Stiles walks into the dining room where his dad has set up their takeout dinner. It's his first night back for the summer, and his dad made sure to order from Stiles' favorite Chinese joint downtown. Cartons and bags of sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, Lo Mein, egg rolls, and beef and broccoli cover the dining table. It may seem like a lot of food for just two guys, but it will get eaten. It always does when they sit down for their father son dinners. Those dinners may be few and far between these days with Stiles being away at George Washington University, but they manage to squeeze one in whenever Stiles is in town. All the food gives them an excuse to catch up on life.

"So, how's (Y/N)?" The sheriff asks his son as he takes a seat at the table.

"She's good. Said she'll be here in a week or two after she spends some time with her family," Stiles answers. He slides his phone in his pocket and takes the seat diagonal from his father. "She says hello."

"Good. I can't wait to see her again," Noah says with a smile. "I like her. She's a great girl. Keeps you in line," he finishes with a grin towards his son as he puts some Lo Mein on his plate.

Stiles laughs, "I know you do. Whenever I call, you always spend more time talking to her than me." He jokes before taking a sip of his soda.

"What can I say? I've known you for twenty-one now. She's more interesting to talk to," his father jokes back with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Gee, thanks, pops." They both laugh as they start their meal and enjoy the banter.

(Y/N) and Stiles met three and a half years ago in D.C. when he was in the middle of his FBI program and she was moving into the dorms at GW. He helped her with some boxes since her parents didn't make the drive up from New Orleans with her. From that point on, they bonded over majoring in criminal justice, their love of Star Wars and all things superheroes, and how they both lost someone close to them at a young age – he his mother and she her brother. A few months after getting settled into college life, he asked her out to pizza and to see The Amazing Spider-Man. They've been together ever since.

He didn't tell her about the supernatural side of his life back in Beacon Hills until a few months later when it got close to the anniversary of Allison's death and he was in a funk. She took it like a champ and was even fascinated by it all. She helped him get through the anniversary by reminding him that it wasn't his fault and encouraging him to talk to his friends about it. After everything they'd been through together, they needed to be there for each other on the tough days, too, she insisted. Now, after a handful of visits to Beacon Hills and friends and his father visiting him in D.C., she's essentially become an honorary pack member – family.

After three years together, he's starting to wonder if maybe he should make it more official. He knows without a doubt that he loves her and that she loves him. He just doesn't want to get it wrong. Though he only got to see nine years of his parents' marriage, he knew that's what he wanted. He wants the one. That's what his parents had. That's what his dad has held onto for so many years. Stiles wants that long-lasting love, but he's not sure how to know with certainty that (Y/N)'s the one.

"Hey, dad?" Stiles asks after swallowing a bite of sweet and sour.

Noah looks over at his son as he washes down his food with his soda, "yeah?"

"Mom was the one for you, right?" He asks a little timidly. They don't talk about his mom that much. It's a hard subject for them both.

His father clears his throat and sits up a little straighter, "the one?"

Stiles nods, "yeah. You know, the one," he emphasizes. "Your soulmate. Your true love. Your heart's desire, companion, better half... all that romantic jazz and stuff."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Noah answers with a chuckle at his son's choice of words before taking a bite of his egg roll. Stiles just nods as he chows down on his meal, avoiding his father's inquisitive stare. "What makes you ask?"

"Curiosity, I guess," Stiles answers with a mouthful and a shrug.

"Uh huh... no other reasons?"

"Like what?" Stiles asks, maneuvering his tongue as if trying to get food out of his teeth.

His father wipes his hands off on a napkin. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe a brunette who's about 5'4 with big green eyes. Or the relationship you've been in for three years. Any of that ring a bell?"

Stiles shakes his head as he takes a sip of his soda, but his dad isn't stupid. He stares at his son with raised eyebrows and his hands clasped in front of his plate, full interrogation mode. "Fine," Stiles relents with a sigh. "Maybe I'm not just curious."

"Uh huh...?"

"How did you know?" Stiles asks after releasing a deep breath, his russet eyes finally meeting his father's piercing blue ones. "That mom was the one for you?" He sees remnants of pain wash across his dad's face. Even after so many years, the heartache from his mom's death is still there. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No. I think it's good that you're asking." Noah answers honestly, causing Stiles to nod in appreciation. Noah sits back in his chair and relaxes a little, contemplating his answer. "I would give you the cliché answer of 'when you know, you just know', but that's not the case always. I don't think it's the answer you're looking for either," he finally says.

"So, you don't think it's bad that I don't know for sure?" Stiles asks, feeling a little vulnerable.

Noah shakes his head, "No. I mean, you seem to have a general idea of the possibility. So, I think you're off to a good start."

Stiles swallows hard as he nods, "you and mom were married almost straight out of college. So, pretty close to my age."

His father nods, "yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to. It was a different time back then."

"I know," Stiles says with a sigh. "Three years is a long time, though, and I feel like I should know by now. Don't you?" He starts fidgeting with the food on his plate. "I mean, what if she's already wondering? What if she knows that I'm the one for her and she's assuming that I know she's the one for me just because we're still together? I don't want her to have high hopes only for me to one day suddenly realize that she isn't the one and rip her heart to shreds. I'm not saying I'm going to jump and marry her anytime soon. I just feel like I should know..." He finishes his long-winded ramble with a deep sigh, not looking at his dad again.

Noah tries to contain his grin over his son's ramblings. As close as they are, they've never talked about this kind of thing. It's a proud dad moment when a son comes to his father for love advice. At least for him it is. But he has to contain his pride because he knows that as soon as Stiles catches wind of it, he'll brush everything off. Plus, he could tell this was really bothering his son, and he wanted to be there for him.

"There was this time, a few months after your mother and I started dating our freshman year, it was the week before finals, two weeks before winter break. We were stressed and a little crazed. Everyone in our study group for English Lit was on edge because it was supposed to be the toughest final. And I remember just completely biting her head off for no good reason." Stiles' eyebrows raise in surprise at his dad's confession. "I mean, I jumped down her throat for trying to tell me my answer was wrong, and I knew it was wrong, but I didn't want to hear it." He chuckles a little as he shakes his head. "I stormed off to my dorm. A couple hours later, she pounded on my door. I swung it open in annoyance, but as soon as I saw her standing there, hair a mess on top of her head in sweats and my hoodie and the maddest face she could muster up, all my frustration melted away." He pauses for a second, recalling the memory. "She stormed into my room giving me hell, and all I could do was grin, which only pissed her off more." He and Stiles laugh as they remember her always doing the same with them. "And I just remember thinking, damn, I love this girl."

Stiles laughs a little. He's never heard that story before. "So, you're saying I should know when we argue but I still can't help but love her?"

Noah shakes his head, "No. I'm building up to that part. That's just when I knew I was in love with her."

"Did you tell her?"

"Hell yes. I was in the Army, son. I knew how short life was," Noah states firmly, causing Stiles to nod in understanding.

"Anyway, about a year and a half or so later, your grandfather and I got into this heated argument. Words that can't necessarily be taken back were said. Even though we had our issues, he was still my father, you know? So, it tore me up inside." He sighed deeply, "your mom witnessed the whole thing. I was embarrassed, not only because that was my father, but because of the things I said to him. How I reacted. I didn't want her to see that side of me. She knew the issues I had with him, but I'd never gone into detail. So, I was afraid I'd lose her. But I didn't. She didn't judge me or him or our issues. She was just there for me at a time when I felt I had no one. That's when I realized I couldn't picture my life without her." He finishes the story, and Stiles could see the grief on his father's face again as he fought the tears welling up in his eyes.

It causes Stiles to have to control his own emotions because now they're both having to live life without her. He clears his throat, "so, that's how you knew? When you realized you couldn't live without her?"

His father nods, "partly. It wasn't just me not being able to see a life without her, though." He takes a sip of his soda. "I didn't just love her and want her in my life. I needed her. Not to get all cheesy on you, but she made my bad days better and turned the good days into great days. She taught me to live life for what is and not dwell on anything." He pauses for a minute before continuing. "Don't get me wrong, son. We had our fair share of tough times, but we learned that those arguments were trivial compared to what we had. We were better individuals when we were together, if that makes sense."

Stiles nods, "yeah, it does."

"So, does it answer your question?" Noah asks before continuing his meal.

"Yeah, but I still don't think I know for sure about (Y/N)," Stiles answers with a shrug of his shoulders, feeling a tad guilty.

"I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself," Noah states.

Stiles looks to his dad with knitted brows, "how so?"

"You have this notion stuck in your head that just because you've been with (Y/N) for three years, it means you should know your future with her." He puts down his fork again and looks at Stiles. "Love and marriage don't have a timeframe. Everyone moves at different paces, especially these days. You're twenty-one years old, barely about to graduate college. You don't have to have your life figured out yet."

Stiles shrugs, "I guess. I just don't want her to get like impatient and leave, you know?"

Noah smiles a little, "well I think you just realized what you've probably known for a while."

Stiles looks at him a little confused, and his father only raises his eyebrows with a grin. Stiles exhales deeply, "maybe I did." He scratches his head as he thinks about it a little more.

"And I wouldn't be worried about her leaving you anytime soon," Noah states before taking a bite of egg roll.

"Why not?"

His father shrugs as he swallows his bite, "I've seen the way she looks at you, and I also think she knows how young you both are and that there's still so much you both want to see and do."

Stiles nods again, "I guess I should probably talk to her about it, huh?"

"Probably." Stiles starts to pull out his phone and stand from the table, but his dad ushers him to stop. "Not on the phone, and not right now. Right now, we're finishing dinner."

Stiles chuckles a little as he sits back down. After adding some beef and broccoli to his plate, he looks to his dad with a warm smile. "Hey, pops?" Noah looks at him with a mouthful of noodles. "Thanks. I know it's hard to talk about mom, so I really appreciate you telling me those stories."

Noah swallows his food and offers Stiles a tender smile, "anytime. You deserve to know." He sucks in a deep breath, "besides, she probably would have given me hell if I let you stew over this anyway."

They both laugh in agreement as they settle back into finishing their meals. The conversation continued with Stiles sharing his own stories with (Y/N) and his father sharing a little more about Claudia. It was nice because neither of them had ever really opened up about their relationships. Stiles has always wanted to ask about his mom, since she passed away when he was only nine years old, but he felt it would be too hard for his dad. It was also a little hard for him to think about sometimes as well. Now, though, it seems like they've broken down that shield of grief.

When his dad gets up to get more to drink, Stiles pulls his phone out to shoot (Y/N) a quick text message.

Stiles: just wanted to say I love you and can't wait until you get here 😊

(Y/N): you're the sweetest! Love you too and see ya soon! Miss your face 😊

Stiles snaps a quick funny face selfie and sends it to her.

Stiles: this one? 😉

(Y/N): hahaha! Yes, that adorable mug 😉

Stiles: well this adorable mug misses your adorable mug too

(Y/N) sends him a boomerang of her blowing him a kiss. Before he can respond, his dad walks back into the dining room, causing him to put his phone back in his pocket. His dad looks at him as he puts a beer beside his plate and chuckles.

"What?" Stiles asks in confusion.

Noah simply shakes his head, "you text (Y/N)?"

Stiles laughs a little in embarrassment as his dad sits back down. "How'd you know?"

"That stupid grin you have on your face." Stiles ducks his head a little bashfully as Noah takes a swig of his beer. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. That grin is how I know you'll be fine."

"You think?" Stiles questions before taking a swig of his own beer.

"I know," his father nods a little. "(Y/N)'s good for you. I know you won't let her slip through your fingers."

Stiles rubs the back of his neck, "I hope not."

"Okay, well if you don't believe that, then believe this: I know (Y/N) won't let you let her slip through your fingers," Noah says with a laugh causing Stiles to laugh as well.

The pair then slip back into casual conversation. This time, it's more about catching up on life. Noah updates Stiles on the goings on in Beacon Hills, thankful there hasn't been much supernatural disturbances in a while. Stiles tells him about his last classes, what's supposed to be in store for his final year at GW, and how he and (Y/N) have talked about plans after graduation. Marriage might not be on the table just yet, but they've talked about moving in together. Living with two other guys and their on again-off again girlfriends is just starting to feel a little crowded, while (Y/N) is quite tired of all the girl drama with her own roommates. Plus, at this point, Stiles admits that it seems like the best next step.

Noah couldn't agree more. He tells his son not to rush into something as serious as marriage just because he feels like he has to. He advises that they should get their footing in the "real world" and really focus on their relationship without the distraction of school before taking a dive into the deep end. However, he also encourages Stiles not to take his time with (Y/N) for granted and to take advantage of their youth and good health. After all, they know first hand just how short life can be.

Stiles takes his father's advice to heart and promises not to lose sight of what he has with (Y/N). He knows how lucky he is to have her, and wouldn't it trade it for anything. He even admits that she's the best thing to ever happen to him. His father couldn't agree more.

The End.