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"Is this weird?" Stiles asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Just this. You know, being here, in this coffee shop, with me."
"No, it's not weird. Just different. Why, do you feel weird?" Jackson frowns.
"Of course I feel weird. It feels too... casual? Normal? I guess with us casual feels weird."
"No, that's you overthinking it. You think too much."
"Yeah, well, that's a problem I have ADHD, remember?"
"I know. I know that."
"Besides, I don't believe you. I don’t believe that for you sitting here with me feels so normal."
"Why not? We've been to cafeterias before... to the cinema...."
"We weren't alone in the cafeteria. And we didn't speak much in the cinema... so I'm not sure it should count. Plus, we weren't alone either."
"Okay, you suggested coming here and I'm here" Jackson waves his arms. "So can you just try to relax and stop thinking about if this is weird or not?"
"I'll try, yeah..."
"You know what's weird, actually?" Jackson smirks.
"What?" Stiles asks confused.
"What did you do to your hair? Is that gel?" Jackson says, trying not to smile but failing miserably.
"Yeah... it is," Stiles admits.
Jackson just smiles but doesn't say anything which only makes Stiles uncomfortable.
"What?" Stiles frowns.
"Nothing," Jackson shakes his head. "Just... I've never seen you using that shit before."
"So, you don't like it." It's a statement, not a question.
"It's not that I don't like it. It's that you don't need it. It isn't you," Jackson says.
"It isn't me?"
"Stiles, you don't have to..." Jackson hesitates. "I mean, this is not..."
A date, Stiles thinks.
"What?" Stiles frowns.
"You don't need to change anything just because... you know... because we're here." Jackson finally says.
"Yeah, so you're telling me that you didn't think about what you were wearing before coming?"
"I always think about what I'm wearing." Jackson smirks.
"Yeah," that's true, "okay, wrong example," Stiles admits.
"What I mean is that I already like you, so don't mess with your hair or start acting weird every time we go out because I'm the same guy... nothing has to change."
Stiles sighs. "Okay, fine." No gel, no change... "Whatever you say," Stiles says.
Jackson smiles. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know... whatever you want... except politics I guess," Stiles says, before having a sip of his strawberry milkshake.
"You're hilarious." Jackson shakes his head.
"You're not allowed to make fun of me, you know?"
"Really, since when is that?"
"Since you are supposed to like me and you don't want to hurt my feelings."
Jackson snorts. "Oh, come on, I didn't mean it like that and you know it."
"You know I've never been on a date before..."
"Ok, so, is this a date now?" Jackson says, raising his eyebrows.
"Isn't it?" Stiles asks, afraid that maybe he's fucked up calling it something that it isn't.
"You can call it whatever you want. What does it matter? We're hanging out, right?"
Stiles wants to say that it definitely matters to him because if it is a date, this is his first date and he wants to know when his first date was. But, at the same time, if Jackson is not ready to call it a date, he's not gonna push it either.
"Yeah," Stiles nods. "You're right, we are." In a place where nobody can see us or know who we are, but they are hanging out alone which is what matters.
"Ok." Stiles continues. "So, three things you love, three things you hate... go."
"What?" Jackson asks, confused for moment.
"I saw it on a show, okay? I thought it would help us to... you know... get to know each other better." Stiles says matter-of-factly.
"On a show?" Jackson says with disbelief, raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, you know that thing called TV? With actors?"
Jackson just rolls his eyes dramatically.
"It worked out for them, okay? So... I thought it could work out for us too."
"Yeah, but you already know so much about me..."
"I know you love your Porsche and your expensive clothes... or playing lacrosse and swimming... but like the whole school knows that. I wanna know things that you haven't told other people..."
"You mean Lydia..." Jackson raises his eyebrows.
"Not just Lydia, you know... other people..." Stiles insists.
Jackson bites his lip as he considers Stiles's words.
"You know I hated being a kanima. Not many people know that..."
"Yeah, well, the whole pack knows that, so I think it doesn't count either."
"Fine. So what do you want to know? I love hawaiian pizza..." Jackson offers.
"I already knew that, you've ordered it a thousand times."
"Okay. I need time to think, why don't you say something?" Jackson takes a sip and his coke and looks at Stiles.
"Fine... so, I love... I love your wolf eyes..."
"My wolf eyes?" Jackson smirks.
"Yeah."
"Not my human eyes?"
"Of course, I love your human eyes but you know, that electric blue is pretty damn awesome."
"It doesn't bother you what they mean?" There's actual doubt in Jackson's voice like he really doesn't know the answer.
"No, of course not. Because it wasn't you... That thing wasn't human or a werewolf... so it wasn't you." Stiles hates that every time they touch this topic, he ends up having to reassure him that what happened wasn't his fault, but he'll keep doing it until Jackson finally gets it.
Jackson licks his lips but doesn't say anything.
"Okay, so, it's your turn..." Stiles waves his right arms.
"Yeah, okay... I love... I love hazelnut ice-cream." Jackson offers.
"Really?" Because Stiles had no idea.
"Yeah," Jackson nods "it's my favorite."
"Good to know." Stiles smiles. At least that is a start. "I love... let's see... I love your singing voice actually. "
"Oh my god. I don't have a singing voice. "
"Yes, you do. You can sing, which is irritating because you are a werewolf and you can already do too many things... it's like your ego doesn't really need it, you know? But it's the truth so, yeah, there you have it."
"Well, I appreciate it but I don't plan on starting a singing career any time soon, so I don't think my ego will be affected..." Jackson smirks. "You don't have to worry."
"Okay, your second I love thing..." Stiles reminds him.
"Right... a second thing... I guess I love walking barefoot at home and before you say anything, it has nothing to do with me being a wolf because it's something I've done since I was little and my mother always got upset with me because she thought I was gonna get sick or something... but I never did... so... yeah."
Stiles doesn't say anything as he's thinking that he finds that really cute and kind of hot... It does sound like a Jackson thing to do in his opinion.
"Anyway, your turn."
"I love..." Stiles bites his lip. "I’ll admit I love some reality shows and I'm not proud of it, okay?"
"Really?" Jackson snorts. "As long as it's not Big Brother I can forgive you..." Jackson jokes.
"It's not Big Brother... Thank you very much. I swear..."
"Okay, fine. I believe you. And yeah, I hate reality shows..." Jackson smirks.
"I figured" Stiles admits. "Don't worry, I didn't plan on making you watch any..."
"So, I hate..." Stiles continues, "I hate wearing a tie, actually... I'm not a tie person... like at all."
"Yeah, I kinda suspected that..." Jackson tries not to smile but he's failing quite miserably. "I've only seen you with a tie once and you didn't look happy..."
"Yeah, well, that night was a mess if you remember... and I only wore because it was the school dance and I wanted to impress Lydia."
"So, you're saying, you'll never wear it again? Not even to impress me?"
"You just told me not to change anything about me..."
"Yeah, but I meant your hair or your behavior... I'm not against you wearing, you know... different clothes, for like special occasions... maybe?" Jackson hesitates, unsure if he's actually saying what he's trying to say or it might sound like something totally different. "I mean, not that I have anything against your clothes... It's just that..."
"What?" Stiles frowns.
"You looked really nice that night, you know?"
"I did? Really?" Stiles asks, surprised.
"Yeah, you did..." Jackson admits. "It wasn't Hugo Boss, obviously, but... not bad."
Stiles is speechless for the first time in a long time. Somehow getting a compliment from Jackson always has that effect on him. He still needs to get used to that.
"And if you say really one more time, I'm leaving right now." Jackson says.
"I won't say that..." Stiles says, even if he wants to say that he never thought Jackson would even remember what he looked like that night.
"Good. Then I'll say that I hate three quarter jeans... and orange..."
"Why I'm not surprised?" Stiles snorts.
"Because you know me?" Jackson waves his right arm.
"I don't know... some things I can guess, you know?" Stiles says before having another sip of his milkshake. Because somehow it's easy for him to imagine things that Jackson might like or not, but at the same time, there are a million things that he still doesn't know about him and he'd like to find out.
"And anyway, tell me something else... something you hate..." Stiles says.
"Fine. I hate... I hate disorder... Like, I like to know where my shit is."
"Yeah, I've seen your room... and your closet, remember?"
"Yeah, and I've seen yours..." Jackson smiles.
"Hey, I know where my shit is... There's order in the... you know," Stiles waves his hand, "disorder."
"Sure." Jackson nods and smirks.
Just in that moment Jackson's phone vibrates on the table and when he looks he can see that it's a text from Derek. And since Derek doesn't text him every day he checks the message.
The sheriff wants to tell us something. Pack meeting in an hour.
Try to be there.
As he's reading the message aloud, Stiles gets a text too.
Pack meeting in an hour. Your father has to tell us something.
Stiles reads it to Jackson. "I guess he assumes I'll be there..."
"That's because you never miss it," Jackson says matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I think we should go then."
"Yeah, you're right. At least, I need to wash my hair..." Stiles smiles and Jackson snorts. "Are you gonna change your clothes or something?"
"No, if I have to change my clothes every time we spend time together, it's gonna be crazy. I'll just say that you asked me to pick you up on my way there." They've done that before a few times, so it's not like it's the first time.
Stiles nods and takes out his wallet.
"I'm paying. You don't need that," Jackson says immediately.
Stiles doubts at first about saying that he's perfectly capable of paying for his milkshake but the truth is that nobody has ever paid anything for him before and he kind of likes that. If Jackson wants to pay in their first non-date, he's not gonna be the one to stop him.
"Thanks," Stiles says simply as he puts his wallet back in his pocket.