Stiles unknowingly paced in the freshly watered grass as a dripping cold cup of lemonade sat tight in his hand. It had been two months to the day since Derek found out Stiles was his soulmate. Since then their relationship had consisted of one demure kiss and an accidental cuddling session. But still, Stiles couldn’t help but want more, he supposed it was normal. The simple truth was that Derek was around for the long haul and Stiles was actually happy about that. And yet he still couldn’t bring himself to relieve the ever growing awkwardness between the two.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood prominently, telling him there was someone behind him. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of brown hair and a black muscle shirt. Stiles shook his thoughts free, and pointed at the bushes in front of them “The carnations bush is really nice” he tried.
Parrish swallowed a gulp of his beer, walking up to stand beside his friend “Wedding gift from my mom. Lydia keeps up with it though, it would have been dead by now if it were up to me”
“Where is the diva anyways?”
“Inside. She’ll be down soon” Stiles nodded letting the noises of outside take over the conversation. A bird in the tree, the kids in the house over and a garbage truck a few streets over.
Parrish teetered on his toes swishing around a sip of liquid in his mouth. The man was nice enough, always kind to Stiles and willing to save him from Lydia’s wrath whenever it came. That is why, after looking over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear, Stiles cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it but he estimated he had about five free minutes before his friend came to meet them and he needed advice, real advice from someone who didn’t think he was being silly “Your relationship with Lydia…” Stiles started, his throat suddenly dry “…was it always so easy? I mean once you two found each other, was it so simple so-so undemanding?”
The response cane quickly “Heck no. Lydia was not what I pictured when I thought about my soul mate”
“What do you mean?”
“The queen bee. Wealthy, care-free, bossy, shallow. We were so opposite I was sure the universe had gotten it wrong” Stiles stood there shocked these words were coming from his mouth. This was his wife, the person he said “I do” to. The cogs turned behind his head and Parrish continued “-but that was just my uneducated perception. From the outside”
“So what changed? What made you try still?”
“I am not a stubborn person, so I gave it an attempt. I went on the dates, I did the movie nights, the walks and I gave us a chance. The moment I realized every assumption I made about Lydia was wrong I saw the true her, I saw why we were meant for each other. She’s nurturing, and funny, and kind and still very bossy but I love it, I lover her. And man does she live me. She keeps me steady” he shrugged staring into space with a gleam in his eye, one Stiles could only identify as love “She’s my wife” Stiles nodded thinking maybe he was getting it. Then Parrish suddenly turned serious and Stiles was getting ready for the coming advice. The man was a cop but it didn’t take a scientist to know all these questions were because of Derek “I know this thing with Derek is scary, especially after everything you must have convinced yourself of over the years. All I can say is if you want this to work you just have to give it a chance. I mean give Derek a chance, but overall give yourself a chance”
Stiles tapped his nails anxiously against the cup of lemonade he had yet to drink. Parrish wouldn’t run and blab, he wouldn’t tell Stiles he was being crazy or needed to man up so the next admission came out in a whisper “I-I am just so scared. At this point I’m not even sure of what, I just know I am”
“We all were in the beginning. But that’ll change”
In an instant, a sweet voice was breaking through the heavy conversation “Yoohoo. Boys!” They turned to see Lydia on the patio swaying in a bright yellow sundress, her strawberry red hair the perfect bit of contrast “Your ray of sunshine has arrived”
“Hello beautiful” Parrish waltz to meet his wife as Stiles followed his trail.
Two days later Stiles found himself standing on a dangerous looking construction site. In his hands he clutched a heavy paper bag with tacos from his favorite eating establishment of the week. Food was what Stiles knew so he decided it would be his ice breaker method. He was giving himself a chance. Today he was surprising Derek for lunch, they’d been texting a lot more and he figured it’d be okay. Some of the past times they hung out had been on accident leaving Stiles on edge but now it was planned and he was ready for it.
The only thing was that he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. For starters he didn’t know how to go about finding Derek. He jumped at a tall buff man pointing an accusing finger at him. He was wearing protective gear and a yellow reflector vest “Hey! This is a hard hat area! How can I help you!?”
Stiles instantly regretted his decision as he shouted back “I’m sorry! Ju-Just looking for Derek Hale!”
“Who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Stiles” The kid winced and wanted to face palm because he knew the question was pertaining to his business on the site “I’m uh..his…we’re” After watching the construction workers face morph into a “seriously?” expression Stiles opened his mouth than snapped it shut again.
The worker rolled his eyes, beaconing over his shoulder “C’mon”
He was led to a trailer just off the side of the site. Inside Derek was standing with his back to the door, pulling on his hair staring angrily at a blue print. He was on the phone with someone, the recipient on the other end clearly giving him bad news “This is why I asked for this buildings requests months ago. Do you realize I’ll have to change the entire layout of the first and second floors. Not to mention-” he turned over his shoulder as if getting ready to pace when he saw the intrigued yet worried man standing at the door with his bag of food “-I’ll call you back tomorrow” he clicked the phone off and tried a smile, though he was clearly still on edge.
“Stiles” Derek exhaled the name, hints of anger suddenly gone.
“H-Hi. I’m sorry if this was inappropriate, I know I should have called first”
“No, it’s fine. It’s actually a very much needed surprise” he hesitated before lurching forward, greeting him with a kiss to the cheek. It was new, but Stiles let himself feel, and quickly realized he liked it “What’s that?”
“I’m lunch…It’s lunch! I’m not lunch but I bought us some-if you’re hungry” his face was unreadable for a split second and Stiles began rapidly apologizing “I’m sorry, maybe you packed your own food-I knew I shoul-“
Derek laughed, ceasing his ramblings “Hey no it’s fine, I’d very much rather spend my very short hour with you than alone eating a PB&J”
Stiles sighed in relief and moved to unload the food across an empty spot on Derek’s desk “You packed yourself PB&J?”
“Yeah. I ran out of left overs and I thought about going to get more from my mom’s restaurant I told you about, but they would all just pester me” Derek explained, absentmindedly pulling out a chair for Stiles to sit.
He accepted it gratefully and watched the bearded man rush to the other side of his desk “I assume that’s what families are best at. What are they pestering you about?”
“Us, mainly. I don’t mind confiding in them but then they all want to tell me how to go about things with you” Derek played with his tie, his face a bit red. Stiles wasn’t upset, if anything he felt flattered Derek talked to his family about him. He hadn’t told his father about Derek yet, he reminded himself he should call him soon.
“Have you been listening?” Stiles asked.
“Not really” Derek laughed “Should I?”
He smiled shyly “You’ve been doing fine on your own lately” Both men were blushing, and the room felt a bit more lighter.
From then on Stiles decided to take notes on things he found out about Derek, things he couldn’t tell just by looking at him.
1. Derek was a family man, much like Stiles. They both pretended to be annoyed by the people they loved but in reality they’d be lost without them in their lives.
2. He really enjoyed his job. There was a point during their lunch date Derek excitedly showed Stiles a project he was working on. Every word that came from his mouth was dripping with passion and Stiles found himself smiling awfully hard.
3. Derek wasn’t flashy. No matter the amount of money he made he had an average watch, his clothes weren’t expensive and his office was simple. No expensive bottle of alcohol or unneeded statues laying around.
4. No matter how scary he looked Derek had a major sweet tooth, and it was cute. Stiles was a baker making him the perfect partner. When Stiles pulled a surprise slice of a bunt cake from the bottom of the bag Derek was practically sitting on his hands so he didn’t snatch it.
5. He really liked to touch Stiles. Whether it was subtle hand touches, a hand in the small of his back, or wiping food from his face Derek took the opportunities to put his skin against Stiles’. The young man could admit he liked it too, an unfamiliar calm came over him when ever they were close.
He’d add more to the list when he was found out new things. As for now the surprise date had been successful. He wasn’t as scared as he was when he first arrived and Stiles could now say he didn’t feel an ounce of regret for the last hour.
“So I’ve got a scheduled face time with my dad tonight, but I was wondering if you wanted to come by my place tomorrow? We could have dinner maybe?” Stiles asked, shoving the mess from their food back into it’s bag.
“Um, yeah, of course. All you’ve got to do is say when, and I’ll be there” The Hale’s voice was soft, and delicate as he watched the man. Derek looked hopeful and Stiles could say he was too “Let me take that” Derek reached for the item, grazing his hand over Stiles’ as he did. The younger smiled and let him take it.
“Thank you” Stiles looked around, before taking hold of the mans hand and giving it a quick squeeze. Derek tried not to look too surprised as he gripped it back. His heart didn’t pound in fear as he brought his free hand to Derek’s stubbled jaw, it felt okay-normal even. Derek just closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of pale hands on him. Stiles placed a kiss there and pulled back “Well, I suppose I’ll let you get back to it”
“Right, thanks so much for lunch. I’ll uh…I’ll text you tonight?”
“Yeah. I’d like that” Stiles hated that he began to blush but Derek didn’t seem to mind.
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