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Stiles frowns as he hears the sniffling while walking through the library. He’s not sure what to make of it, especially since nobody else seems to hear it. Then again, with his ADHD he tends to hear and notice things other people don’t. You know, with the whole inability to filter out distractions. He shakes his head, deciding not to let this thing distract him from getting any studying done as he sits across a dark haired man and pulls out his books. The guy has his headphones on and is looking at his phone, Stiles can’t see his eyes. He’s probably taking a break from studying, judging from all the books around him. Or maybe he’s looking something up, watching a video to check information.
In all honesty, Stiles doesn’t have the time to care about it. His essay is due in two weeks and he’s been on a roll. He’s started hyper focusing last night, and hasn’t really slept since. Managed to write almost fifteen pages in one go. For all the downsides his ADHD gives him, some things are pretty good about it.
Well, at least not terrible.
He pulls out some books to start fact checking his work and listing sources correctly. But the guy across him is really distracting, and it’s not really helping him focus. In fact, it’s doing to opposite of that.
When Stiles gets up again to get another book he glances at the guy’s screen to find that he’s watching a video. His shoulders are shaking slightly, and he’s constantly wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
Stiles shakes his head as he returns to his seat and his books, pulling out his pen to list his sources so he can put them into his laptop later. As soon as he finds his charger back.
He manages to work for another forty five minutes before his curiosity gets the better of him. He closes his books and gets up to put them away. He just has to know what this guy is watching on his phone. He puts the books away and when he returns to the table he manages to glance at the guy’s phone.
“You’re watching the Lion King” Stiles says after a while, looking at the little screen over the man’s shoulder, “No wonder you were crying.”
“I wasn’t crying” he says defensively, as he wipes his eyes dry with the back of his hand, “Shut up.”
“I’m not judging” Stiles says, and he actually sounds sincere, “I always cry when watching the Lion King. I used to watch it with my mom before she – uhm.”
He feels his throat close up the moment he mentions his mother and freezes up, entirely, feeling the tears burn behind his eyes.
The man looks at him, slightly surprised and worried, “Are you okay?” he asks hesitantly, frowning slightly as Stiles tries to hide the tears welling up in his eyes.
“Fine – yes” he swallows, “Fuck – no.”
“What?” the stranger gets up, guiding Stiles towards the empty chair beside him, “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot” he whispers, his eyes wide in shock and sounding ashamed.
“Forgot what?” Derek’s completely lost on what to do, and he sucks at dealing with emotions. Especially other people’s emotions.
“Her birthday” he says, “It was last week. I forgot my mom’s birthday. I never forget her birthday.”
“Oh” Derek frowns again, he’s forgotten his mother’s birthday twice so far, “I’m sure she won’t be mad. Just send her a card or some flowers.”
Stiles looks up at him, shaking his head slightly, and Derek’s expression shifts.
“Oh” he replies, as it suddenly dawns on him, “I – I’m sorry.”
“It – it’s just” he swallows again, “Look at me? I’m pouring my heart out about my dead mother to a complete stranger. You must think I’m crazy or something.”
“No – I – I totally understand” he says, biting his lip, “I – uhm. The first time I forgot my mom’s birthday I locked myself in my room for three days.”
“You? She’s?” Stiles looks up at him again, his tears somehow making his whiskey colored eyes look lighter as Derek gives a small nod and a sad smile.
“Yeah” he says, biting his lip before continuing, “I felt terrible about myself. Like I failed her. But then I realized that she wouldn’t want me to feel bad for myself for – well. It’s difficult to explain. But my sister, she said it was a good sign that I forgot. It means I gave the pain a place somehow. Before I used to just visit her and be sad about it. Now it’s – different. Better, I guess.”
“What do you do now?” Stiles asks uncertain, wringing his hands together in his lap as he looks at Derek.
“I eat pancakes for breakfast. They were her favorite. She used to make them for us on special occasions” he smiles warmly at the memory, “And then I meet up with my sisters, and we visit a museum together. She loved art. She would visit a museum and drive us crazy because she’s spent hours in there. Insisting on reading every single plaque at every single painting. Sometimes I work in the garden, she loved flowers. And other times – when I want to feel close to her – I volunteer at the homeless shelter. There’s people there that remember her. First time I went there, three years ago, some woman came up to me and asked how my mother was doing. Started telling me some stories about her.”
“That sounds nice” Stiles smiles weakly, tears still streaming down his face, “It’s just me and my dad. He usually works on the bad days.”
“Oh” Derek sighs again as he looks at him, “That sucks.”
“Maybe – but I get it” he shrugs, biting his bottom lip and taking a breath, “You don’t have to do this, you know? Trying to make me feel better…”
“Maybe I want to make you feel better” Derek smiles at him, “At least let me try and cheer you up. What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?”
Stiles snorts and wipes his eyes again, “You know – I wouldn’t actually mind seeing that” he says, Derek smiles at him and Stiles returns the smile, “Thanks…”
“Derek” he says, Stiles smiles and takes Derek’s outstretched hand to shake it.
“I’m Stiles” he says, wiping the final tears from his cheeks and eyes.
“Stiles. How about we get out of this stuffy library and go get some coffee” Derek says, Stiles grins.
“Yeah, that sounds nice” he says, letting Derek pull him up from the chair.
They both pack up their stuff and Stiles follows Derek out of the library.
“So – where are we going?” he asks after a while, Derek smiles at him.
“Elephant graveyard” he says, Stiles frown for a moment before he gets it and gives him a slight shove.
“Very funny” he smirks, as he follows Derek into a diner, “This looks like a good spot to rustle up some grub.”
“Tastes like chicken” Derek replies as he holds the door open for him, “They serve good drinks at this watering hole.”
“Good” Stiles smiles as they sit down across each other, “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole zebra.”
“I think they’re fresh out of zebra” Derek says, a playful smile on his lips.
“Antelope?” he asks, Derek shakes his head, “Hippo?”
“Nope” he smirks as he hands him a menu, “You want to hang with us, you’re gonna have to eat like us.”
“I think I can manage that” Stiles says, taking the menu and looking at it before ordering curly fries just like Derek.
They talk, waiting for their food to arrive, and they talk while they eat. Stiles never realized how much fun he could have just talking to someone. They mostly discuss movies, Stiles talks about his mother – something that’s usually much more difficult for him – and they share memories about their family.
“This was nice” Derek smiles as they leave the diner, deciding to split the bill between them, “Would you – maybe – want to do this again?”
“Yeah, I would” he smiles, “I never met anyone who knew as many Lion King quotes as I do.”
“I got another one” Derek smirks as he crowds Stiles against a wall, “Pinned ya.”
“Hey, let me up” he says with a weak smile as Derek releases him. They walk a bit further, making their way to the dorms and the deserted communal lounge where they sit down on the couch together.
They’re close, their legs pressed against each other and their pinkies touching – both hesitant to grab the other’s hand. He looks up, meeting Derek’s eyes, and watches as the other man smiles at him before leaning forwards and capturing him in a kiss.
“Pinned ya again.”