Work Text:
Derek stood in the middle of his bedroom in his new apartment. The dresser fits where he’d imagined as well as the smaller desk that he’d picked up from a curb on his way home from work one day. The only thing missing was a bed. Well, he’d gotten a mattress at a reasonable price, but there was no bed frame for it. He’d had one and would’ve gladly brought it with him if his ex hadn’t decided to reenact The Burning Bed when he told her that he wanted to end their relationship and would be moving out as soon as he found a place.
Thankfully, he had a neighbor who didn’t leave the house much and heard him shouting for help. The guy had burst through the front door already on the phone with 911 and a fire extinguisher in hand. Derek had never been happier to see a person in his life. While he’d managed to save Derek, the frame had been a total loss. The bed frame he’d gotten from his parents when he’d moved out on his own for the first time was the last thing they had given him before being killed in a car accident.
Not only had Stiles saved his life, but he’d also offered Derek the apartment over his detached garage. The fire had only been last week, and after staying with his sister while Kate was arrested and arraigned, he returned to move into the apartment. Banging outside the door drew his attention.
Crossing through the small space, he pulled open the door to find Stiles standing at the top of the stairs running along the side of the garage. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead, and he hung over the top of something large and covered by a tarp.
“Hello?” Derek said with raised eyebrows.
“Dude, are you going to let me in?” Stiles asked, his smile open and friendly enough to bring an answering one to Derek’s face.
“It’s your place,” Derek responded but moved out of the way, watching as Stiles stretched his arm to pick up the tarp-covered item.
Derek held up his hands to steady him as he staggered under the weight. He placed the object just inside the bedroom door before turning around. “Be right back,” he said and disappeared from the apartment. “No peeking!” he shouted up the stairs just as Derek was reaching to lift the tarp.
Derek heard thudding and hurried to find Stiles making his way up the stairs with a smaller but still substantial tarp-covered object. Derek stayed out of his way and fell into step behind Stiles as he made his way to the bedroom again. He started to ask Stiles what was under the tarps, but Stiles hurried out of the room and down the stairs again.
Derek swore he would get whiplash if this kept up, but he had to admit his curiosity over Stiles’ behavior kept him rooted to the spot, waiting for him to reappear. A lot of rattling and cursing proceeded Stiles this time, and he entered the bedroom carrying bed rails.
Derek looked between Stiles setting the rails on the ground and the tarp-covered objects. “Is this a bed frame?”
Stiles looked up. “No peeking!” Derek looked pointedly at the rails. “Oh, well, then…surprise!” He let go of the rails and made jazz hands, his face sheepish.
Derek reached for the tarps and yanked them off to reveal a frame made of the same cherry wood as Derek’s dresser and desk. Running his hand over the wood, he traced the design, a tree with wide branches and expansive roots covering the entire square headboard. The footboard mirrored with a slice of the design. The overall effect was breathtaking.
“These are gorgeous,” Derek said reverently. “Where did you find them?”
“I made them,” Stiles responded, standing up and coming to take one end of the headboard. “Help me move this over there, so we can attach it. Derek did as he asked, noticing that Stiles had leaned the mattress and box spring against the far wall.
“You made them?”
“Do you know what I do for work?” Stiles asked. Derek shook his head, holding the headboard steady while Stiles attached the frames. “I’m a woodworker. Mostly, I make furniture. It’s why I heard you screaming because I was walking from the house to the workshop when you started screaming, and I saw the smoke.”
“Stiles, I can’t take this. It’s too much,” Derek said, still following Stiles when he went to get the footboard.
“Dude, you’d be doing me a favor taking this. It was a custom order that didn’t work out. It’s just been gathering dust in the workshop.”
Derek hated the idea of a beautiful furniture piece hidden away from the world, but he didn’t think his bedroom would be getting much foot traffic either, to be honest. They finished assembling the bed and putting the mattress and box spring in place in silence. “Are you sure about this? It should be in a showcase.”
Stiles shrugged. “At least I know the person sleeping in it will appreciate it,” he told him.
“Let me pay you for it, at least,” Derek said.
“Nah. You’ve been through enough.” Stiles ran a hand through his hair, and Derek traced the lean muscles of his biceps he hadn’t previously noticed.
“At least let me take you to dinner,” Derek rushed out. “I mean, it’ll take multiple dinners to make up for this bed. Probably dinners for at least a year or two.”
A grin spread across Stiles’ face making his eyes sparkle in the light shining through the windows. “It’s a date. Or, well, many dates,” Stiles responded before hurrying out of the apartment. “Pick me up at seven!”
Derek shook his head, wondering what he’d gotten into just by wanting to reimburse Stiles for his hard work. He headed into the shower to get ready for his date, and if by the end of the night, Derek wasn’t the only one sleeping in the bed, well, that was just between them.