Work Text:
Derek’s whole face lit up when he saw the familiar boy walking into the café. He smiled at him and received a little nod in return.
Derek felt a stab of pain in his right side and turned to look at his sister. “What did you do that for?” she had jabbed her elbow into his ribs.
“Is that him?” she asked, excitement clear in her voice. Reluctantly, Derek nodded.
“Yes! Remember that bet you lost?” Laura asked with a tone that Derek had heard a lot of times before. That tone was the reason Derek had walked around with green hair for three weeks in Junior year, and that tone was why Derek had a phobia for bubble baths. Yeah, don’t ask. It wasn’t exactly pretty.
Unfortunately, Derek had lost that bet Laura was talking about, so he nodded. “Good, because now you have to go ask him out.” Laura smirked at Derek. Not for the first time, Derek wondered why he even talked to Laura anymore. When he left for college, he could have easily cut all contact with her, but seeing as she was his last family apart from his uncle, he had opted not to. Now, he sort of regretted that choice.
“Urgh.” Derek sighed as he stood up. “why do you have to meddle in my life all the time?” he asked her and she began smirking again. “Derek, we both know that you would have no friends if it weren’t for me.”
And she was right. Derek had 3 close friends. Boyd, Erica and Isaac. Boyd and Laura had dated for a little while, and Laura had forced Derek to spend some time with him.
Derek had expected to hate him, but Boyd turned out to be down to earth and very much like Derek himself. They became friends, and when Laura and Boyd broke it off, they stayed friends. Then Erica and Boyd began dating, and Derek found himself with another friend.
He didn’t particularly like Erica in the beginning, but she grew on him.
It was also Laura who introduced Isaac and Derek. How they knew each other, Derek had never found out, but she one day she had just shown up at Derek’s door with Isaac and then they had eaten dinner.
So yeah, Laura was the one to thank for Derek’s friends not being non-existent. And that was the only reason why Derek got up and walked towards his crush. Well that, and then also because Laura was fucking terrifying when she wanted revenge.
When Derek got to Stiles’ table in the café, Stiles looked up. He was wearing glasses, which was a new look on him. “Hey,” Derek said as he sat down beside Stiles.
“Um, hi?” Stiles answered, sounding confused. Derek looked up at Stiles but found himself looking down at the table again. God, he was nervous.
“So, I was actually wondering… Would you like to grab coffee or something sometime?” Derek looked up at Stiles, who looked confused. “As a date.” Derek added quickly.
Stiles’ face did something weird, then, before ending in a grimace that could only be described as ‘not good’.
“I’m very flattered, but uh… No. You seem awesome and all, but I’m uh, not into guys?” Stiles scratched his neck awkwardly, and Derek felt his ears redden. “and I have a girlfriend.” At that, Derek raised his eyes to meet Stiles’ again.
“You do? I had no idea.” Derek said involuntarily. All he really wanted to do was get up and leave, so he could wallow in his misery a little. But he was also curious.
“yeah, Lydia. We’ve been together for a few months.” At that comment, Stiles got a dreamy look in his eyes, and Derek took that as his cue to leave. He mumbled a ‘bye’ before returning to his sister.
“I’m going home.” He said and walked out the door. Laura, luckily, took the hint and didn’t bother him or run after him.
When Derek got home, he started some loud music and began working out. That always helped him when he was in a bad mood.
It was his own fault. He had actually believed that Stiles liked him back and that they could become a couple. But he was, once again, wrong. God, he just couldn’t pick the right ones, could he? But Stiles had felt right. Derek decided to go for a run. That would help.
He put on his running shoes and went out the door. He took his preferred route through campus, pushing himself to run faster than ever. When he got home, he took a shower and got to bed.
The next morning, he felt better. It surprised him how hard it had hit him to get rejected by Stiles. He hadn’t even known that he was in love with him. He just thought it was a little crush.
A few days passed and Derek had successfully avoided Stiles when the fall break started. He spent the break working out, doing homework and grading papers. He had this T.A. job at college where he helped teach and grade papers for extra credit. Derek really liked it, if he was being honest. He was going to grad school right now, studying History and Spanish, and after getting this T.A. job he had found out that he wanted to become a teacher.
Derek was sitting at café, drinking coffee and grading papers. “Jesus, it can’t be that hard to remember that it’s called ‘Tengo 20 años’ and not ‘estoy 20 años’!” Derek exclaimed angrily.
“Is it that bad?” a voice laughed behind him and Derek winced when he recognized it. Stiles. His heart did a little barrel roll at the sound of his voice. Stiles sat down beside Derek and pushed a coffee towards him.
“Looked like you might need some more.” He explained with a small smile. “It’s your favorite. Black coffee, one espresso shot and 2 sugar cubed.” Stiles listed up. Derek felt a familiar, warm feeling in his chest because Stiles had remembered his order, but he pushed it away. Stiles didn’t like him. He had a girlfriend.
“Thanks.” Derek ended up saying, looking back at the papers. He hoped that Stiles would take the hint, but of course he didn’t.
“Oh dude, give yourself a break.” Stiles grinned and took the pen out of Derek’s hand. “so, what’s up? It’s been a while since we last saw each other.” Stiles stated. “yeah, uh. It’s just busy with all these papers to grade, you know?” Derek answered. Then he remembered that he probably had to ask back. That would be the polite and friendly thing to do. No reason to make it even more awkward and stilted than it already was by being an asshole. “And what about you? How’s it going?”
Stiles grinned at him. “It’s going awesome, dude! I just got this T.A. position in Mythology. It’s starting after the Christmas break and I cant wait.” Derek smiled at him. “That’s awesome. And your friends? Lydia?” Derek asked. He didn’t know them personally, but every time they talked, Stiles would mention them.
“Well, Scott just proposed to Allison and she said yes! They’re planning on a wedding in May and I’m going to be the best man. Lydia is going to be the Maid of Honor and she will also be helping them plan the wedding, which I think she is really looking forward to.”
“That’s perfect, huh. The best man and the maid of honor.” Derek said, and he was proud to say that he didn’t sound as bitter as he felt. Stiles just looked a little confused and nodded.
“Yeah.” The conversation stopped a little and the silence that fell over them wasn’t pleasant. Derek went back to grading the papers and Stiles took out his phone. Derek didn’t get why he stayed. Derek certainly wouldn’t stay if someone he didn’t like had asked him out.
“Okay, so I know the wedding isn’t until May, but…” Stiles trailed off and looked outside. He waved at someone before looking back at Derek. “Will you be my date at the wedding?” Stiles blurted out and Derek visibly recoiled. Stiles made a grimace similar to the one he had when he turned Derek down.
Derek had no idea what was going on. “What?” he asked. He couldn’t possibly have heard right. Stiles had clearly expressed that he had no interest in Derek what so ever. He wasn’t even into boys! And he had a girlfriend!
Stiles cleared his throat and repeated the question. “Will you be my date to Scott and Allison’s wedding?”
“I don’t… I don’t understand.” Derek admitted and Stiles sighed. “Forget it. It wasn’t a good idea anyway.” He said and stood up. “Have a nice day, Derek.” And then he turned around and walked away.
“No, wait, Stiles!” Derek called out after him and Stiles stopped in the middle of his step. “Come back here?” Derek asked and Stiles complied.
“What I meant is, that I don’t understand why you’re asking me that. I mean, you’re not even into guys!” Derek exclaimed. He had no idea how he looked right now, but a good guess would be confused and frustrated.
“What do you mean I’m not into guys? I’m 100 percent into guys. I’m bisexual, Derek, I thought you knew that?” Stiles sounded a little annoyed. “But… you told me?” Derek said. He was so confused right now, he didn’t even know what was up and down. But he was also annoyed and a little angry. What did Stiles mean he was bisexual? A week ago, he rejected Derek and told he wasn’t into guys! This was just toying with Derek’s feelings.
“I told you what, Derek?” Stiles asked.
“You told me that you weren’t into guys! Last week, when I asked you out!” Derek began yelling. “You told me ‘no’ and that you had a girlfriend, too!” Derek was so frustrated.
“No, I didn’t?” Stiles sounded unsure but suddenly, his face changed. “Oh no. God, Derek, you have to know, that wasn’t me! I don’t have a girlfriend and I would have never rejected you. Goddammit, Stuart.”
Now Derek was back to being confused. “Stuart?” he asked.
“Yeah, Stuart, my twin. He’s dating Lydia right now and I would bet my right arm that you asked him out.” Stiles explained and Derek felt that warm, fussy feeling again. It felt a little like hope and love.
“So, I’ll ask you again, now that we have that settled. Will you be my date for the wedding? I have wanted to ask you out for months, if I’m being honest.” Stiles added and Derek smiled.
“Yeah, I’d love that.” He admitted as he leaned forward. When their lips touched, Derek couldn’t help but smile. It ruined the kiss a little, but he didn’t really mind. It was perfect anyway.
Half a year later, Stiles and Derek stood together with their hands linked while they watched Scott and Allison say their ‘I do’s.