiles forgot the part where small spaces aren't always great, but in hindsight, he figured Derek would have followed him into the washroom and let him get him all nice and clean. That's on Stiles for thinking he could do this without a struggle or a little more coaxing. Because Derek keeps staring at him intently like he's going to pull a knife on him or something. Stiles is a little concerned, but he has to clean Derek up.

"Come on Derek, you just gotta get into the tub and then I'll get you all clean." Stiles tries and sure enough, Derek doesn't budge. Stiles sighs, maybe if he goes in first Derek will follow him, it's worth a shot.

Stiles steps into the tub and Derek tilts his head but moves closer to him. Stiles reaches out a hand and waits, Derek stares at it before touching it gently in his. Stiles moves further back into the tub and tugs at Derek's hand, trying to ease him into the tub, gently but also firmly. Derek comes willingly enough, although Stiles isn't sure how well the water bit is going to go over.

Stiles just stands there with Derek for a bit, trying to let him get used to the small space. He's not too sure if Derek will react kindly to water being poured over his head, then again who would? Maybe he should talk him through the process. That sounds like a good plan. It might help him relax, but also let him know what's going on, so he's not in the dark.

"Okay, I'm going to turn the water on now. It's not going to hurt you, okay." Stiles turns the tub on first to make sure it doesn't come out too cold or hot, Derek doesn't react to it, so Stiles thinks he must not mind it much. But it's also not touching him yet.

He reaches his hand out for Derek's and once it's given to him pulls it under the water. It's better to be sure he won't have a bad reaction to the water first, they're in too small of a space for Derek to freak out. Stiles doesn't want him to hurt himself. Derek, at first, tries to pull his hand away looking a bit startled, but he seems to realize that Stiles' hand is also under the water and he's calm about it. Stiles keeps his hand there a little longer and then turns the shower head on.

Derek jerks his head back a little and tries to pull Stiles with him to the other side of the tub, Stiles laughs and Derek pauses.

"It's just water, we're fine," Stiles pulls him closer to the water and grins. "You need a bath stinky wolf." Derek shows a hint of teeth at him and Stiles chuckles.

"Alright, I'm gonna move you more under the water alright?" Stiles says and then slowly pulls Derek more towards himself and into the water's spray. Derek's nose wrinkles a little like he's about to sneeze, but he doesn't move away from the water.

"Alright, see. All good, the water won't hurt you." Stiles smiles and Derek huffs. "I'm gonna put some soap on you now, alright?" Stiles explains and Derek's nose wrinkles when Stiles' hand comes closer with the soap on it.

Soap probably smells funny to his sensitive nose, Stiles thinks and wonders if werewolves use scentless soaps, or if it's a preference. They could always find something that they like the smell of, Stiles is pulled out of his musings when Derek pushes closer to him.

"Sorry, I got a little lost in thought there," Stiles smiles sheepishly. "I'm just gonna wash the blood off with this soap okay?" Derek huffs but doesn't move away or seem uncomfortable. So Stiles begins to rub the soap into Derek's body, feeling weird as hell the whole time.

Stiles spies little bits of drying blood in Derek's hair and almost wants the throttle him again. Stiles isn't sure what made Derek go galavanting out to hunt deer, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to know.

"Okay big guy, you're gonna have to help me out here. You're way taller than me, but I need to wash your hair, do you think you can bend down a little so I can reach?" Derek tilts his head at Stiles and Stiles frowns before carefully showing Derek a crouching motion.

Derek allows Stiles to wash his hair once he's more to Stiles' level. The rest of the process goes very smoothly and Stiles finds out that Derek loves head rubs which are both funny and adorable at the same time.

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Once they're both clean and in dry clothes, Stiles settles onto the couch and Derek curls into his side with his nose pressed to Stiles' neck. Stiles thinks this might have been caused by leaving him so long, maybe a part of Derek thought Stiles wasn't going to come back for him.

Maybe Stiles and Peter should have been smarter about this, although Stiles didn't think Derek would be this attached to him. Although he's an idiot for not seeing the signs when he was leaving Peter's place. It will be better for everyone if they start with small amounts of time away from each other.

Stiles figures he better keeps Peter in the loop and shoots him a text, letting him know what happened. Derek is snoring softly against Stiles' side and Stiles sighs, he won't be moving anytime soon. Hopefully, Derek will get better little by little and the continued exposure away from Stiles won't harm him, or cause him to go more feral.

Stiles doesn't know how to handle this, not really. He thinks Peter should be able to handle this way better than him. But Derek attached to Stiles for some reason became so attached that he has separation anxiety, at least that's what it looks like. Stiles will probably have to do more research on this to figure out the best solution and to make sure that is in fact what Derek is experiencing.

Stiles sighs, they're in for a long ride. Hopefully, Derek doesn't completely hate Stiles after this and they were becoming much closer too. Stiles hopes everything turns out okay and that the separation anxiety doesn't continue when his wolf is no longer in control of his actions.

"Alright Derek, let's head to bed." Stiles mumbles, and Derek follows without a sound. It's a little concerning honestly. Stiles is used to the little sounds Derek would make throughout the day.

Hopefully, everything will be okay.