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Stiles doesn’t deal well with crushes. He tends to be consumed by them, and won’t realize it until he has a PowerPoint presentation with a detailed 10-year plan. It took him almost eight years to realize that things would never work between him and his first crush, though he and Lydia did become great friends after that. His second crush was on a guy named Ethan, who’d sat next to him at orientation at the start of college. The relationship they had after several years of pining, from Stiles’ end, had been short and terrible, and left him heartbroken.
This is why, when he feels a new big crush coming on, Stiles turns to his friends. Scott and Kira have been trying to set him up with a guy they think is perfect for him for a while, and trusting his friends’ judgment more than his own at this point, Stiles finally agrees.
He does feel a little guilty as he checks his hair in his rear-view mirror. It’s not fair of him to use this supposedly amazing guy to get over a crush. As he’s thinking this, Stiles’ mind drifts back to the way his crush’ lips had ticked up in the smallest smile when Stiles had said hi to him at the coffee shop that morning. He doesn’t even know the man’s name, just knows that he’s gorgeous, tall, with dark eyes, and has quiet demeanour about him. Not quiet like shy, but a quietness that is a choice, like he chooses his words carefully and everything he does is with purpose. Stiles thinks that’s what attracted him to the man in the first place, how opposite he is to Stiles’ own fidgety nature. And that morning his existence had finally been acknowledged by Hot Coffee Hunk, which is Step One in–
Nope.
There is no plan, because Stiles is going on a date with a very kind man (according to Kira), with a great sense of humour that fits perfectly with his own (according to Scott), and the body of a god (according to both of them).
‘Here we go,’ Stiles says, pushing open the door to the restaurant. The smell of delicious food that greets him makes his mouth water. Even if this date turns out terrible, at least he’ll get a good meal out of it.
‘Stilinski,’ he says to a man with a too white, too wide smile approaching him.
‘Welcome to Giovanni’s. May I take your coat? Thank you. The rest of your party is already here, so if you’ll follow me?’
Stiles follows the man to a table in the corner by the window. It’s private, but not in a way that feels cut off from the rest of the room. His date is looking out the window, his face turned away from Stiles. The smiling man pulls out the chair opposite Stiles’ date..
‘Someone will be with you shortly,’ the smiling man says, then disappears before Stiles can say thank you.
Stiles turns to his date to make a joke about toothpaste commercials, but the words die on his tongue when he sees who’s sitting in front of him. It’s Hot Coffee Hunk, the man Stiles has been crushing on and lusting after for the past three weeks, the big crush this date was supposed to cure him of.
‘Wow, this is quite the coincidence,’ Stiles says with an awkward chuckle.
‘A coincidence?’ Hot Coffee Hunk asks.
‘Yeah, because, you know, we always get coffee around the same time.’
Hot Coffee Hunk blinks.
‘Or maybe you haven’t noticed me. I’m usually behind you in line. And I probably look like every other guy in there. Brown hair, average height, doesn’t stand out very much. I’m Stiles, by the way.’ Stiles bites his lip to stop himself from saying, and embarrassing himself, any more.
‘Boyd,’ the man across the table from him says, the corners of his mouth turning up a little.
Is he laughing at him or just being friendly? Stiles thinks it better not to ask.
The rest of the dinner is even more awkward than that first exchange. Afraid to start babbling, Stiles keeps his answers to Boyd’s questions short, and doesn’t ask a lot of questions himself.
After dinner, Boyd walks him to his car.
‘I had a great time,’ Stiles blurts out.
‘You did?’ Boyd asks, looking genuinely surprised.
‘Why? Didn’t you?’ Oh god, what if Boyd had a terrible time? What if he never wants to see Stiles again? Because despite his nerves, he really did have a good time. Boyd is funny and sweet, just like Scott and Kira said, and Stiles is sure he’ll do better if given the chance for a second date.
‘Well, I thought you didn’t, because you were so quiet all night. Scott and Kira told me you talk a lot, especially when you’re comfortable, so I just figured…’ Boyd shrugs.
‘I was, uhm,’ Stiles scratches the back of his head and looks down at his feet, ‘kind of scared to embarrass myself. I’ve had people tell me that I talk too much, and I really like you. Didn’t want to scare you off.’ Stiles takes a deep breath before he continues, ‘This date was actually supposed to help me get over you.’
Boyd raises a confused eyebrow.
‘I sort of developed a crush on you during my morning coffee runs,’ Stiles admits. His face feels like it’s on fire and he’s grateful for how low the light in the parking lot is.
Boyd’s confused look morphs into something softer. ‘Before dinner, you said I probably hadn’t noticed you, but I had. I thought you were cute. Still do.’
‘Just cute? Not hot as the sun or a handsome devil?’
‘Those too.’
‘Nice,’ Stiles breathes out, absolutely delighted. He lets himself fall back against his car, and jumps forward, almost knocking Boyd on his ass, when it triggers the alarm. He fumbles for his keys, drops them on the ground, then has to go on his hands and knees to search for them. When he finally manages to stop the wailing and flashing lights, he buries his head in his hands.
‘This is an absolute disaster,’ he groans.
Gentle fingers pry his hands off his face, and tip his head up.
‘I’ve had worse dates,’ Boyd grins. ‘How about a do-over?’
‘God, yes!’