Three days later and Stiles was furiously at work in his kitchen when the knock first came. He put it to the back of his mind promising to get it and moved the fourth pan into the oven closing it with a slam as he ran to the other side of his counter. Then it came again and Stiles was running to the door with a cooking utensil in his hand. He yanked the door open with a flushed expression, unashamed by his appearance.
Derek was standing on his porch looking worried. His leather jacket hugged his body tightly as his arm was frozen in the air to knock again. Stiles, unsurprisingly, felt his anxiety die down at the sight of his tranquil green eyes. Derek’s eyebrows were drawn together in concern as his eyes swept over the distraught man’s appearance “Hey. What are you doing here?” Stiles asked casually, as if he didn’t look like he was falling apart.
“Isaac texted. He said he was worried about you”
“Worried?” Stiles repeated, as he turned back into his home. He marched to the kitchen, leaving the offer for Derek to follow him to hang in the air.
Derek closed the door behind himself looking throughout Stiles’ messy house “Yeah. Something about deadlines, and you were stressed”
An aggravated loud groan was suddenly coming from the kitchen “Oh that. Yeah Matt-you remember him, he ruined your sisters cake- he fucked up the order dates! I can’t believe it took me this long to fire him! I’ve got seven orders that need to be finished in two days. I can’t ask Isaac to do overtime he’s planning his wedding and everyone else doesn’t know shit about baking” he came around the corner, batter painting his jeans and frosting dripping down his neck. The man had been so overwhelmed he hadn’t enough room in his brain to be reserved and nervous around Derek. He was wielding a whisk like a weapon and pointing it accusingly into the air “I mean look at me. I’m one man, with two ovens. I might have to go back in to the shop tonight. I haven’t felt this in over my head sine the week I opened the bakery. If I lose credibility because of that dickless harebrained idiot I swear-“
“Hey, first let’s drop the whisk yeah?” Derek asked cautiously as he pried it from Stiles’ tightening grip. It took a lot to get him mad and the ex employee had obviously pushed the right buttons. Stiles took a second to step back and finally realize how slightly embarrassed he was that Derek had watched him loose his cool “Second, you’re not going to lose your shop okay. I’m here to help”
He sighed, letting his long arms go limp at his side “That’s so nice Derek but I think I might need a professional this time–no offense”
“None taken, but I’m sure unexperienced help is better than nothing at all” he slipped off his jacket, throwing it over the back of a kitchen chair as he surveyed the kitchen. At the sight of his bulging biceps Stiles was overcome with the feeling of falling limp into his arms. But he stayed strong, not giving himself the satisfaction. Then Derek was pointing to the raw cakes on the counters “I can switch these cakes out with the one in the ovens and give those a chance to cool. Meanwhile you go shower and take a breather” His hands were on either shoulder, rubbing them up and down carefully.
His eyes rolled to the back of his head, getting lost in the feeling as he spoke “There’s a pie that I need to-“
“I’ll do it” Derek said, his hands still on his body.
Stiles went lax at the feeling, but still tried to put up a fight “Derek I really need to-“
“Shower. You really need to go shower, you’ll feel better with a clear mind” he cut him off and directed him towards the hall. He looked back one last time but Derek had already disappeared.
In the shower Stiles let warm water droplets coat his body as he tried to relax. Derek was here now, and everything seemed okay. It scared him all over again, the thought that he couldn’t just make things better himself. He’d gone from being his own everything to feeling light when Derek was around. He almost slipped at the thought. Derek was here and Stiles had felt okay. In a matter of seconds he went from working himself in to a panic attack, to feeling like a thousand pound back pack bound to his shoulders was gracefully removed.
He half expected to hear the smoke alarm going off by the time he stepped from his bedroom. Stiles toweled his air dry as he pushed past the door to the kitchen. The counter was loaded with cupcakes and pans crusted for his order of cheesecakes “Um…whoa. I thought you said you couldn’t bake”
Derek jumped over his shoulder, evidently not hearing the shower had turned off. He acknowledging the boy with a blinding grin “Oh, I couldn’t. Still can’t really. But a while ago I started watching stupid YouTube videos that were actually informative”
“You took time to learn this on YouTube?” Stiles asked amazed as he observed Derek’s creations.
“I mean yeah” he shrugged “Especially after the last time I tried to help you. I figured if I’m going to be in your life that wouldn’t be the last time I’d have to bake, and look at us now” he executed an almost perfect flower design on another cup cake.
“H-How’d you know which order was which?”
“You have these things tacked up” he said waving around the sticky notes covered in Stiles’ chicken scratch.
“Wow. It took Isaac four months to decode my notes”
“It wasn’t that hard really-” Stiles’ mind tuned out Derek’s voice as his own screamed in his head Kiss him! Derek had taken time to educate himself on Stiles’ interest. He was thinking about him when Stiles wasn’t even around, when Stiles was being an ass “-and I noticed you write in some short hand, that was the hardest to figure out but-” bits and pieces of Derek’s voice was coming in but Stiles couldn’t stay focused Kiss him you fool! Derek’s lips continued to move, and Stiles continued to run rapid in his own head Kiss him kiss him “Stiles?”
“Hmm?”
“Everything okay?”
“Hmm? Yeah of course” He shook his head rolling up the sleeves on his fresh shirt “I’m just really thankful for your help. I can’t believe you watched YouTube videos”
“Of course” He flashed a smile before beckoning a hand for Stiles to join him “Well come on lets get going” Stiles kickstarted his feet, rushing into the kitchen and getting back to work.
Five hours later and it was well past midnight. Stiles had been on his feet for a total of thirteen hours that day, and felt like collapsing from exhaustion. Being cooped up in a heated kitchen with Derek didn’t help either.
“How many orders did we get done?” Derek asked from where he laid, sprawled out across Stiles’ living room floor. His shirt had ridden up and he could see the truffle of dark hair draped across his tan skin, disappearing into the waistline of his pants.
“Um four, and a half. The other half is in the fridge at the shop” It was like all of the sudden, Stiles let himself open his mind up to the thought of being with someone and it was instantly filled with Derek. Stiles was handing him a beer, then throwing himself into his favorite arm chair. Stiles took a sip of his own drink before deciding he wanted to know more about his soul mate, and Derek was willing to be an open book with him so he went for it “So Cora, is she your only sister?”
Derek downed a gulp of his beverage “I’ve got an older sister Laura, and an older brother Dom”
“So you were the baby before Cora?”
“Yep, and I wasn’t bitter about being replaced when Cora came along. I actually love being a big brother”
“I can tell” Stiles scoffed, and Derek went mute. He meant for it to just be a joke, but bringing up their first meeting seemed to always damper Derek’s mood “I just meant you seem like a family oriented person. Very…caring”
“Thank you” he mumbled.
“I always wanted a sibling, but I suppose I’ve got Isaac and Scott now and that’s about as close as I’ll get” Derek laughed before dragged his body to sit up against the foot of the couch. His hair had batter in it that had Stiles wanting to reach out and pluck at it “I suppose pretty soon I’ll have to come help you out at work”
“I definitely wouldn’t mind your company”
“Just no power tools” Stiles said quickly. Not that anyone would trust him to operate anything of that magnitude.
“Copy that”
“How long have you been in construction?”
“My degree is in architecture, but I’ve been building things since I was a kid. I’ve always been good with my hands” Stiles’ virgin brain didn’t miss the unintentional innuendo.
“Want to watch a movie?” He suggested. Derek nodded quickly and both men moved side by side on the sectional. Stiles flipped through the channels before landing on something he was sure he had seen before.
The last thing he remembered was telling himself to pick his head up. But his eye lids were so heavy he left it where it was, wedged between Derek’s own head and his shoulder.
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