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“I hate you,” Derek said the moment he opened the door to the loft, without even checking to see who it was first. It was six o’clock in the morning, the first morning that he’d been able to just sleep in almost a week, and here someone was, rudely waking him up.
“That hurts, Derek, I thought we’d gotten past the hate thing.” Stiles was nudging himself past Derek despite not being invited inside. “I was thinking we’re more reluctant partners in crime.”
“Crime being the key word,” Derek muttered. “What are you doing here? Unless someone is dying or being eaten by a crocodile, it is impolite to invade someone’s home before the sun is even up.”
“Relax, you can go back to bed,” Stiles said, waving a hand at the spiral staircase. “I just need the floor space.”
“For what?” Derek was suspicious as well as annoyed now, which didn’t bode well for Stiles. The chances of him picking the man up by the ear and throwing him out increased by at least three times.
Stiles rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not going to break anything, and it isn’t going to stay. Can you trust me for about two hours so I can build this? It’s for Isaac.”
“Then why can’t you do it at Scott’s house?” Derek already knew it was a lost cause, but it didn’t stop him from arguing just because he could. If he let Stiles get away with things too easily, he might start suspecting that Derek liked him.
“I told you, I need the floor space.” Stiles looked irritated now. “Look, I ordered something for Isaac because he’s turning twenty-one tomorrow and I figured, what with his obsession with Lord of the Rings, he’d enjoy something to show it. I can go somewhere else if it really bothers you that much.” He started pulling stuff off of the coffee table again, getting ready to leave.
“No, no, don’t. Just…I’ll make some breakfast, or something.” Derek hated how guilty he felt now.
“You don’t have to,” Stiles said, tossing him something. He caught it on reflex. “I got tacos. You’ve got three. Bacon, egg and cheese, right?”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
Stiles flashed him a quick smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll keep quiet. Go back to bed.”
But Derek was shaking his head now. “No, I’ll help. I, uh…I kind of forgot. About Isaac’s birthday.”
“So you need to tag along to someone else’s present?” Stiles was smirking now. “Alright, but you owe me. Come here, there’s instructions.”
Derek sat on the floor next to Stiles, watching as he spread out various pieces across the floor. “Is that…did you get him a Legolas statue?”
“Yep,” Stiles said. “Plus a bunch of his favorite candy to go with the arrows. Fake,” he reassured Derek when he went tense. “The outfit even came separately, so if he ever wanted to go out as Legolas for Halloween, he could.”
“You put a lot of thought into this.”
Stiles shrugged. “It’s his twenty-first birthday. I think that deserves a lot of thought.”
It took more than two hours to put it together, but Stiles grinned when they finished. “Since the party is here, I can just leave this, right?”
“Sure,” Derek said absently, not thinking to fight him on the party. Most of the pack’s major celebrations were held here now. The last one Derek had really gotten into was Stiles’ own twenty-first birthday. He’d gotten him the complete set of A Song of Ice and Fire, plus several books that went with it. He pretended that it wasn’t a big deal, but the huge smile that spread across Stiles’ face made his chest go warm, even when Stiles didn’t go through with his aborted move to hug him.
Stiles nodded slowly. “Well, I’m gonna get going,” he said. “Scott wanted to do some shopping for the party tomorrow.”
Derek watched him walk toward the door before blurting out, “What do I owe you?”
Stiles turned and winked at him. “You can start by buying me dinner on Saturday night.”
“Start?” Derek asked, caught between amusement and stomach-clenching excitement.
“We’ll see how it goes.” Stiles smiled and shut the door, and Derek was left wondering just what he’d gotten himself into.
He wanted to find out.