Chapter Text
Children are taught from a young age, practically from the day they are born, that everyone has a soulmate. If the countless fiction novels and movies written weren’t enough, a whole module was placed in the high school curriculum supposedly put in place to teach teenagers about soulmates and soulmate marks. In reality all it really did was teach kids that not everyone got a soulmate mark, because the marks resided as tattoos, and only appeared on a person’s skin if their soulmate got a tattoo of the mark. It is more common than most are led to believe, but not everyone bothers even looking for or ever do find their soulmate, tattoo or no tattoo, and date other people who have also not found their soulmate.
Stiles ended up being one of the children who discovered they had a soulmate due to a tattoo. When he was fourteen and changing for gym class Scott gasped and pointed, yelling out, “Stiles has a tattoo!” and announcing the discovery to the entire year, well, the entire year who were in the boy’s locker room anyway. It didn’t take long for the girl’s locker room to find out though. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the thick black swirls on his back, wondering who the person sharing his tattoo could be.
He or she had to be at least 18 to have been able to get the tattoo, which meant that they were at most four years older than Stiles, a fact Stiles' father was not best pleased with. He wasn’t happy to find out that his only son could end up finding his soulmate at such a young age, or that they could be quite a bit older than him. Stiles himself was just disappointed that his soulmate wasn’t his girlfriend at the time, Heather, who broke up with him the day the mark was discovered.
The tattoo also meant that Stiles didn’t date throughout his school years, despite that fact that people with soulmate tattoos dating was common knowledge. Stiles was a determined person, and he didn’t give up easily. He was willing to wait if it meant that he got to be with the person who was supposedly perfect for him.
***
Stiles pushed the door to the veterinary clinic open and waved when Scott appeared from behind the front desk.
"Are you not supposed to be working today?” Scott questioned as he unhooked the gate, letting Stiles past the staff only barrier.
“Got my break early because the place was dead.” Stiles shrugged. “Have you been busy today? Saved a kittens life?”
Scott rolled his eyes, “I’m not quite there yet. I have an exam next month that I’m studying my ass off for, though.”
Stiles nodded in interest. “That’s why I haven’t seen you much lately?”
“Yeah, sorry about that, I promise I wasn’t avoiding you.”
Stiles laughed, “Don’t worry dude, I know. You’ll ace the exam by the way, you always do." He reassured. "Can you take your break now? I've got baked goods that can’t be sold anymore.” Stiles held up a brown paper bag with the coffee shops logo printed on both sides.
“Deaton’s out so he can’t say no. I was just organising the front anyway.”
“Sounds boring,” Stiles said, already taking out his phone as he settled in one of the staff room chairs, which were actually just old chairs from the waiting room out front.
Scott took two dry plates from the drainer and unfolded the bag that Stiles had dumped on the table. “Less boring than making coffee all day."
Stiles was already glued to his phone, Scott’s comment unnoticed.
Scott divided the food between the plates and he looked up at Stiles to hand his hand plate over. He waited patiently as his friend failed to notice him, studying his phone instead.
“Come on dude, we’ve talked about this-”
“I know Scott, I know.” Stiles interrupted before he could go on.
Scott swallowed the first bite of a croissant. “Have you tried, I don’t know, magazines? Models have tattoos sometimes.”
Stiles looked up at the suggestion, waiting for Scott to meet his gaze before rolling his eyes dramatically. “I don’t buy fashion magazines Scott of course I haven’t checked them.”
Scott groaned, frustrated. “You can borrow mine.”
Stiles picked up a Danish pastry from his plate, and mumbled with his mouth full, “Sorry for snapping. Everything’s gone wrong this morning.”
"Already forgiven." Scott said as he handed over an issue of Alpha Fashion Magazine to Stiles. “One magazine with all the fashion you could ever want.”
Stiles scowled at his friend but took the magazine from him and eyed the built man on the cover. “’Derek Hale, the CEO of Alpha, returns to the spotlight.’" Stiles read in an exaggerated announcer tone, raising an eyebrow sceptically. "What does that even mean?”
“He used to model for the magazine but decided to step back from that a few years ago.” Scott informed him. Upon receiving a raised eyebrow from Stiles he added, “Just read the damn thing. Maybe it'll teach you a thing or two."
“I dress fine.” Stiles muttered, but there was no defensiveness in his tone, he was too busy looking at Derek Hale on the cover of the magazine.
As they ate, Stiles reached page five, where Derek’s feature was. He was shirtless in a few of the pictures and as Stiles looked over one of the photos, black marks on his back caught his eye and he looked at it closer, curious. And then pulled back because that looked a lot like the tattoo Stiles had on his own back. He had looked at it enough in photographs, and in awkward angles in the mirror, to know what it looked like.
“There’s no fucking way- that’s too easy- there’s not a chance in hell-”
“What, Stiles? What are you talking about?” Scott queried.
“Does this or does this not look like my tattoo?” Stiles questioned, thrusting the magazine into Scott’s face.
Taking it and moving it away from his face enough to see, Scott studied the picture Stiles was pointing towards. “Holy shit…” He breathed, eyes wide, “that actually looks like-”
“Hello? Are you open?” A woman’s voice shouted from the reception of the clinic, interrupting them.
“Hold that thought.” Scott muttered, dumping the magazine and his plate onto the table and fumbled towards the front of the clinic.
Stiles picked up the magazine, eyeing the pictures of the apparent photographer and model, biting his lip as he read the article half-heartedly. He tried to push the whole thing out of his head when he had to leave the clinic and go back to the coffee shop and neither Scott nor Stiles mentioned it again that day. That is until Stiles was chucking his things onto the coffee table in his small apartment later in the day and remembered the magazine that was rolled up and stuffed into his bag.
Stiles hummed to himself before relenting and turned his laptop on as he settled himself down onto his slumping couch cushions. He unrolled the magazine muttering, “Derek Hale…” to himself; opening Google and typing the name into the search bar.
The first link was to a website called AlphaFashion.com, which Stiles assumed was the company website. Opening the website into a new tab, he looked at the results underneath, which were all links to social media accounts and interviews. Stiles clicked on images, hoping for an answer there, but most of the pictures that came up looked either old, from the photoshoot taken for the magazine that Stiles had already seen, or of him in business attire, the occasional Instagram picture from Derek’s personal Instagram account dotted in between.
Stiles hovered over the keyboard; ready to try another search but unsure if he was able to push through the embarrassment of actually typing the words into Google. He only had to type 'back' for 'tattoo' to come up, thankfully, saving him the embarrassment.
The problem now was that Stiles was faced with multiple images of the same toned back, most images allowing Stiles to see the same thick black swirls he had on his own skin.
Well fuck.
Stiles’ soulmate was a high class businessman who not only ran a fashion magazine but also modelled for it when he felt like it.
Stiles scrambled for his phone, the process of unlocking it taking several seconds because his fingers were shaking. It took far longer than it should have to open up his contacts and find Scott’s name but he managed it and he was talking without even saying hello when Scott answered.
“Dude you need to calm down I can’t understand you.”
“Derek Hale!” Stiles yelled back, pacing between his kitchen and living room.
“Derek Hale?” Scott parroted.
“He’s my soulmate.” Stiles breathed, the realisation of the situation hitting him finally after saying it outload. “Fucking Derek Hale is my soulmate.”
"Yeah, I know Stiles, I was there when you found out." Scott said nonchalantly. He was silent on the other end for a while before adding, “Doesn’t Danny model for Alpha?”
“What does that have to do with me finding my soulmate? You read the magazine how could you not know he has the tattoo-”
“Did you even read the whole magazine?” Scott interrupted. “They’re advertising for a one-time model for their new underwear collection or something. Danny might be able to get you in if he puts in a good word.”
Stiles scoffed, “I can’t model underwear, Scott.”
“Just call Danny, Stiles. He’ll understand what you’re going through.”
Scott was right, Stiles had to admit, about Danny understanding. Danny had found out who his soulmate was in their senior year of high school when Jackson, his best friend, had shown up to school with a new tattoo. A new tattoo that had appeared on Danny’s own skin over the weekend. They didn't tell anyone how the talk they had after school went, but the next day they were holding hands as they walked to class.
***
Stiles called him the next day, on his break, sipping at his black coffee as he waited for him to pick up. His eyes flicked between eyeing the overflowing trash can and the draining board overflowing with mugs in the deserted break room.
“Stilinski?” Danny answered, sounding rushed.
“Hey Danny, you busy?” Stiles made himself sit down before he wore the carpet down completely, eyes flicking over the women's health magazine that one of his co-workers had left on the table for something to do.
“I’m getting ready for a shoot but I have a couple minutes if this is important?”
“Um…” Stiles started to blush, even though there was no one there to witness the conversation. “I think I know who my soulmate is.”
Over at the Alpha Fashion building Danny held his phone between his shoulder and ear as he tied his boots, ignoring the worried looks that the makeup and hair department were throwing him. “That’s awesome, who is it?”
“Funny story…” Stiles laughed uncomfortably from the other end, “it’s, uh… it’s your boss. Derek Hale.”
Danny dropped his phone.
He snatched it back up before one of the employees surrounding him could, pressing the phone to his ear more firmly as if that would stop them hearing the conversation. “Let me find somewhere more private, give me a second.” Once Danny was in the privacy of a bathroom he started talking again, “You think your soulmate is my boss?”
Stiles felt a little stupid hearing the disbelief in Danny’s tone. “I saw his tattoo, Danny. It was the same as mine. The exact same.”
Danny ran his hand over his face. “Stiles… what do you want me to do? I can’t just tell my boss, ‘hey I have a friend who claims to be your soulmate’, can I?”
“You could get me a job?” Stiles asked hopefully. “Scott said they’re looking for a one-time model.”
“So,” Danny deliberated, “I’m supposed to convince him to give an old high school friend a job?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Stiles said, biting his lip.
Danny sighed, “Fine, alright. I’ll speak to him. But Stiles, don’t… just be careful okay? I'm sure he gets lots of people claiming they have the same tattoo. He might not be the kindest right away. Off the record… he can be an ass. He’s grumpy and not very conversational when he's not taking photos. I don’t even get to talk with him that often, I’ve only had a handful of conversations with him.”
“I know, Danny.” Stiles looked down at the carpet. “I don’t know what other option I have. I have to talk to him somehow. Even just a secretary job or something, I’m desperate.”
“I’ll try my best.” Danny promised. “I really have to go now though.”
***
A week later Stiles had an interview with Derek Hale. Standing in front of the building Stiles took in a deep breath slowly, swallowing his nerves as he looked in through the glass doors of the headquarters. From the outside, on the streets of New York, the building looked clean and fresh, everything white and silver, with green plants placed carefully in what would appear to be an attempt at making the place look less like a hospital and more business-like. Behind the front desk Stiles could see a woman with blonde hair typing on a computer, phone pressed between her ear and shoulder.
“Thinking about going in or were you just going to look?” A male asked from behind him, making Stiles jump.
Stiles turned around in a hurry, the bag slung over his shoulder almost hitting the man behind him as he moved. “Sorry! Sorry, um, yeah-yes, I’m… going in…”
The man rolled his eyes, “Okay…”
“What? Oh! Yeah, right…” Stiles grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, holding it for the man behind him. He thanked him, passing Stiles and heading off to a coffee machine.
Sorting himself, Stiles walked over to the front desk nervously. Stiles waited for the women to finish her call, eyeing the certificates and business cards that were placed neatly over the glass counter.
“How can I help you?” The women asked, sending Stiles a scrutinizing look as she looked him over, her hand hovering over her phone.
“I’m Stiles Stilinski. I’m here to meet with Mr Hale?”
She looked at her computer for a moment, nodding. “Mr Stilinski, an appointment for 10:15?”
“That’s me.”
“Let me just check that he’s ready and then Isaac will show you to his office. Isaac!”
The man from outside walked over, capping a plastic coffee cup on his way. “You again.” Isaac smirked, “You must be here for the modelling job? I hope Erica and I haven’t scared you off.”
Stiles laughed awkwardly, “Um, yeah, I am. Here for the job, that is.”
“He says to send him up.” Erica said, picking up her own coffee and taking a sip.
“Thanks. I’ll take you to Mr Hale’s office, follow me.”
Stiles followed Isaac up two flights of stairs until they arrived at another glass door, this one with fogged glass so that it was impossible to see inside the room. Over the glass, in large letters, was Derek Hale – CEO. Stiles swallowed thickly.
“Bring him in Isaac.” A voice called out after Isaac knocked on the door.
Isaac grinned at Stiles and placed a hand on his back, pushing him into the room in front of him. “This is Mr Stilinski, Sir.”
Derek nodded Isaac goodbye and once the door was closed he motioned for Stiles to sit down. “Good morning, Mr Stilinski. Mr Mahealani spoke to me about you. He said you were interested in the temporary job we have available?”
Stiles was looking at his soulmate. His soulmate was sitting right there in front of him and all he wanted to do was jump over the desk and tell him. There was a strange feeling in the room, the same one he had heard Jackson and Danny, and Scott and Allison talk about.
Instead of mentioning it he asked, “I am. I hope Danny put a good word in.”
Derek smiled, “Mr Mahealani said you had never done this before but that you had a good body and that you’d look good in the clothes." Derek chuckled to himself, "Or lack of.”
Stiles gulped, realising how out of his depth he really was. “That’s, uh, good?” What was he supposed to say?!
“You don’t sound so sure.” Derek teased. “It doesn’t matter that you don’t have experience, we take on a lot of new models. We'll have you do a trial job first, however. That’s what’s happening today. It'll be a bus shelter thing, to advertise the company rather than a new line. I assume you read the contract information that was sent to you?”
Stiles nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“Good. All I need you to do is sign this,” Derek slid a document over to Stiles, “and I’ll call Isaac to come get you.”
Stiles sat there, baffled, as Derek picked up his phone and called Isaac back up. When he put the phone down, he grinned at Stiles. “Don’t look so worried, Isaac knows what you’re supposed to be wearing and I know what I’m doing with a camera.”
“It’s not that Sir-”
“I just need you to fill in these forms, the rest of today will be less formal than this, I assure you.”
More documents were pushed towards Stiles for him to fill in. He took his time, partly to make sure he did it properly, but also because Derek was watching and the intensity of it made Stiles feel on edge.
Stiles was finishing up writing out his details on the form when Isaac knocked on the door. “Come in, Isaac.” Derek called.
“I have Stiles’ clothes ready, its rough measurements so I’m going to need him a little early in case they don’t fit him right, if that’s okay, Mr Hale.”
“Of course, Isaac. I’ll see you in an hour or so for the shoot, Mr Stilinski.”
Without further warning Stiles was being ushered out of the large fancy office and into the elevator. “How was your first encounter with the boss?” Isaac asked to fill the time.
Stiles offered an unsure smile. “He’s nice? I’m surprised he’s so happy to have me, it wasn’t much of an interview.”
“Mr Hale trusts Danny’s opinion, he’s been working here a long time. Don’t worry, you’ve got what it takes to model for us. He might even ask you to model full time.” Isaac winked at Stiles as the elevator doors opened. “We’re shooting in the showers today, all the lights and everything have been set up, so it’s just you we need to change.”
Stiles looked down at his red khakis and white dress shirt, frowning. “Will this be extremely uncomfortable?”
Isaac laughed as he disappeared inside the dressing room. “To take off maybe, wet clothes don’t come off easy.”
“Wet clothes…?”
Isaac was back from the room, “I’ve put the clothes out for you. I’ll give you some privacy as you seem kind of shy. The makeup department will be here soon.”
Stiles was left alone after that, so he closed the dressing room door as quietly as he could (no lock, fantastic) and went over to where a dark pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt were sitting. When he was changed into the surprisingly plain outfit Stiles took his phone out of his bag and called Danny.
“Hey Stiles, shouldn’t you be working?” He answered casually.
“What am I doing, Danny?”
Danny laughed from the other end, “It’s higher paid than any secretary job you’d get, and it involves working directly with Derek, I thought you’d be flattered.”
Stiles rolled his eyes, “If he sees the tattoo-”
“I thought that was the whole point? That he finds out you’re his soulmate?”
“Well yes-” Stiles tried again, but Danny was once again interrupting him.
“Then you’re welcome. I’ve got to go, good luck!”
Danny hung up before Stiles could complain some more.
“Ready for makeup?” A young man pushed the door open slowly and a women followed him with a cart. “I’m Liam, this is Hayden. We’ll be making you look photo ready.”
Isaac’s face appeared around the door as Liam and Hayden were finishing. “Ready Stiles?”
Isaac asked as he entered the room. “Derek’s waiting for you.”
Stiles was lead to the showers where wires were trailing all over the place, bright lights being turned on as Derek clicked away on his camera.
“The model is ready, Mr Hale.” Isaac spoke up before pushing Stiles into the room, as he had done earlier in the office, and abandoning him with the intimidating people around him.
Derek turned and smiled, nodding appreciatively at Stiles. “You look great! Step under the shower there and turn it on.”
Stiles gingerly stepped forward, “Just… in the clothes?” This seemed dangerous, there were electrical wires everywhere. Stiles decided it wasn’t his place to mention that.
Derek laughed, “Yeah, in the clothes.”
Stiles walked carefully over the cables and between the people standing around and stepped under the shower head. He twisted the handle and was assaulted with freezing cold water. Stiles yelped and jumped back, blushing at the chuckles he heard behind him. When the water was warm he stepped back under, already feeling uncomfortable in the wet clothes.
“That’s great Stiles, keep the shower running and turn towards me, try smiling.” Derek instructed.
Stiles did as he was told, trying his best to not look uncomfortable.
“Lean against the tiles.”
Stiles, again, did as he was told, and smiled at the camera.
Derek sent him a thumbs up and started taking pictures, moving for different positions. Stiles shivered as he was told to turn the shower off and sit on the floor. The water was cold and the room was chilly, but he did it anyway, because this was his job now, apparently, and Derek was supposed to be his soulmate.
“Cross your legs, Stiles, and put your right leg in front of you. Now lean forward a little.” Derek was reeling off positions and facial expressions and Stiles was just trying to make sure he did them all how Derek wanted. “That looks great Stiles, stay like that.”
After a few more photos were taken Stiles was ushered out of the room and two large and very fluffy towels were placed in his hands.
“Get dry and warm, we have another set of clothes for you to change into.” Isaac informed him. “Derek said you did great, so you don’t have anything to worry about. Just be changed and waiting here for two.”