Work Text:
Stiles always wakes up at six now. He didn’t think he could do it, but after morning classes and long shifts at odd jobs he had during college, he can finally wake up looking like a person.
Not a morning person, but a person nevertheless.
Now he wakes up at six, doing his morning business before getting ready to work.
7 AM
He doesn’t forget to water his plants before going out. Stiles never thought he was a plant person until he met Ingrid, his best friend from college who was studying the same major with him. She gave him an English Ivy on Stiles’ 20 birthday and Stiles has been obsessed with plants since then.
8 AM
Stiles takes a subway to the building where his office is. Because he chose an apartment with cheap rent, that’s why he has to wake up early to be on time. But first, coffee.
10 AM
The meeting is boring but it’s not like something Stiles has not experienced before. Jeremy from Graphic Design has been complaining about something not related to the main purpose of the meeting for a while now but Stiles just ignores it.
12 PM
No offense, but Claire, his colleague who is just 2 years older than him is rude as fuck and at lunch break he tries to calm himself so hard that his plastic spoon almost break.
3 PM
WTF Claire, go away. If you don’t have something nice to do, don’t. Stiles looks pitily at the intern whom Claire just yelled at for no reason at all. Stiles shakes his head and gets back to work.
6.30 PM
Stiles chats idly with his colleagues about the new show on Netflix. He looks at the clock and decides that it was time to go home. Dinner at home should be alright. He can’t be too fancy in this kind of economy. Plus, he’s good at cooking now. Ingrid even said so.
7 PM
New York is a big city, Stiles shouldn’t be able to notice him at first glance. However, there’s always something about Derek that makes him the first person Stiles notices. Even all of these people in this subway station, Stiles still sees him.
Of course, Derek notices Stiles too. He’s a werewolf. He looks up from his phone and walks straight to Stiles. He looks like the Derek that Stiles knew; exhausted, sad, which is not a good thing after all these years.
“Stiles.”
“Hi.” Stiles nods then quickly walks away. There’s no reason for him to talk with Derek at all. It’s been five years . He has not thought of Beacon Hills or Derek for years (The latter was a lie but well, no one has to know).
“Are you busy?”
“Kinda.” Stiles shrugs. It’s not a lie. He’s going home. “Wait, are you waiting for me? How do you know I’m here?”
“Kinda.” Derek says and smiles lightly. “Actually no, I just came here because I have nowhere else to go but I could smell your scent a little bit, so I just stand here and wait to see if it’s really you..”
“It’s me. It’s the same old Stiles.” Stiles points his thumb at himself.
“No, you’ve changed. You look better.”
And you look worse . Stiles thinks but decides not to say it.
Since it doesn’t seem like Derek is gonna go away soon, Stiles decides to walk to the corner where there’s no one. He leans on the wall there and Derek follows. Stiles notices he’s carrying a duffel bag.
“Here for a vacation or business?” Stiles asks but Derek shakes his head.
“I...left. Like you.”
Stiles nods. “Are you gonna go back to Beacon Hills?”
“I don’t know. Are you?”
“I can’t come back.” Stiles swallows. “Not forever. I will come back some day, but not now…”
Derek stares at his shoes. He’s quiet for a moment before he looks up at Stiles with something in his eyes.
“Then can I stay with you? I don’t really want to go back either” Derek asks softly, as if he’s afraid Stiles would say no. Stiles wants to say no. He wants to be angry at Derek or at someone. He feels like they left him, even though he was the one who left.
“What about your pack, Erica, Boyd, Isacc, and—” Stiles glances at Derek who is staring intensely at Stiles.
“They decided to stay with Scott.” Derek explains, “I decided to leave.”
“Why now?”
Stiles asks. He has a right to ask. He’s been on his own for years. It’s not fair that now, when he starts to get used to it, Derek has to come stirring things up again like this. How dare he .
“I don’t know if you know this but uh,” Derek stares at his hands nervously then adds, “After what happened with you, with your dad...almost the same time that you left, I fought with that dragon and died, well, more or less.”
“I thought Scott killed it and everyone was safe. Including you.” Stiles stops. He squints his eyes after hearing a new piece of information. He thought everyone just got the job done and since Stiles left and his dad was gone, they decided to just leave him too. Lydia was the only one emailing him from time to time.
“They tried to wake me up, take me back for a month or two... I’m not really sure what they’ve done. I came back not long after that but I came back wrong.” Derek holds one of his hands out. “My heart doesn’t beat anymore.”
Stiles doesn’t believe it. He reached out just to check Derek’s pulse but there’s nothing there. Derek’s skin is not warm nor cold. Nothing.
“Wait. Then what are you?” Stiles asks.
“I don’t know.” Derek shakes his head slightly, tilting his head then answers, “ Broken ?”
“No, you’re not.” Stiles responds instantly as a habit he has formed a long time ago. “You still haven’t told me why you decide to leave now.”
“I decided to leave a long time ago but I didn’t know where to go. I don’t know where you are. I don’t even know if you want to see me.” Derek says, leaning on the subway’s station wall.
Stiles blinks. How could Derek think that? How could Derek not see the way Stiles looked at him.
“Dude, if there’s anyone from Beacon Hills I want to see the most, that would be you.”
“Really? Not Scott?” Derek raises his eyebrows and Stiles just shakes his head. “Not...really. I don’t know why either.”
“So...do you think I can stay with you for a while?”
“Yeah, sure. It would be a bit cramped though but if you don’t mind that then of course, you can stay.”
Stiles wants to say Derek can stay for as long as he likes but he’s afraid Derek will get scared of that and go away. Every minute he looks at Derek, his anger is already starting to dissipate. He imagines Derek just lying on his cold bed in his loft at Beacon Hills, heart not beating, not feeling anything and Stiles almost feels something in his body aches.
“You’re living with someone?”
“No no no, but I have a lot of houseplants. You have to stay on a couch for now though. I can find you a bed later.”
“That’s fine.” Derek smiles. “That’s enough.”