Chapter Text
Thursdays. Stiles never could get the hang of Thursdays. His mother had died on a Thursday, he’d lost his first job on a Thursday, and his first serious relationship ended on a Thursday. Thursdays gave you a lot of false hope, because the next day was Friday which meant the weekend was almost there, but then you ended up disappointed because you still had an entire workday left in the week where things could go utterly wrong.
It only stands to reason, then, that he met Derek Hale on a Thursday. Stiles was one of the many character animators for PIXAR and that day they were finally meeting the voices of the characters that had been picked for the movie. Animation of the characters was one of the last steps before the final product was made and getting to watch the voice actors go through their lines and see how they move added an extra depth to the movie.
Derek Hale had been chosen as the voice for the Big Bad Wolf in the animated movie about Little Red Riding Hood where the Wolf was actually helping save Red from an evil witch that was trying to kill her by pretending to be her grandmother. Stiles had actually been very excited about the story when it had originally been pitched because he was a big fan of wolves and wanted a story where they weren’t the bad guy.
(The Amanda Seyfried movie does not count because the wolf is a bad guy, even if another wolf does save the day.)
In the beginning, Stiles had not known that the Thursday he met Derek was going to be another one of those days. It took years for that to become clear because, at first, it looked like that Thursday was going to wipe the slate clean of all Thursdays. Derek was extremely handsome if a bit shy and had a very quiet sassiness about him that Stiles enjoyed.
Working closely together to get the manners of the Wolf figured out led to a first date within only a week. Derek had invited Stiles to his place for a home cooked dinner and a B-movie (Tremors) that they could trash talk and enjoy together. Surprisingly, they did not have sex that first night but they did after their second date only two days later, this time at Stiles’ apartment.
While working together, because both of them wanted to stay completely professional, they didn’t tell anyone about their dating each other. This meant 6 long months of staying secret. By the end of the animation set up, before everything was moved to effect animation where Danny was in charge and the musical score could be added, Stiles and Derek were in a complete relationship. Once everything was handed over to Danny, Stiles and Derek could come out to their friends and family as being a couple.
The first hint of trouble was that, once they were free to come out, Derek said they could tell all the people who mattered but that they should hold off on coming out to the rest of the world. He said he wanted it to be just them, not have the paparazzi in the middle of their lives, but also because he hadn’t come out as a gay actor yet and was worried about it affecting him getting jobs.
Stiles understood and was fully willing to keep it as a secret because he wanted to keep his private life private too, as long as he got to introduce Derek to his dad the Sheriff.
Sheriff Stilinski had been very stern that first meeting but at the end of the night he’d patted Derek on the shoulder and said “Goodbye, son. Make sure you both visit soon.” Meeting Derek’s family had gone just about as well for Stiles and the merging of the friends had been seamless. In fact, Stiles’ best friend Scott McCall, a famous movie director, ended up dating one of Derek’s actor friends, Allison Argent, for a few months before they broke up because of too much time spent apart for work.
Derek and Stiles continued to be a strong couple, even if it was mostly behind the scenes. Derek still refused to mention anything to the press and Stiles was becoming more upset about it the longer it went on which caused more and more arguments between them, but they tried to make things work out the best they could. Derek was even hired on his own merit, as Stiles had not even known about it, to star in what would be a HUGE blockbuster directed by Scott. Derek Hale was the new Punisher, lending to the character a bit more of a relatable edge than just a revenge wanting killing machine.
It would be no surprise to anyone that, when the movie wrapped up, one of the Punisher costumes disappeared from set (to be enjoyed, at length, in a bit of sexual roleplay at Derek’s mansion).
When the problem finally started was a month after their second year anniversary. Stiles was living in Derek’s mansion more often than not by then but, because Derek still hadn’t come out, it was under the guise of them just being best friends and they made sure to stay just friendly whenever they were in public.
It was a Thursday and the secret power couple were laying on their large bed, curled up together and watching a rerun of Castle. Well, Stiles was watching, trying to see if he could figure out who the killer was (one of his favorite hobbies, and one he was really good at by being a sheriff’s son) while Derek was reading a new script to see if he was interested in the part.
“I really don’t think the time traveler did it. I mean, not the nice one anyway. The evil one totally could have done it.” Stiles was gnawing on his thumbnail, a habit when he has nothing else to chew on, as he watched.
Derek shrugged in reply. “I still don’t think they’re actual time travelers. This is Castle, not Doctor Who.”
“Oh shut up. Castle has some syfy stuff too. Remember the one where the robot was the murderer? That’s syfy!”
The actor glanced up from the page to check that, yes, Stiles was pouting at him, and chuckled. “The robot was programmed to kill, not by it’s personal choice. Time travel is a bit too advanced for crime show about a writer and a NYPD cop.”
Stiles slumped further right into Derek’s shoulder, continuing to pout at the point his boyfriend was making. “It would be cooler if had more science fiction.” He would have continued onward if a commercial hadn’t popped up and caught the animator’s attention before he could fast forward through it. There was going to be another red carpet event, this time for the new Justice League movie premiere and of course Stiles perked up. “Oh, I forgot that was coming up!” He quickly turned to his bedmate. “Can we go? Please? I want to see it before Scott does so I can rub it in his face! He can’t see it until he gets back from shooting in Russia.”
Derek let out a soft humming sound, though his eyes never left the page he was reading. “I don’t know, Stiles. I mean, the media still thinks that we are best friends and only friends. You don’t really take your friends to movie premieres like that. We don’t want them to get the wrong idea.”
Whiskey eyes widened before thinning into a glare as he turned to face Derek instead of being curled against him. “The wrong idea? What the hell is the wrong idea? That we’re dating? Because I’m pretty sure that is the RIGHT idea.” He crossed his arms, waiting.
There was a sigh and a toss of the script to the nightstand before Derek looked at Stiles. “You know we can’t come out as dating right now. I currently have a contract on one movie, and I’m in the middle of negotiations for at least two more. It’s just not the right time.”
“When will it be the right time?! It’s been over two years, Derek. You promised me when we first started dating that you would find some way to come out but you keep putting it off and putting it off.”
Stiles had moved off the bed to pace while he spoke and now Derek was scooting toward the foot of the bed where the pacing was happening. “Babe, I know I promised, and I will. I just can’t do it right now. I mean, it’d be one thing if you were an actor that I’d done a romantic scene with because then we could spin it as a torrid love affair. The media eats that up. But, you’re just an animator for PIXAR. They won’t care about you.”
He tried to reach for Stiles’ wrist to slow him down but what ended up happening was Stiles hitting his hand away while shouting back, “You can’t do it because I’m not a fucking ACTOR? Are you kidding me right now? You can’t date me because I’m a nobody to the fucking paparazzi and so it wouldn’t help your image or coming out?”
The silence was more telling than any spoken answer could have been.
Stiles’ response, on the other hand, was not silent but he wasn’t yelling anymore. His voice had dropped into that dangerously soft tone that Derek had only heard once before which was when Stiles got a call about his father being shot and someone was trying to tell him that they hadn’t found the shooter yet. It wasn’t a voice that he had ever wanted to hear again. “Well, then it looks like you won’t have to make time in your schedule for me anymore. I’ll have someone come pick up my stuff. Have a good life, hiding who you are. I’m done being a secret.”
Quickly and quietly a cell phone was picked up as well as the keys to the jeep outside and within a few minutes, Stiles was gone. Derek hadn’t moved to speak or try to follow him, too shocked that they were breaking up to do anything. It wasn’t until he heard the blue jeep’s tires spin out on his driveway that he started frantically moving to the window but, by then, the jeep was already on the road and gone. It was over, and Derek had just lost the only thing in his life that had ever made sense.