Stiles flicked his tongue over his lips, words dying in his throat as he stared at Derek. The old vinyl spun on the record player, Nobody Knows crackling softly through the loft. Derek's eyes were dark and intense, but there was something softer there, hidden beneath layers of caution.

“Why violet?” Stiles finally asked, nodding at the violet blanket thrown over the couch.

Derek shrugged, a rare smile tugging at his lips. “It reminded me of you.”

Stiles' heart skipped, his breath catching. A song played, a color shared, and between them, a connection no words could fully capture.