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“Lydia is gonna kick our asses!” Derek swerved to the right to avoid the man in front of him. Stiles smirked, following him smoothly.
“Blame me – she will anyway!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t have to indulge you!” Cursing beneath his breath, Derek shifted around a particularly persistent photographer who appeared to have little to no regard for his own safety. It went against everything within him not to warn the guy about the bollard just behind him, but it was worth it for the shocked laugh that came from Stiles as he fell over. He knew that would make for a marvellous photo – candid shots of Stiles were some of his favourites. Of course, that was the very thing that Lydia objected to – candid shots could not be made to look perfect. Sometimes Stiles deliberately pulled faces; other times, the open look of happiness on his face was what made Derek’s day.
“One date night should not cause all of this – the movie isn’t even out yet!” A glance over his shoulder showed that Stiles seemed fine, no signs of anxiety or restlessness. They had both needed to get out, spend some time alone together. He had no doubts whatsoever that the movie would be a success: Stiles’ script was excellent, the characterisation of a young man caught up in a supernatural world grounded in a way that made the supernatural aspects of the story almost superfluous. Derek knew it was some of his best acting work to date and was proud of it. But still – the paparazzi attention could be hard to bear sometimes.
They had come back to Beacon Hills with the intention of keeping a low profile (as instructed by their publicist, Lydia) and just enjoying a little time with their closest friends and family before the official publicity for the movie began. Unfortunately, ‘Sterek’ were media darlings and everything about them was considered fascinating. Photos of the Sheriff telling the press to get off his property or he’d arrest them; Derek’s father in Pjs picking up the newspaper from their front lawn; Peter on a date with Isaac – all of it made the front pages.
“It’s your fault!” he said to Stiles as he finally spotted the car. It hadn’t seemed that far when they had walked to the diner, but trying to reach the vehicle whilst fighting the gauntlet of photographers was different.
“Are you saying you didn’t like my proposal?”
He couldn’t prevent the smile spreading across his face. Stiles had somehow managed to recreate their Prom, complete with band, all of their friends and cheesy decorations, and instead of them being announced as Prom King and King as had happened all those years ago, Stiles had proposed to Derek. It had been amazing, especially since he’d flown Laura and Cora in for the occasion and Derek was still riding high on the emotions. The ring on his finger was weighty and unfamiliar and he found himself playing with it absent-mindedly.
“I loved it!”