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Derek did lose the rabbit after all. And it belongs to his daughter. And he's very distraught because he already worried he was failing as a parent because his is he supposed to do this alone. And so he got her the rabbit. And she was getting happy again and then he didn't close the door all the way when he brought the groceries in and that fluffy little shit snuck out. And who knew rabbits were so fast? He knew it in theory, but he didn't really understand. And now it's gone and what the hell is he going to tell his daughter? He spends the rest of the hours before she's out of class looking, groceries abandoned on the kitchen floor. But he can't find it anywhere.
That night there are tears (and not all from his kid) and promises to put up missing rabbit posters the next day - and "no you cannot stay home Sophie, you have to go to school" and more tears but he finally gets her into bed and retreats to his room and buries his face in his hands, wondering how he's going to fix it.
The morning is rough, but they make it through and he drops her off at the elementary school before driving to the nearest CVS to pick up a small package of poster board and some markers. He's pulling into the parking lot when a sign on an electrical pole catches his eye, drawing of a rabbit front and center. He parks and rushes over to read it, slumping in relief and opening his email, quickly typing out a message:
“I think you found my rabbit" followed by his name and number. He's halfway home when his phone rings and he taps the Bluetooth on his stereo, startled when a frantic voice explodes from his speakers. "Ohmygod Derek? Is this the right number? You need to come get this floppy eared beast from hell right now," followed by a rattled off address. He's about to respond when the voice starts up again "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING - BAD RABBIT - NO DON'T EAT THAT" and the click of the line going dead.
Thankfully the address is easy to remember - it was only one block behind his house. When he pulls up to the curb he can hear muffled curses coming from inside the small home. He barely has time to wrap on the door before it's flying open, a frazzle (and very attractive) man on the other side, hair in disarray, broom in one hand and what he's pretty sure is a trashcan lid in the other.
"Hi I'm Der-"
"Oh thank god you're here!" The broom and lid are flung aside and the man is grabbing onto Derek's arm, dragging him inside, down a short hall, babbling the entire time about eaten doors, super speed, and a frankly impossible description of the rabbit being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Derek's starting to worry this guy isn't entirely sane, shoulders tensing and feet dragging when the guy stops in front of a closed door and gestures for Derek to go ahead. With one wary eye on the (still very attractive but possibly insane) man, he twists the knob and steps forward. He's shoved into the room, door slamming behind him and has only a minute to actually worry about his safety before the guy moves up next to him and points to a shelf about midway up the wall.
"See - it's totally unnatural." It takes Derek a minute to figure out what the guy is even talking about, his heart still thundering from the brief spike of fear. He takes a minute before answering to calm down, eyes scanning the room. His eyes land on a short basket next to the bed, which itself is next to the shelf, and he can't stop himself. He starts laughing hysterically. He's doubled over, breath short, face red, tears prickling at his eyes when the guy shoves his shoulder, asking what the hell is so funny. He manages to gesture at the rabbit sized stepping stones to the shelf, laughter barely starting to ease back when the guy mutters a curse and lets out his own snort of amusement.
"Okay, so maybe it's not a demonic rabbit, but it still totally chewed its way out of my bathroom." That's enough to sober Derek back up and he starts to fumble his way through an apology and offer to replace the door. He's been watching the rabbit but finally glances back at the guy, whose eyes are a little wide, mouth parted.
"What?" He's about to repeat the question when the guy seems to come back to himself, shaking his head a little as if he was dazed.
"Oh...uh...yeah no, don't worry about the door. I mean, you can just buy me dinner?" There's a faint flush on the guy's cheeks when he finishes, and Derek finds it just a little adorable. He's about to agree when he catches himself.
"Yeah, I would, it's just, I have a kid?" He doesn't know why it comes out like a question, because he definitely does have one, and he feels a little pang as the guy seems to deflate, face closing off.
"Okay, sure, sorry." Derek's pretty used to the reaction, his daughter being a deal breaker for too many people ever since her mom took off when she was still less than a year old. The guy steps over and plucks the rabbit gently from the shelf, dumping it into Derek's outstretched arms before leaving the room and leading the way to the front door. Derek keeps a careful hold, but the rabbit seems content to hang out snuggled against him. He's about to step through the open door when the guy speaks again, one hand nervously wrapped around the back of his own neck. "Listen uh, sorry about asking you out, I don't really have a filter and I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable that you made up a kid." The door starts to swing closed behind him and is nearly shut when he manages to move, wedging his foot between the door and frame.
"I didn't make her up!" It comes out a little rushed, but he knows he was heard when the door slowly creaks back open. The guy has his head tilted sideways, one eyebrow arched in question. "I, uh. I wasn't lying. I want to take you out, you're strange but I kind of...anyhow, most people aren't really interested once they find out about her. So I just wanted to be up front." The guy seems stalled for a moment before a grin splits his face and he thrusts his hand out (which he quickly pulls back when the rabbit tries to sniff at it).
"I'm Stiles, and you having a kid isn't a deal breaker for me." Derek smiles back, fingers tightening in the rabbit's fur when it starts to try and twitch out of his grip, clearly having had its fill of being held.
"Nice to meet you. So, uh, I'll call you?" If possible, Stiles' smile gets even wider, head nodding.
"You definitely should." Derek makes sure to save Stiles' number to his phone when he gets back in the car, the rabbit settled in his lap. He can see the man waving from his porch as he pulls away from the curb. He gets the rabbit safely licked into its cage when he gets home and then calls Stiles, asking him how he feels about dinner on Friday, when his sister will be in town to visit (and babysit). They talk until he needs to leave to pick up Sophie. His daughter immediately notices the smile and jumps up and down, asking if he found the rabbit. He's happy to be able to tell her that he did. She's ecstatic when she makes it home, dragging the ball of fluff back out of the cage and refusing to leave it be until it’s time to wash up for dinner.
They both go to bed happy that night and Derek feels like things might finally be on the way up.