>From DerBear- 9:15am
Hey it’s your boyfriend. Just wondering where you’ve been
>From DerBear- 9:45am
Okay I’m hopping on a jet and coming to kick your ass
>From DerBear- 10:00am
Don’t make me call your dad and find out where you are
>From DerBear- 10:05am
I’m only kidding he still kinda scares me
>From DerBear- 10:30am
Okay I’m going into a meeting. When I come out there better be an explanation about how you lost your phone or some shit
Stiles sighed and laid his phone flat down on the counter. He knew Derek only really cursed when he was upset. It wasn’t his intention to piss him off but Stiles just wanted time to think. His thoughts were scattered and the very last thing he needed was to be on the phone while Derek was miles away and anything could be interpreted any way.
So the baker did what he did best. He worked himself to the bone. There had been a handful of customers to come into the shop. His new menu items had been selling fast so it kept him on his toes. Stiles had even been praised by a man who invited him to cater for his wedding. The day was doing just enough to take his mind off of things, but it still wasn’t enough.
Stiles just chalked his freak out up to being in love with Derek. That’s all it was. He had finally admitted it to himself that this thing was never was not only the real deal, but it was never going away. He’s decided to walk around calling it love and now he was acting crazy. He only wished he could turn the feeling off. Because the thought of Derek with someone else had made his heart feel like it was being broken over and over and over again. Though the common sense part of his brain told him Derek would never cheat. Derek fought so hard for them and had continued to do so, which meant he’d never chance losing Stiles. But the irrational part of him, the part of him that ran his brain and drove him to the brink of insanity way too often, that side was telling him he’d been too hard on Derek for far too long. That despite the fact that he’s changed his tune his initial attitude and reluctance never really settle with Derek.
Towards the end of the day when things had finally slowed down he was met with some much needed company. The second the strawberry blonde walked through the door Stiles had found himself rambling, and pouring out every thought that crossed his mind that day. And Lydia, his dear friend, was patiently waiting for her special order of muffins to finish cooling as she let him vent “What did he say when you asked him about it?”
Trying to draw less attention to his confession Stiles quickly shoved the strawberry-blueberry muffins into her delicate hands suddenly not very talkative anymore “I mean…I didn’t–not really. I just got off the phone”
“Wait. I thought you said that was two days ago?” All Stiles could do was cast his eyes down, and it was all the answer she needed. Chuckling, the red head just smacked her lips as he took in her face “So you just haven’t been talking to him?”
“I’ve been being a dick. And I know I have, but I don’t know what else to do!”
“How about talk to him?”
“Okay but what if I’m right and I let myself open up. Or I could be wrong and Derek could explode and accuse me of not trusting him. Either way I’m screwed, and I can’t just drop it either, he’ll hound me about why I was acting weird for two days”
“Don’t you have it all figured out” She sarcastically stated. The expression that overtook his face told his friend that wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. In his defense, he didn’t even know what he wanted to hear. There was a nagging feeling tugging on his heart telling his brain to shut the fuck up. His chin found a resting place in the bowl of his hand as he propped his elbows on the cold counter. How he wished he could just go to sleep and wake up on the other side of this situation “What do you want me to say babe?”
“Nothing…It’s just Isaac usually gives me more push back”
“I mean, after you managed to avoid your soul mate for months on end I finally decided to accept your stubbornness” She straightened out her stance and trained her attention right on Stiles and his pleading eyes “If you really want my advice I think you’re in the wrong, just a little. I mean while you’re ignoring him he has no idea what he’s done wrong. And if he is cheating, though I highly highly HIGHLY doubt that he is, then you’re just delaying a very important conversation”
“See, that’s the thing Lyds- I really don’t want to have that conversation”
“You’re my friend and I love you, but I think you to to suck it up and be a man…or I’m telling your dad”
“And you say I need to grow up” the last thing Stiles caught was an “I love you” before she was snatching her pastry bag from the counter and throwing her long red hair over her should to saunter out of the bakery. Stiles locked the door behind her and decided to close up shop for the night. He deserved it after all. His day had been a conflicting emotional roller coaster.
At that moment another text managed to come through. A groan echoed through the empty café as he followed the sound to his office. The distraught boy could only slam the door behind himself before he slushed to his desk.
MISSED CALL DerBear- 6:45pm
MISSED CALL DerBear- 6:52pm
MISSED CALL DerBear- 7:01pm
From DerBear- 7:03pm
Is everything okay? I’m starting to really get worried. Call me back when you get this please.
Like he had done for the last two days Stiles closed the screen and left his phone to be forgotten. Maybe once he was finished getting the bakery squared away he’d have more of a clear mind to respond. He wasn’t at all sure how he was going to do it, but perhaps Lydia had a point and it needed to be done.
Abandoning his phone he emerged from the office once more to begin closing. He put the half done orders away, made sure he was fully stocked in the kitchen, and lastly he checked to make sure every machine was turned off. Like any other night his plan was to finish with the dishes, that was until he noticed an oven had still been on. His nose scrunched as he swore to himself that he had turned it off.
And the closer he got the faster he realized that he had been correct. The oven had been turned off, and light coming from it wasn’t the glowing red of the heated baking coil. But instead, in it was the dancing orange of a small fire whipping inside of the appliance. Being a baker he was no stranger to tiny kitchen fires. He reached for the fire extinguisher that he hadn’t used in a very long while. By the time he had turned back to open the stove, the pressure had become too much and the door was flying off. In an instant it collided against his chest, knocking the wind from his body as it trapped his unconscious body to the floor.
…
…
…
If you asked him he couldn’t tell you how long he laid there. Thirty seconds? Thirty minutes? Whatever the time it was long enough to engulf the entire building in flames. There was a ringing in his ear as he struggled to open his eyes again. In the beginning the pain was too much driving him to keep then closed. Once it became bearable the clouds of smoke began to burn and he found himself still unable to keep them open longer than a few seconds.
Stiles had barely been able to push the heated metal door from his chest when he flipped onto his stomach, finally able to shield his eyes so he could open them and survey the damage. He realized the entryway that led to the front of the shop was over taken by flames. If there was any chance he’d get out it would have to be through the back door. But that too had been covered in the angry fire. Everywhere his eyes looked his life’s work was being scorched to singes. Had the smoke not already been causing his eyes to water he would have been weeping tears on his own accord.
On his quest to find his way out Stiles had started to become dizzy, realizing the smoke was filling the room more and more. The thick cotton like smoke sat heavy on his body. Reaching blindly he found an old kitchen rag to cover his mouth as he stayed on his belly and low to the ground. In all honesty he had no clue as to where he was heading, but he did the best he could to follow the path with the clearest opening. But that only led him into wall after wall, and he wasn’t sure he could continue to move around any longer. The crawling and the shrinking oxygen left him breathless, his lungs had begun to burn and he felt on the cusp of wanting to just stop breathing all together. So when his vision slowly began to blur and his knees felt weak he fell onto his back once again.
Stiles wasn’t sure if it made him love struck, or just an idiot but the last thing he remembers thinking about is how stupid he was for treating Derek the way he had.
He was going to die, and he was going to die a foolish man.
Derek’s name to be the last thing to pass his lips.
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