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It’s pretty terrible living across the country from Derek. Sure, Stiles misses his Dad, Scott, and their pack, but there’s something almost physically painful about being so far away from his mate. Stiles isn’t sure how he’s survived not having Derek around all the time, he just knows he’s getting damn sick of it.
Of course they Skype and call and text, but its not quite enough to ease the ache in Stiles’s chest. He’s probably not going to come back next semester, he’s already submitted his transfer papers, he’s just waiting on a response. Not that he’s told anyone this yet, he wants it to be a surprise.
But yea… Today is one of those days where he feels the distance the most keenly. Its been dark all day and the rain doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. It hadn’t been raining when he’d left his apartment this morning, so he hadn’t bothered with an umbrella. He’s regretting not looking at the weather forecast last time.
"You’re an idiot, Stilinski. You could have gone for coffee, called Derek and had a ridiculously sweet conversation with your boyfriend. But nooooo,” Stiles whines, “You had to be impatient, just because you were in a hurry to have Skype sex with your boyfriend.”
Stiles moves faster, tucking his cold fingers beneath his armpits, not that it makes much difference. He’s drenched through, freezing and he’s still only half way to his apartment. He’s probably just lucky he didn’t bring his laptop today. He could have stayed on campus longer but he’d just wanted to go home and curl up in bed.
But he’s an idiot.
The first hail stone bounces of his shoulder just as he’s turning onto his street and it shocks him so much that he manages to flail straight off the path into the grass and slip in some mud.
His feet slid out from under him and his tumbling backwards. He lands ass first in the mud, hands braced out behind him to stop him falling backwards and that’s when it starts hailing for real.
It hurts, each bit of hail is about the size of a ball bearing and they’re coming down hard and fast, he’s going to end up bruised.
Stiles stands and runs, ignores the mud on his clothes and the ice pelting down on him. He can see his apartment building in the distance, he can total make it.
Two minutes later he slides to a stop under the eaves of his building and falls back against the wall, breathing hard.
Stiles… Stiles laughs. He’s covered in mud, drenched to the bone, freezing, dirty, but he’s home. He probably looks like a mad man, but he honestly doesn’t care, this day has been a mess.
“Clearly the universe hates me.” Stiles pulls his phone from his pocket, its not to damp and it doesn’t look like its gotten damaged. He wipes it off as best as he can then swipes across the screen to unlock it.
Sourwolf <3: How was class?
Stiles grins, he’s pretty sure Derek has Stiles’s timetable memories before he did. There’s almost always a text or a Snapchat from Derek waiting for him when he leaves class. It’s nice, it reminds Stiles that the distance is just as painful for Derek.
Me: It was fine
Stiles doesn’t think there are enough text messages in the world to summaries how he feels right now. He wants to go upstairs and rant to Derek about how miserable this fucking day has been. He wants to do it in person, not over Skype. He wants to be close enough that he can bury his face in Derek’s neck and then just kiss Derek until the world fades away and everything feels better.
Stiles wants to tell Derek how much he misses him. How much he loves him and how much he can’t wait to be home. His phone buzzes.
Sourwolf <3: Is everything okay?
Because of course Derek knows something is wrong with Stiles from just one text message. Stiles smiles, he can imagine the way Derek would be frowning at his phone right now. It’s kind of adorable.
The hail is starting to build up now, it’s not melting fast enough in the cool air. Stiles knows exactly what he needs to say to Derek.
He opens Snapchat on his phone and grabs a handful of hail off the ground. He holds it up besides his face and snaps a picture.
He captions it with; It’s been a hale of a day without you here. Stiles sends it with a laugh, throws the hail out onto the lawn and heads inside.
When he checks his phone after his shower Derek has sent him a frowny face emoji in reply, but Stiles knows it’s all lies.
Derek has taken a screenshot of your snap.