Chapter Text
"Scott, we have a problem."
Scott pressed his cell phone to his ear and listened to Stiles, Stiles who was supposedly working, ramble about The Man of His Dreams and getting cock blocked. He didn't actually pay attention until, on one breath, Stiles said "Isaac took my man" and then he perked up. Because Isaac, Isaac was Scott's one true love, though Isaac, Scott's one true love, was yet to know that. Scott had been pining (Stiles' word not his) over Isaac ever since he'd landed a job at the video rental place a few months ago. Stiles had followed soon after (because Scott had convinced him he needed a wingman at work) and nothing had come of it (yet).
"Aren't you working?" Scott asked and Stiles made a sound halfway between laughter and exasperation.
"Irrelevant, dude, because we have a problem."
"What are you talking about, Stiles?" Scott sighed and Stiles probably flailed on the other end (Scott knew him too well). All he did vocally was splutter and try to speak but fail.
"Your fake relationship and my happiness are at stake here, Scott!" Stiles managed, "Look, a guy came into the store today, right? He was tall, dark, and handsome in a nutshell, okay? And so I thought maybe he was gonna be the one to, I don't know, fuck me, but your little cock blocking boyfriend got in the way!"
"He's not my boyfriend." Scott said hotly and got a few odd looks from the surrounding diner patrons. He was used to odd looks after being friends with Stiles for most of their lives, so he ignored them all.
"Whatever he is, he now has a date tonight with Mr. Right." Stiles finished angrily and Scott ran a hand through his hair. Part of him wanted to hang up, but another part of him wanted to learn where this date was and how handsome this guy was and just how interested Isaac looked. For the good of the story, of course.
"What happened?" Scott gave in to his slightly masochistic side, knowing this was probably going to hurt, and Stiles sighed. There was a moment of mumbled conversation on the other end before he reappeared with a rather huffy "Isaac wanted to know what I was doing."
"I was shelving movies and this guy comes in, so gorgeous, and he talks to Isaac for a second. I went over to ask Isaac a completely made up question and, as I got to the counter, the guy says 'See you tonight' and leaves."
"Did you ask Isaac about him?" Scott felt his stomach slither down into his shoes at the realization that, fucking hell, this just might be a legit thing. Stiles made a sound of complete and utter exasperation on the other end and Scott narrowed his eyes at the half-eaten sandwich on his plate, "You didn't, did you?" He demanded and Stiles huffed.
"Okay, how desperate would I look? I mean, I'm not going to let Isaac tell this guy how freaking infatuated I am! What if they laugh at me!?" Stiles demanded and Scott frowned.
"Isaac wouldn't laugh at you." He defended the curly haired male, even though they were never going to get married now.
"Really, Scott? That's what you go with?" Stiles deadpanned and Scott stood, grabbing his back pack from the seat beside him and heading out into the cool air. The apartment he shared with Stiles was only a few blocks away, something he was thankful for now. He just wanted to get home and possibly stalk Isaac on tumblr (the only social media site Isaac seemed to like).
"It might not last." He tried again, hoping for an agreement and maybe a change of topic, but knowing he wouldn't get it.
"Oh, it'll last." Stiles groaned, "He was perfect, Scott. I mean, actually perfect."
"It's not like they're getting married." Scott finished the conversation with a pleading tone and unlocked the door to their apartment, falling onto the couch immediately. Stiles muttered something about getting back to work and ended the call, leaving Scott to his thoughts and the internet. Scott spent an ample amount of time on both.
***
Saturdays were usually his day to work, but Margaret called in to tell him that he was off due to over-scheduling. Over-scheduling was Margaret Code for "I don't feel like opening today" and Scott couldn't really blame her. It was a gloomy Saturday with dark rainclouds and empty streets; perfect for watching movies and complaining about his lack of an actual love life with Stiles.
And he would have, had Stiles bothered to be at the apartment.
When Scott tried calling Stiles, he found that Stiles' phone was off, and that was how he knew something was up. Because Stiles never turned his phone off. Ever. Not even when they went to the movies.
He didn't know whether to wait it out or go searching for the other male who, at times, could be way too impulsive for his own good. Eventually, he settled on keeping his phone close by his side as he watched Supernatural on Netflix. Isaac's tumblr said it was his favorite and, if Isaac liked it, Scott was sure as hell going to try. Not because he was a stalker or anything (not really). He was just really, really invested into the friendship that only kind of existed.
Stiles didn't return until late and he only grumbled something about finding information and locked himself inside his room. Scott figured he'd gone looking for The Guy and had found something, or had gone looking for The Guy and hadn't found something. Maybe he'd caught The Guy and Isaac on a date (his stomach twisted at the thought).
"Stiles, I ordered pizza!"
"I'm not hungry!"
"It's pepperoni!"
"You can't lure me out with food, Scott!" Stiles opened the door anyway, "I found him."
"Was he with Isaac?"
Stiles grimaced, "They live together."
***
"I still think we should ask."
They were back at work on Monday, shelving movies and watching Isaac smile at some girl at the register. The girl had strawberry blonde hair and was immune to Isaac's blue eyes, though she wasn't quite so immune to his polite "Have a nice day." Scott saw her crack and smile as she slipped out the door with her movies in hand.
"Okay, why would we ask?" Stiles demanded, "You're totally in love with him and I haven't stopped thinking about The Guy, but they can't know that! What if they're married? What if Isaac's pregnant!?"
"Guys can't get pregnant." Scott frowned at Stiles, "We're just curious about our co-worker."
"Co-workers don't ask other co-workers about said co-workers love life." Stiles ranted, "That's, like, code." He peered around the shelf, "Still no sign of him."
"It's been, like, four days." Scott said exasperatedly, "I doubt he'll be coming back anytime soon. And, if they're really a huge thing, we would be seeing him a lot more. Or, we would have seen him before."
"We at least need to learn The Guy's name." Stiles changed tack, "Go ask."
"What? No!" Scott glared at Stiles, who shoved him towards the counter with a pointed look, "Stop it, Stiles!" He yelled it loud enough for Isaac to look up and quirk an eyebrow at them both.
"Are you okay?" He asked with just enough humor for it to be sexy. Scott tried his best to look casual as he stomped on Stiles' foot and leaned against the shelf closest to him.
"Yeah, sorry." He grinned and hurried back between the shelves, slapping Stiles' arm even as the other male hopped on one foot and moaned about his "broken, fractured, fucking shattered" foot. He felt no remorse. Nor sympathy.
"What the hell was that!?"
"Look," Stiles managed between pained gasps, "You've finally said two words to the guy."
***
Scott still wasn't convinced that Isaac and The Guy were a thing.
Despite Stiles' constant mantra of "they live together, Scott" he couldn't bring himself to face reality and accept that Isaac was in it for the long run. If he was, then why hadn't they seen The Guy before? Or, at the very least, hear of him? Sure, Isaac wasn't an open book, but he talked some. Most of what he said revolved around school and his need to get to Disney Land before he turned 24. For some reason, he though 24 was too old to feel any magic.
At work he kept a close watch on Isaac while Stiles kept a close watch on the door. Usually, they got little work done, and more often than not they were forced to stay late to finish it all. Isaac never seemed to mind letting them lock up, though he always teased them for taking so long. He took to calling them a pair of girls, because they gossiped so much, and Stiles called him an asshole. Only Scott knew this was more for The Guy thing than for the mere fact that he was questioning their manhood.
Every few days, Stiles would whisper/yell at Scott to ask Isaac about his love live because, according to Stiles, Scott was "more into that kind of thing" which didn't make sense to Scott, but whatever. He refused every single time and always ended up looking stupid in front of Isaac. More often than not he would get close to bringing up the topic, but as soon as he get out Isaac's name he would chicken out and end up asking some idiotic question about the weather. To which Isaac would always reply with a pointed look at the, very functional, windows.
***
Three weeks after the initial spotting of The Guy, almost three weeks after the initial discovery that The Guy and Isaac were living together, and six months after Scott started his pining over Isaac; The Guy returned to the store.
Stiles was currently in bed with the flu and, because of this, was unable to see the exchange between Isaac and The Guy who, Scott was lucky enough to discover, was named Derek. He brought Isaac lunch and said something about a Laura, a Peter, and a dinner that night. Scott could only assume that Isaac was meeting Derek's parents. His heart stopped at the thought and he quickly moved far enough away that their voices were only low murmurs, fretting about his total lack of chance with Isaac and how mad Stiles would be when he heard.
He only came out when the door closed and Isaac was back to counting money, something he did when there were no customers. Making sure to look as normal as humanly possible, Scott sidled up to the counter.
"Hey," Isaac looked surprised, but still smiled, "Need anything?"
"Yeah, who was that?" Scott indicated Derek with a nod towards the door and Isaac glanced over.
"Derek." He answered simply and began stacking one dollar bills carefully.
"Oh." Scott didn't have the guts to pursue the topic and Isaac didn't offer up any more information. Eventually, Scott went back to the shelves and sat on the floor for the longest time, ignoring roaming customers and the constant stream of text messages from Stiles. When closing time came, he barely managed to smile at Isaac, and only just gathered up the courage to go home and face Stiles.
For some reason, he was feeling really, really hurt.
"Derek." He said as soon as he was in the front door and Stiles moaned from the couch.
"I'm dying."
"Derek." Scott repeated and headed towards his room in defeat, "His name's Derek."
"The angel coming to take me away?" Stiles asked.
"The angel who's taking Isaac to meet his parents." Scott huffed and closed his door tight for the night.
***
"Hey, Isaac, how was your night?"
Stiles was feeling better the next day and attacked Isaac as soon as he was fully through the door. Isaac looked surprised, but merely went back to preparing the counter for the day.
"It was good. Yours?" He asked and Stiles grimaced.
"I was puking my guts out." He said baldly and Isaac looked a bit nauseous.
"Should you be here?"
"I'm better now." Stiles leaned against the counter, all business, "What did you do last night?"
"I had dinner." Isaac looked confused.
"With who?"
"Um, Derek and Peter and Cora." Now Isaac looked really confused.
"Were you nervous?" Stiles demanded and the door opened, providing Isaac with the perfect opportunity to metaphorically run. Stiles gave him an "It's not over look" before returning to Scott's side. Scott slapped him upside the head as soon as he was within range.
"You're an idiot."
"I'm the only idiot doing anything about this!" Stiles argued and Scott just shook his head.
This was getting ridiculous.
***
They stayed up late because they have to be in early tomorrow and, really, what else do you do?
They watched stupid movies for the majority of the time, but eventually movies became boring and they settled for just talking. Scott was eager to discuss a new internship at a vet's office that he was applying for and Stiles was eager to talk about his dad, who was apparently on some new diet. The conversation was comfortable and easy, like their conversations were when they were sixteen and didn't have to care about anything but Harris' class. Now they have to worry about and "actual jobs" and, unfortunately, families. Now they have to worry about growing up.
"What if they get married?" Stiles was the first to bring up The Topic. Scott, who was lying on his stomach, propped himself up with his elbows and glared at the other male, because they had promised not to bring up The Topic unless adequate warning was given before hand. Stiles merely looked at the ceiling, having chosen to lie on his back, and pretended to shoot god knows what with a finger gun.
"Um, we go to the wedding?"
"Dude, I didn't know you were a masochist."
"What else are we supposed to do? Stop it."
"We could."
"This isn't a RomCom."
"I'm just saying," Stiles scrambled to sit up, "I've been thinking, right? And, I don't think they're dating."
"What?"
"I just don't think they're dating is all." Stiles shot something with his finger gun and let the explanation end there, which left Scott feeling strangely hopeful.
***
"Tired?"
"Huh?" Scott jumped awake and stared at Isaac, "Yeah, sorry." He glanced at Stiles sleeping curled on the floor a few feet away and grimaced, "Late night." He explained and flushed at the implication, "Watching movies."
"Any good ones?" Isaac smirked and Scott had to look away.
"Not really." He finally managed to face Isaac again, noting that the other male was still smirking, "What did you do?"
"I had dinner with Peter and Derek." Isaac smiled, "It was nice."
"Really?" Scott felt his stomach drop, like it always did when Derek was mentioned.
"Yeah. Peter is kind of a handful, but he's nice enough. Derek fights with him all the time." Isaac laughed and shook his head, leaning against the shelf casually. It was too early in the morning for customers, so the shop was empty except for them and Stiles (who was sleeping and technically shouldn't have counted).
"That sucks." Scott blurted out and Isaac wrinkled his nose.
"What?"
"That he fights with his dad." Scott clarified and Isaac looked momentarily bemused before his eyes widened and he shook his head.
"Oh, Peter is Derek's uncle." He corrected, "And, it's just second nature to them." He thought for a moment, then leaned in, "Derek's parents died a while ago, so he likes Peter too much to chase him away."
"Oh, well, I'm sorry." Scott fumbled for something appropriate to say. What do you tell a guy when he confesses that his boyfriend's parents are dead? Scott was totally unprepared.
"Yeah, he gets by." Isaac shrugged, "He has Laura."
"Laura?" Scott prayed it was a girlfriend.
"His sister."
"Oh." He couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice.
***
"You're moping."
"I'm not moping."
"You don't see me moping, do you?"
"Go away, Stiles."
***
Scott was resigned to the fact that Isaac was taken.
Really, he was.
So when Derek came in for the third time, bag of takeout in one hand and car keys in the other, he didn't glare at him (at least, he swore up and down he didn't).
"Come on." Derek was gruff and kind of grumpy, but he was undoubtedly the sexiest guy Scott had ever seen (aside from Isaac, of course). Stiles was tripping all over the place trying to get a better look as Isaac called out that he would be gone for a little bit and they exited the store. When they were gone, Scott fell to the floor and stayed there.
"I can't do this, Stiles." He whined from his current position, "I love him."
"You're telling me." Stiles spoke dryly and joined Scott on the floor, "I could have had so much fun with him."
"Do you think we'll be invited?"
"To what?"
"The wedding."
"We're not going. Even if we are."
"Deal."
They shook on it to make it official.
***
Isaac remained a constant fixture in Scott's mind.
Derek became a very, very over used word.
Eventually, Scott decided to try dating other people. He went out with a guy named Mike and a guy named Stan, but neither of them were much fun. They talked about themselves and didn't even compare to Isaac in the looks department, so he didn't bother to calm them back.
Derek didn't return to the store and Isaac still didn't say much about him, though Scott tried as many ways as he could to bring up the issue of love lives without sounding suspicious. He mentioned his own disastrous dates, let Stiles ramble about a few of his, and even asked Isaac if he'd seen anyone lately. Isaac merely shook his head and said, quote/unquote, "I don't get out much."
Scott couldn't help but feel a twinge of hope at that.
***
He was late for work.
Like, incredibly late for work.
So late for work that he was panicking.
Stiles had the day off so he rushed to put his socks on and forgot to get his keys so he had to go back and he was really, really annoyed by the time he reached the store and found a black Camaro sitting (idling) in front of the store. When he went inside he saw Derek, all tall, dark and handsome, standing in front of the counter with his hands in his pockets.
He kind of snapped.
"Hey," He barked and both Isaac and Derek looked at him, "Is that your car?" He gestured wildly towards the door and Derek nodded, looking incredulous, annoyed, and bored at the same time.
"Yes." He stated and Scott glared at him.
"That's a fucking fire hazard."
"I'm sorry?" Derek didn't seem sorry at all, and Scott scowled.
"Tell that to your boyfriend."
"My what?"
"Boyfriend." Scott repeated and Isaac gaped at him. Derek still seemed incredulous, annoyed, and bored, though he was leaning more towards incredulous as Isaac began to laugh.
"What?" Isaac gasped between chuckles, "You think he's my boyfriend?"
Scott furrowed his brow and tried to not be embarrassed (didn't work), "Uh, yeah?"
"No." Isaac stopped laughing long enough to sound very, very serious.
"See you tonight." Derek muttered, cast Scott an odd look, and left.
Scott retreated to the shelves and didn't speak to Isaac for the rest of the day. Still, every now and again he heard Isaac mutter "Derek as my boyfriend" and then he would laugh and Scott's face would burn.
But there was a pretty big portion of him that, despite the mortification, was celebrating.
Isaac and Derek were not a thing.
Isaac was still no man's land.
***
"Okay, wait, they're NOT dating?" Stiles gaped at Scott, "How did you-"
"I don't want to talk about it." Scott cut him off, "Just embrace it, dude."
"Oh my god, I have to talk to Derek!" Stiles leapt off the couch, like he was actually going to go find Derek, and Scott dragged him back down. When Stiles was safely back on the couch he reminded him, very nicely, that Derek was fucking gorgeous.
"And," He conceded, "A bit of an asshole."
"I should wait, shouldn't I?" Stiles asked and Scott nodded.
"Yeah." He agreed, "You should wait."
***
They both did.
They waited approximately nine days.
Then, Scott caved and approached Isaac when Stiles was "taking a break." The store was empty except for them and Isaac smiled when he saw Scott approaching, putting aside a few of the DVDs he'd offered to shelve and crossing his arms.
"Sorry about a few days ago," Scott started off, "I just thought..." He trailed off and let Isaac's smirk finish off the thought. When Isaac didn't respond he wracked his brain for something else to say. He couldn't really think of anything.
"So..." Isaac started, smiling a bit, "Need anything?"
"Would you want to go out sometime?" Scott surged ahead, "Maybe a double date." He suggested and Isaac's eyebrows raised.
"With who?"
"Stiles and Derek." Scott grinned, "You know, if you guys want."
"I can't speak for Derek," Isaac's smiled widened, "But I would love to."
"Great." Scott shifted awkwardly, "See you tonight."