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“Hi!” Stiles smiled as he opened the door to reveal a very nervous werewolf shuffling his feet.
“Hi” Derek answered and slowly relaxed when he let Stiles’ scent wash over him, the scent that said home, safe, mate, love and then remembered the flowers. “So, here. I, uh, I got these for you” he said quickly, almost throwing the bouquet into Stiles’ arms. The other man grinned as he saw the roses of different colours.
“Oh my” he whistled softly. “Colour me impressed. Going for the full date experience here, Big Bad?” he asked and Derek blushed.
“Yeah, I just wanted to, you know, do this properly.” Derek shoved his hands in his pockets and bounced uneasily back and forth on his feet. “To show you that I deserve you” he elaborated. “To apologize for what I did and…”
“Hey” Stiles gently cut him off with a finger against his lips. “This is going to be a fresh start, okay? For both of us.” Derek nodded and Stiles smiled. “Then let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” he suggested. “I’m prepared to be properly wooed” he declared, only to stumble on the threshold and fell into Derek’s arms, flailing wildly.
“I’m all right!” Stiles exclaimed as Derek helped him find his balance. “Totally all right here, nothing to worry about. And I’m so falling for you” he continued waggling his eyebrows and Derek groaned at Stiles’ ridiculous sense of humour.
“Shut up, Sourwolf, you know you love me.” And well, since Derek couldn’t argue against that so he just left it at that and got in the car instead.
::
When they arrived at the restaurant Derek had actually started to believe that he could treat Stiles to a perfect date night. It was a cosy, family owned establishment and it was relaxed enough that Stiles wouldn’t feel out of place, but the food was heavenly and their selection of wine was second to none of Beacon Hills’ restaurants. Sadly, that didn’t matter since everything seemed to go wrong from the moment that they sat down at the table. At first it took so long for them to get their drinks that they didn’t have the time for starters and had to order the main course straight away. Derek was disappointed, he knew that Stiles had never had scallops before and he’d wanted to give him a chance to try it. But it was nothing that they could do about it if they were to make it to the movie on time and they went straight for the salmon instead.
When it arrived it was not only served with asparagus that Stiles specifically had asked them not to, but it was also undercooked to the point of being completely raw in the middle.
“I know I said that I don’t mind sushi but this might be taking it a bit far” Stiles attempted to joke as he poked at his food.
“I’m so sorry” Derek stammered nervously. “Normally this place is great, I’ve been here with people from work a lot and…” He just wanted to go hide underneath the table and never come back out. Why had he chosen this restaurant if they were only going to destroy his and Stiles’ date?
“It’s not your fault, Derek” Stiles said, sensing his distress and placing a calming hand on his arm. “They might just have a bit of an off day or maybe they’re short of staff. It’ll be fine.” Derek tried to smile but he suspected it came out more as a grimace.
“Yeah, maybe” he just concurred and thankfully the waitress appeared with two new plates of food. She set them down on the table, bending down so low in front of Derek that her breasts threatened to fall out of her low-cut dress. Stiles giggled when he caught the look of pure horror on Derek’s face. Then he turned towards the food.
“Excuse me” he said, the laughter suddenly gone from his face. “We ordered the salmon.”
“Oh, right” she said disinterestedly, hardly tearing her eyes away from Derek. “We’re out of salmon, so I got you the sea bass instead. It’s served with spinach and a sauce with white wine.” She nodded her head towards the plate where a piece of fish was placed on top of a soggy mound of green leaves. “You don’t mind, do you gorgeous?” she added as an afterthought, clearly aiming the question at Derek, and she missed Stiles’ raised eyebrows. He knew that, when it came to food, there was nothing that Derek hated more than just spinach. And to be honest, Stiles wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of it either.
“Listen” Stiles said quietly after a quick glance at his cell phone. “We’re running out of time as it is, so why don’t we just leave now and quickly pick something up on the way to the movies instead? Even if they would make us something else right now we’ll be late.” Derek consulted his watch and realized that Stiles was right. His shoulders slumped but there was nothing to be done about the fact that their first dinner date would consist of food from the drive thru, eaten in the car. Also, between his frayed nerves and the horrible, gooey glob of spinach that was staring at him from the table, Derek had lost most of his appetite.
“I think we’ll just leave” he decided as he stood, addressing the waitress.
“What?” she exclaimed, grabbing his arm. “No wait, gorgeous, if you don’t like it I can get you something else. Just tell me what you like” she winked and slid her hand up to his shoulder to make him sit down again, making Derek’s skin itch where she’d touched him. Before he even had the time to bat her hand away Stiles had somehow managed to wedge himself in between the two of them and sent the waitress an icy glare.
“I’d appreciate if you’d keep your hands off my man, you hussy” he said tersely before planting a hand firmly on Derek’s ass and steering him out of the restaurant.
“Hussy? Really, Stiles?” Derek asked smirking as they got in the car.
“I couldn’t very well call her an outright slut right on front of the children in there, could I?” Stiles asked piously and Derek shook his head.
“No, of course not, heaven forbid that the children would hear something like that, but your little PDA was totally family friendly? Grabbing my ass is fine?”
“Oh, your ass is very fine, indeed” Stiles answered suggestively.
::
When they arrived at the movie theatre Derek prayed to every deity known to mankind that the rest of the evening would proceed smoothly. Of course that would be too much to hope for.
“What do you mean you’re not showing it today? I’ve already reserved the tickets online” Derek almost growled at the poor girl manning the ticket booth and Stiles looked at him in alarm. Derek took a calming breath to show Stiles that he wasn’t about to shift in front of the whole movie theatre and tried to adopt a friendlier tone of voice, as well as a less threatening facial expression. Something told him that he didn’t succeed completely as the girl continued to look at him warily and backed away a little from the counter.
“I’m so sorry, sir, but we’ve had some technical issues and unfortunately some of our movies are cancelled tonight. We will of course offer you a full refund or give you tickets to another movie, whichever you prefer.” Derek looked helplessly at Stiles who scanned the movie posters on the wall.
“What do you think?”
“I’ve heard that this one,” Stiles pointed out a poster for an action movie, “is supposed to be pretty good.”
“Oh, okay, ah, so, do you…?” Clearly this was all the proof that he needed to prove that he should never ever try anything that demanded improvisation Derek thought self-critically and cringed inwardly at his own stammering.
“Sure, if you want” Stiles answered and Derek accepted the new tickets with as much grace he could muster in his current state.
“Come on, Sourwolf, it’s not the end of the world” Stiles added trying to sound cheerful when he saw the morose look on Derek’s face. The next blow that hit the train-wreck of a date was however something that not even Stiles could ignore.
“What do you mean you don’t have any Reese’s?” Stiles asked in complete disbelief. The man selling sweets and snacks shrugged apologetically.
“Too much trouble with people with peanut allergy, easiest way to deal with it was to stop selling it completely. Can I get you gentlemen anything else?” In the end they settled for sodas, popcorn and some Skittles that Stiles had grudgingly settled with and they were ready for their movie.
“Can’t believe they haven’t got any Reese’s” Stiles muttered repeatedly as they settled in the theatre. “I mean, what the ever-loving fuck? Should be a minimum requirement for every snack selling establishment worth its name” he grumbled and Derek was torn between the urge to run out and get Stiles his candy and laugh at his ridiculousness. Ultimately he was saved from doing either of those things when the lights dimmed and the movie started playing. Derek finally relaxed. The movie was good, maybe it wouldn’t have been his first choice, but it was decent and Stiles seemed to like it well enough. That’s when disaster struck again.
“Bitch!”
“Ow, fuck! Let go, you stupid cunt!”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!” The angry voices of two girls sitting in the back row had amplified to the point where they actually drowned out the dialogue of the movie and several annoyed heads turned in their direction. Unfortunately, that didn’t deter the two of them the slightest and they continued to argue about whether the hero or the villain was the sexiest character. It might not have been his first choice of movie but since he’d paid for it and was currently in the theatre, Derek thought that the least that the universe could do was to let him watch it in peace. But since the universe sadly didn’t interfere to shut the two obnoxious teens up he guessed that he’d have to do it himself.
“No, please don’t” Stiles said as he noticed the other man was tensing and started to stand up. “It’s not worth it.” He took Derek’s hands into his own and the werewolf was surprised to see that his claws had come out.
“I know you’re on edge but please, you need to calm down” Stiles pleaded and Derek tried to match his breathing, inhale for inhale and exhale for exhale, until he could see his blunt, human nails again. “Go find someone who work here, will you? Have security throw them out” he suggested and Derek nodded and hurried away.
“Oh, come on!” Stiles let out an annoyed huff as the argument picked up in intensity, and volume. Just because they rather argue than watch the movie that didn’t mean that they should ruin the experience for everyone else. Throwing his hands up in the air in frustration he decided to talk to them and stomped over to the back row.
“Some of us are actually trying to watch the movie” he said somewhat pointedly. “Do you think that the two of you could keep it down a little, or maybe take your discussion elsewhere?”
“Oh, fuck off” one of the girls scoffed and flipped him off before she turned back to continue to insult her friend. In the meantime Derek had come back, accompanied by an employee and a security guard, and some of the other patrons moved in to try to break up the fight as well. When the girls realized that their time was up they seemed to decide that if they were going down, they were at least going to do it in style. They started hurling abuse at everyone in sight, throwing their snacks on the floor and upending their soda cans all over the place.
“You fucking assholes, the lot of you!”
“We paid to see the movie as well!”
“Don’t you fucking dare throw me out!” The security guard had managed to get hold on one of the girls and he started to walk her outside. She screamed and kicked and her friend, who had just minutes ago referred to her as a stupid cunt, moved in to help her.
“Hey!” Stiles darted forward to help pull her away from the poor security guard and that’s when it all went from bad to worse. The girl whipped around and raised her hand to hit Stiles but the floor was slippery with soda and she ended up losing her balance. Stiles tried to get out of the way but he missed his footing because of the stairs and the girl toppled him. They went down the stairs in a tangle of limbs and landed hard at the bottom, Stiles taking most of the force from the impact and hitting his head. He didn’t move and Derek’s heart nearly stopped at the sight.
::
When they finally got word from the doctor that Stiles would be fine Derek sank down on his chair as if all his strength had suddenly left him. Logically he knew that the injuries couldn’t have been too bad since Stiles had been mostly awake and lucid during the ride in the ambulance but seeing his mate so pale and still and helpless had rattled him deeply.
“You all right?” the Sheriff asked and Derek tried to pull himself together.
“Yeah, thanks” he answered and the Sheriff squeezed his shoulder.
“I’m just going to pop in there and say hi, then I need to get back to work but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you staying.”
“Yeah, well…” Derek hesitated. He’d told the Sheriff the long and sad tale about the date that had been pretty much disastrous from start to finish and he wasn’t so sure that Stiles wanted to see him right now.
“He’ll appreciate the company, son” the Sheriff said as if he could somehow read Derek’s mind. “And otherwise he might talk the nurses’ ears off when they come in to check on his concussion.” Derek had to admit that he was right. A Stiles that wasn’t allowed to read a book, watch TV or use a computer or a phone was a dangerously bored Stiles and no one wanted that to happen. Ever.
“I’ll be right there” Derek said. “Just going to the vending machine first, can I get you anything?” he asked and the Sheriff looked at him morosely.
“No, I suppose you better not” he sighed. “Stiles will skin you alive if he finds out and he always does. Thanks anyway, son.” Derek smiled and rounded the corner to get some Reese’s for Stiles. He dug out some loose change and plopped the money into the coin slot, quickly typing in the right code. The machine whirred, the candy was pushed forward and then… nothing. Derek looked up, surprised when he didn’t hear the tell-tale thump when the candy landed, and scowled when he saw that the orange packet was stuck between the shelf and the glass front. He knocked on the glass a few times, then he rattled the machine, but the candy stayed stubbornly put no matter what he did. Growling he put in more money, figuring that the second package would push the first out of the way, and it wasn’t as if Stiles would say no to more Reese’s anyway. He punched the code again, heard the whirring and then… nothing. Now both of the packets were stuck, taunting him from the other side of the glass pane and Derek lost it.
“That’s it! I’ve fucking had it!” With a roar he threw himself at the machine, wrapped both arms around it and shook it violently from side to side, kicking and snarling at it too for good measure.
At last the Reese’s came free and he ripped them out of the machine, denting the metal in the process, and marched off. He’d only made it a couple of steps away before a resounding crash came from behind him and he realized that he’d accidentally pushed the whole thing over. Derek let out a string of words that would have made him penniless if his daughter and the swear jar had been around to hear him and went to see Stiles. He better be damn grateful for the candy.
Stiles was in fact very grateful for the candy, and for the werewolf ability to take someone’s pain. And when the nurses had left the two of them alone and they were curled together on the narrow hospital bed, Derek actually felt that the disastrous date night had gotten a somewhat decent ending after all. He’d have preferred them to be in bed at home and without concussions and bruises but this was apparently as good as it was going to get today and he intended to savour every minute of it. He pulled Stiles even closer and buried his nose against the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Breathing in deeply he finally fell asleep.
::
“Daddy? Was it a good night last night?” Laura asked as she stirred the sugar into Derek’s coffee with great concentration. When Derek didn’t answer straight away she looked up and gently prompted: “Daddy?” Derek forced himself to return to here and now.
“No, sweetie, it wasn’t a very good night” he said and Laura looked at him sadly. “But that’s okay” he hurried to say when he saw the look on her face. “It’s like in school, you know, sometimes you have so much fun when you play with people and sometimes it’s less fun. It’s no one’s fault, it just happens.” Laura contemplated this for a second.
“Was Stiles being mean to you?” she then asked seriously.
“No, no” Derek said firmly. “Stiles was really nice to me.”
“And you weren’t being mean to him?” she continued sternly and couldn’t help Derek smiling at his daughter.
“No, I wasn’t. I promise” he said solemnly, holding out his finger for a pinky swear.
“Good.” They hooked their pinkies together and then Laura gave her dad a determined look. “I’ll help you plan your next date.” Derek looked helplessly at his daughter for ten seconds straight and then burst out laughing as he hugged her tightly to his chest.
“Thanks, pup” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.