Chapter Text
Stiles looked around his new apartment, happy that his dad kept all of his old things. It looked so much more like home compared to where he lived before. There was only one downside of moving across the country to New York, and that would be that his dad was so far away. Also his new, extremely hot, neighbour.
He met Mr. Grouchy one night when he was working on unpacking. He might have had his music up a little loud, but not loud enough to disturb others. The walls in the apartment must be thinner than he originally thought because he had Mr. Grump-Face pounding on his door telling him to turn it down.
Did Stiles think he wanted to climb the surly man like a tree? Yes. But he also just got out of a terrible relationship, hence the move. Only his dad knew where he was now. He didn’t even tell Scott it was that bad.
Stiles was locking up his front door to head out when he saw Mr. Grumpy getting out of the elevator. He smiled and waved at the man, only to receive a glare as he brushed past. Stiles rolled his eyes and went to the elevator.
“Why do all the hot ones have to be assholes?” he mutters under his breath as he calls the elevator. He hears a snort behind him and looks back, finding Mr. Grumpy chuckling. He feels his heart flutter, the small smile doing things to him.
“Nope, bad Stiles.” He turns back around and gets in the elevator. He sighs and drops his head back against the wall. He can simp, but no actually falling for people.
He grabbed a coffee from Starbucks before heading into the office. He knew staying in the field he was in was dangerous, but he didn’t want to do anything else. Being a graphic and web designer gave him so much flexibility on where he worked. He could go back and visit his dad eventually, or work from home if he got sick.
But staying in the field meant that Mason could find him. Thankfully, he never gave him his real name. So everything here was under his birth name, the one no one used to know at all. Only his dad, but that’s only because he gave him his name.
“Good Morning, Erica!” Stiles dropped one of the extra coffees he bought for the secretary on her desk.
“Well, if it isn’t my favourite Batman. Always saving me with caffeine.” Erica happily took the offered coffee.
“Of course, catwoman!” Stiles waved as he went over to his cubicle. He had only been here for a couple of months, but he knew Erica and Boyd from High School. It made him so happy when he came in for an interview and not only saw Erica, but was interviewed by Boyd himself.
“Hey, Boss Man!” Stiles went into Boyd’s office and dropped his coffee on his desk.
“Thanks, Stiles. I sent you a new project. Think you could finish it by the end of the day?” Boyd gave him an apologetic look.
“Excuse you, I’ll have it done before lunch.” Stiles winked as he left, Boyd chuckling as he retreated. He got to his desk and pulled out his laptop, scanning the office while he waited for his laptop to load.
“Hey, Stiles. Big Boss wants you to look over the website again. Apparently, there is a link that's busted on the info page?” Erica read off her phone.
“I’ve never even met the man and he’s more demanding than anyone I’ve dated.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “I told him I could completely redo it. But no, he wants me to do it bit by bit.”
“Hey, no shooting the messenger.” Erica teased.
“Like I could ever hurt you, you’re too pretty. I keep the pretty ones alive so I can keep looking at them.” Stiles grins, enjoying Erica’s cackle as she leaves. Stiles worked for a marketing and security company. Weird combination, but apparently the owner had an interest in both and created a company that has the best online security and web designs.
No one here knew who the owner was, except Erica and Boyd. Every time something needed done, it would be relayed through the two of them. Stiles was somewhat tempted to hack into the system and figure it out. But he didn’t want to risk his job because of his curiosity.
He didn’t lie to Boyd earlier, he got the project sent to him done by lunch and sent it off for approval before moving on to fixing their website. He swore the owner kept breaking things on purpose just to have Stiles fix it.
By the time the day is done, Stiles is slightly annoyed by the owner, but not enough to leave the job. It was really well paying and because of Erica and Boyd, he was able to keep a low profile. The two didn’t even ask anything about his birth name, they just rolled with it. Almost like they could tell he was anxious.
When Stiles finally got back to his place, all he wanted to do was make some pasta and have a bath. Sitting in cramped up positions all day made him stiff and he absolutely loved the clawfoot tub that came with the place.
After his bath, he gets a craving for cookies and pouts when he doesn’t have any. Deciding to make some, Stiles gets to work. He turns on a playlist, making sure to keep it down, as he works. He might sing along at some points, but that's for him to know.
“I can’t hear you, I don’t fear you now!” He sings. God he loves this song now, it makes him feel redeemed. And it speaks to him, he wants to get to that point one day.
He pulls out the first batch and sets it off to the side to cool while the next batch comes out. He decides to dance around his kitchen, just having fun while he waits. He might run into the counter a few times, but who cares.
“Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that’ll never stop, woah. Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip til you just go pop! Woah.” He moves on to put some of the cookies into a container and pauses. What better way to get on someone's good side than giving them cookies?
“Alright, Mr. Grumpy-Ass. This is the ultimate test. If you refuse cookies, then we can never be.” He moves some onto a plate before covering them. “I know, I’m so sorry. But if you cannot eat a cookie, then we can never be together.”
Stiles grins as he goes to his front door, Harry Potter slippers on, and leaves. He walks next door and knocks, waiting for the door to open. It doesn’t take long, and Stiles is surprised to see the man not looking too grumpy. Hell, if he didn’t know any better he would say he looked amused.
“Hey, so. Sorry about me being noisy and all. Cookies.” Stiles blurts out and holds out the plate.
“At ten o’clock at night?” He leans against the door, crossing his arms. Stiles has to hold back the drool when those muscles flex.
“Wait, shit is it that late?” Stiles would check his phone, but he still has cookies. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he looks down at the cookies in Stiles’ hands. “And if I say no to the cookies?”
“Then I would be severely offended and never talk to you again.” Stiles pouts a little. So it was never meant to be. He shall just simp from a safe distance.
“Tempting,” the man chuckles. “But they smell amazing, so I’ll take them.”
“Oh thank god,” Stiles sighed when they were taken from him, earning a raised eyebrow. “Hey, I could not live next to a cookie hater. I would move instantly.”
“Too bad, I would miss out on the Disney music.” The man smirks, making Stiles balk. “Have a good night.”
The next thing he knew, the door is closed in his face and he was standing in the hallway looking like a dumbass. He slowly makes his way back to his door and pauses, looking back at the other man's door.
“I swear I kept it low today.”