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Derek hates the beach. There’s sand everywhere, and it gets into everything. He only ate half his sandwich because it felt like he’s teeth where being sanded. And then there are the little kids screaming; Frisbees and balls flying everywhere; everything gets sticky from ice cream and sunscreen; and let’s not forget that one couple that is basically dry humping in what they think is a secluded spot—it’s not, Derek has already heard a couple kids asking their parents about it.
All this is why Derek never would’ve chosen the beach for a vacation, but he got outvoted by his sisters, and his mom promised he didn’t always have to come to the beach with them. He’d convinced them to go without him the first three days, but today his mom wanted to spend the day with the entire family.
Cora and Laura have gone swimming, and his mom has wandered off to talk to some people she recognized. Derek has made himself at home under the parasol, with his book. If he doesn’t move too much, he can avoid getting sa—
‘Hey, Derek,’ Cora says sweetly, as she comes to sudden halt right in next to him, throwing sand and seawater all over him.
‘Hey!’ he shouts indignantly and hunches over his book to protect it. ‘What do you want?’
‘Isn’t that Stiles?’ Cora says.
Derek follows Cora’s finger to where she’s pointing. And, yep, that’s Stiles Stilinski, Derek’s crush of the past ten months.
Stiles is looking right back at him with surprise, making Derek feel like a deer in the headlights, because of course Cora said it loud enough for Stiles to hear it. Derek quickly pushes his glasses up his nose and puts his book down when Stiles jogs over to them, Scott right behind him.
‘Hey, Derek. Hey, Cora,’ Stiles greets them with a little wave.
‘Heeey,’ Cora greets him back, but she’s looking at Derek with a grin on her face.
‘Hi,’ Derek says, glaring at his sister. He hopes he kicked her a lot in the womb, because that would be the only benefit of them being twins.
‘You guys wanna play volleyball?’ Scott asks.
Derek looks from Scott to Stiles in confusion. He had gym class with both of them last year, and he can’t remember either of them being good at it. Stiles has very little control over his limbs and Scott’s asthma acts up enough he’s ends up getting benched half the class. Derek isn’t exactly a star athlete himself.
‘Yeah, we were just looking for two more people for our team,’ Stiles adds. He points over his shoulder. There’s a volleyball net and a team of four already waiting on one side of it.
‘Please, Der-bear?’ Cora says. Somehow, his sister manages to blink innocently and waggle her eyebrows at the same.
Derek blushes at the nickname.
‘I can watch our stuff,’ Laura says dropping down on the towel next to Derek's. She waves with her hand like a queen dismissing her subjects.
Derek turns back to Cora, and smiling sweetly he says, ‘Sure, Cor-cat.’
Cora punches him as they make their way to the improvised volleyball court. Derek delights in throwing the ball at Cora’s head first chance he gets.
With Cora being the only the person on their team with decent hand-eye coordination, they lose spectacularly. Derek does manage to smash the ball and score one point, even though it was mostly by accident.
They get ice cream to cheer themselves up after their loss. Cora and Scott run ahead to get money from their parents, which means Derek gets left behind with Stiles. He doesn’t mind, if only he knew what to say.
Thankfully, Stiles is never short of words and fills in the silence with ease. Turns out, Stiles’ dad and Scott’s mom thought it would be nice to have a vacation with the four of them, so they rented an apartment in the little seaside town. He and Scott have been going to the beach every day since they got here almost a week ago. It explains why Stiles already looks so tan next to Derek’s own pale skin.
Their ice cream cones in hand, they find a shady spot to eat them. Derek stays by Stiles’ side. Once in a while their hands brush, sending shocks through Derek’s arm. Stiles never pulls his hand back, so Derek lets it happen as much as possible.
‘Scott and I were thinking of exploring the town tomorrow. Apparently there’s a sea monster museum, and there’s also a movie theatre if things get boring.’
‘Things are never boring with you,’ Derek says before he realizes it. He keeps his gaze fixed on the sand in front of him as he waits for Stiles’ reaction.
‘Awesome. So you’ll come?’
Derek glances to his side to find Stiles smiling at him brightly, his cheeks a little more red than Derek thought they were a minute ago.
‘I’d have to ask my mom, but I want to,’ Derek smiles back.
‘Awesome,’ Stiles says again.
There’s a moment where neither of them says anything. Then suddenly, Stiles ducks his head to press a kiss against Derek’s cheek. Derek blinks in surprise. Then his face feels like it’s on fire. He looks at Stiles with wide eyes. Stiles is looking back at him with a tentative smile.
‘I really hope my mom says yes,’ Derek whispers.
Stiles’ smile goes from tentative to brilliant. ‘Me, too.’
Derek looks at the ground with his own smile that is so wide his cheeks hurt a little. He kicks the sand, then looks up to see where Cora is. Cora is searching for seashells with Scott. She’s looking back at him, giving him a proud smile and a thumbs up.