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The year was 2005. Stiles and Derek were in a band called the California Houligans. It was Stiles' band. He had bankrolled their equipment and built their home studio from his mother's bountiful inheritence which Stiles came into when he turned 18. Stiles played the keyboards, Derek played guitar along with Jackson and Erica and sang the lead vocals with all of them. He and Stiles were also an item. Rounding out the band were Scott on bass, Boyd on drums, Lydia on trumpet, Isaac on trombone, Liam on woodwinds and Jordan on percussion. They also had the assistance of Bret as their roadie and sound man.
The Houligans were building up a fond following in Sacramento and the surrounding areas. All the audiences they played to lauded them for their retro rock/pop vibe and how different they sounded from every other performing act on the radio. They were being felt out by Alan Deaton, a producer and the CEO of Rat Gut Records, a Los Angeles-based label that had made a name for itself by plugging similar performers to the Houligans. The deal was still being formulated, when -
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"WHAT?!?!?!"
Stiles and the other eight bandmates were aghast. Derek had just dropped a bombshell on the lot of them.
"You're joining Theo's band?" gasped Scott, "Why?"
"Yeah Derek," said the usually-quiet Vernon Boyd, "you told the rest of us what a mediocre musician he is, how abusive he can be and how you always thought his overly trendy attitude was going to lead him nowhere."
"I've changed my mind," said Derek, "I've listened to the recent stuff he's been doing with Matt and Ennis. They've come a long way. I'm sure they are the ones who have the direct line to commercial success. I want to work with them."
"Please tell me you're pulling a fast one here, my love," begged Stiles. He didn't want to hear what Derek said next, but he could sense it coming.
"That's another thing, Stiles," said Derek, "You and I are through. You're a good man, but you're not what I thought I was looking for. You are beginning to suffocate me."
Everybody stood in shocked silence. They had seen Stiles' and Derek's relationship blossom and how much each of them completed the other. They had never been apart since the band had been started. Why was this happening now?
"This is preposterous, Derek," protested Erica, not a gal to be tested if she saw injustice in the works, "You and Stiles complete each other both musically and emotionally. Where he stops, you begin, and vice versa. If you go through with this, both of you are going to die young and incomplete. Trust me."
Derek burst out laughing. "Erica, your flair for the dramatics is definitely up to scratch. However, you are exaggerating. Maybe, you shouldn't let Boyd whisper so many sweet nothings in yur ear."
Scott stomped his foot on the floor. "Derek, don't you be a hypocrite," he snarled, "Theo is the one doing all the whispering. You also told us how jealous and coniving he is. He's been trying to Shang Hai you since we were in school, and you've let him do it!"
Dead silence filled the studio. Scott and Derek were sizing each other up. Stiles could tell that a fight might insue. To break the silence, he stepped toward his life partner, determined to try getting him to see sense.
"Derek," said Stiles, "please don't go. I need you. I can't see going through life without you in my life or this band. What the others have said is the truth. We complete each other. You will not get that from Raekeen. Don't leave me."
Derek smirked at Stiles and said in a condescending voice, "I'll see you around the corner, that is, if I even think of coming back to Beacon Hills after Raekeen goes platinum."
He started to reach for the guitar he played. In a flash, Stiles had looked at Scott, and the latter had seized the guitar in its case before Derek could even touch it.
"OH NO YOU DONT!" the two best friends yelled at Derek.
"Are you crazy?" cried Derek, "Last I checked, that belonged to - "
"It belongs to me," Stiles said, his voice and jaw set, "I'm the one who paid for it. I never once said you had the right to just take it or any other piece of equipment with you to join the guys in Raekeen, did I?"
It was another stony silence. In a much calmer voice, Stiles continued. "It'll still be here when you come to your senses and return. I know you will. Until that time, you'll have to fend for yourself and buy another guitar out of your own wallet - or have Theo give you one to play in Raekeen. The choice is yours."
Derek advanced on Stiles and slapped him. Stiles held up a hand to the others to hold still. Liam started crying. Jackson enfolded Liam in his arms to try calming him down. "Don't cry, sweetheart," he told his lover tenderly.
Stiles pointed at the outside exit from the basement studio. Derek slouched out with a look on his face that Stiles knew to be a combination of anger, stubbornness and conflict.
"I can't believe you didn't retaliate when he hit you, Stiles," said Lydia. Jordan and Bret nodded in agreement with her.
"I have a suspicion that he'll be back when the same thing has happened to him. I know Theo. Not only will he go cheap on Derek if Derek asks him about getting him a new guitar, but I once saw Theo kicking the Vesuvious out of Danny Mahealani when he didn't think anyone could see them together. Theo hasn't changed, and neither has his style, music or otherwise. The Derek I know won't suffer a hackneyed Ike Turner Also-Ran."
"Chances are that you're right, man," said Scott. The others agreed.
Stiles then followed Derek out the door and watched him heading down the drive toward his Chevrolet. Stiles raised his voice and sang the lead vocal from a Chicago song he liked.
"What you're missing could have been yours from the start.
You won't listen when it's coming from the heart.
Now you're missing me. You'll find that out when we're apart."
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And, how long did that Raekeen lineup of Derek, Theo, Matt and Ennis last? Less than a week. Derek sat and listened to the others playing at a rehearsal, tried to find his place in the mix, brought up that he needed help finding a new guitar and immediately incurred the wrath of Theo, his half-hearted dreaming and his short temper. There was no gigging schedule, they didn't want to practice more than twice a month and their rehearsal facility was shoddy. (He also had no intention of supplying Derek with another guitar, even if Derek promised to pay back the cost.) Before that rehearsal was over, Theo had hauled off with no provocation and hit Derek in the face before shoving him against a wall. Derek looked at Matt and Ennis at their stations, but they just shrugged and looked in opposite directions. Derek knew exactly where he stood. All three members of Raekeen were drug addicts. That was where their money went. It also explained why Theo's bass amp sounded like it was made out of discarded engine parts, several keys of Matt's synthesizer were busted and one of Ennis' turntables needed a new belt.
So much for getting into a band that was up to the minute. Derek grabbed his coat and peeled out of the rehearsal room. He was starting to wonder if his Camero was safe where he'd parked it. Fortunately when he reached the curb, there was the one and only Stiles, standing six feet away from the Camero with his eyes trained on the vehicle.
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"Stiles?" Derek called.
"I was trying to keep an eye on it, that's all," said Stiles, "I wouldn't have let it come to any harm."
"Why," asked Derek, "after what I did?"
"I had a feeling, "Stiles responded, "that something would go wrong. I have to confess, I was eavesdropping. I heard what happened and what he did to you. Are you all right?"
Derek's mouth fell open. There was a small bruise forming on his left cheek where he'd been hit. He was struggling to say something more, but his voice kept catching.
"Give me the keys," said Stiles, "I'll take you home or wherever you'd like to go, but you're in no condition to drive."
Derek obliged, handing his keys to his estranged life partner. Their hands touched, and the emptiness Derek felt was immediately quenched. He appeared to sleepwalk to the passenger side, open the door in an ungainly fashion and stumble into the seat. As Stiles reached for his hand from the driver side, Derek did something he hadn't done since he was ten years old and burst into tears. Stiles took him in his arms and let him sob without restraint into his shoulder.
"It's okay, baby," said Stiles, "let it come. I'll always be here, no matter how you treated me."
When Derek pulled himself together, he looked at Stiles with bloodshot eyes that looked like they were seeing for the first time. "Stiles," he said, "what are the chances that the California Houligans will take me back - that YOU'LL take me back?"
"About 100% where I'm concerned. We'll have to allow the rest of the Houligans to decide for themselves, but chances are good that it'll be unanimous. Everybody loves and misses you, Derek."
"What about the contract with Rat Gut?" asked Drek, "Did my flight do anything to jeopardize the deal?"
"I've contacted Deaton and let him know that we were on standby because of a *possible* change in personel," said Stiles, "He says he'll be patient. He believes in us and thinks we've got a future. He'll probably take us any way we slice it, but everyone would prefer it if you were back on board."
"Take me home, Stiles."
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Before he started the car and headed back to the Stillinski house, Stiles sent a group text to the others, asking them to hold an emergency meeting. By the time they pulled into the drive, the other eight members were waiting outside. They al went in together, and Stiles got right to the point. Derek had stormed out of the Raekeen rehearsal after Theo had hit him, and he wished to rejoin the California Houligans. When Stiles asked for a show of hands, everyone but Scott obliged. When Derek looked at him imploringly, Scott yelled "GOTCHA!" and went to hug his best friend's partner. Everyone cheered, laughed and cried in equal measure.
The contract was solidified. California Houligans would record six albums before the deal was renegotiated. The eponymous debut was issued early the following year, and it topped the charts within 3 weeks, staying in the charts for 54 weeks, paving the way for five other platinum albums. Derek's misgivings about playing with a band that transcended trends immediately became a thing of the past.
As for Raekeen - who are they?