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tamingthemuseTitle: Love Where You Least Expect It [2/?]
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Prompt: 388 – architecture
Warnings: Everybody's human AU. Cora/Isaac. Will be Derek/Stiles.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: Stiles remembers the first couple of interactions he had with Derek.
Disclaimer: It's all lies and I own nothing.
-- = --
A week before Christmas, Cora and Isaac finish packing up her Camry and Cora gives Stiles a plane ticket bearing his full name. His flight departs the following morning from LAX a couple hours after Cora and Isaac plan on starting their cross-country drive. He'll land at LaGuardia in the afternoon where he's been instructed by Cora to rent something with 4-wheel drive. Laura's bed and breakfast is apparently somewhere north of Utica on some lake in Adirondack Park.
Cora doesn't give Stiles anything more than the ticket, the B & B's address, and a kiss on the cheek before ushering Isaac out of the apartment, promising they'll see him in a few days. It's not until he's alone in the kitchen cleaning up the remains of their Chinese takeout twenty-minutes later that he realizes just what he's gotten himself into. Stiles was mostly focused on avoiding the clusterfuck that was Thanksgiving at the McCall's – with their sad looks and careful regard – and placating Cora that he hadn't really thought about spending the holiday with Derek.
And depending on when Laura's due to show up, it's possible he's going to have to suffer in only Derek's company for a couple of days. Derek, who he hasn't seen since he and Cora graduated high school. Derek, who is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the slight identity crisis Stiles endured when he was ten. It's a vivid memory, sitting at the big wooden table Mr. Hale had made from a huge pine that had fallen in a summer storm the previous year, working on a book report with Cora in the basement when sixteen-year-old Derek emerged from a room off the den, shirtless and sweaty from lifting weights. Stiles had been so embarrassed by his body's reaction that he insisted Cora come over to his house the next day to finish their project.
A few weeks later the Hale house had burned down while Cora was at Lydia Martin's sleepover and Derek and Laura were out of town for one of Derek's away lacrosse games. Their uncle Peter had gone out on a late-night grocery run for his pregnant wife and returned to the house engulfed in flames. He'd tried to get inside, but there wasn't anything he could do.
Stiles remembers sitting in the front seat of his dad's cruiser, listening to the crackling static of the police radio as additional firetrucks were called to the scene. The sheriff had been in such a rush to get out to the Hale property that he hadn't bothered with dropping Stiles off at the station for Tara to watch him.
Derek and Laura arrived half an hour after the 911 call first went out, half of BHFD's volunteer squad on site and battling the blaze while additional crews were en route. Stiles watched the eldest Hale siblings stumble from Laura's car to the edge of the perimeter the deputies had set up. In the orange glow of the flames, Stiles could see their faces – he'd had two years to let the wound left by his mother's death start to heal by then, and could relate to what Derek and Laura were going through.
Stiles directly disobeyed his dad's firm order to stay in the car to pop the trunk and dig out the blanket that was back there. The wind that kept giving new life to the flames as the house was slowly reduced to ash and charred beams also caused a back spray of water from the fire hoses as the firefighters battled on. Laura was led to one of the other squad cars by an officer fresh out of the academy while Derek stood apart, alone, tee starting to cling to his chest while he shivered. Stiles cautiously approached him and wordlessly handed over the old blanket that was part of a collection of raggedy quilts his mom had bought from a garage sale when he was little. Derek barely glanced at him as Stiles urged him to wrap the blanket around his shoulders, squeezing his hand in solidarity, returning to his dad's cruiser before he could get into trouble.
When the fire was deemed arson and Derek's older ex-girlfriend was accused of masterminding the whole thing, Derek had retreated in on himself, fleeing Beacon Hills as soon as he graduated for college in New York. Laura remained to raise Cora and visit their uncle as he slowly recuperated in a skilled-care facility outside of town. Derek came home for Cora's graduation, then Laura followed him back to New York once Cora was settled in a dorm room at UCLA, three floors below Stiles.
It's almost been for years since the last time Stiles saw Derek and he can count on one hand the number of face-to-face interactions they've ever had. He just hopes that Cora's at least given him and Laura a head's up that Stiles is tagging along. It'll be awkward regardless, but he doesn't want to show up on Derek's doorstep completely unannounced.
As he thinks it over some more, Stiles convinces himself that there's a ninety-five percent certainty this is all a very terrible idea and he should just lock himself in his apartment for the next two weeks until the spring semester starts. But that just leads to a hundred percent certainty of Cora harping on him for backing out for probably forever.
Besides, Stiles really doesn't want to spend Christmas alone. And there's no way holidays with the Hales can be worse than Thanksgiving at the McCall's.
So Stiles sucks it up and retreats to his bedroom to find his smallest suitcase, packing enough clothes to last him for the little over two weeks he'll be gone. As he packs, he thinks about what he'll say to Derek when he knocks on the front door. He wonders what they'll talk about, if they'll have anything in common – besides the fact that they both double-majored in English (and psychology for Stiles, architecture for Derek) – if Derek's still as unfairly attractive as he was four years ago. Of course, that leads Stiles to wonder if Derek will even remember him. The adult him, not child him that had gone red-faced and awkward at the sight of him without a shirt on.
As Stiles drops his suitcase by the front door he shakes his head and laughs at himself. Who's he kidding? He'd still go red-faced and awkward at the sight of half-naked Derek, considering what he'd looked like at graduation.
Yeah, there's no way he's coming back from Christmas break with his dignity intact.
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Prompt: 388 – architecture
Warnings: Everybody's human AU. Cora/Isaac. Will be Derek/Stiles.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: Stiles remembers the first couple of interactions he had with Derek.
Disclaimer: It's all lies and I own nothing.
A week before Christmas, Cora and Isaac finish packing up her Camry and Cora gives Stiles a plane ticket bearing his full name. His flight departs the following morning from LAX a couple hours after Cora and Isaac plan on starting their cross-country drive. He'll land at LaGuardia in the afternoon where he's been instructed by Cora to rent something with 4-wheel drive. Laura's bed and breakfast is apparently somewhere north of Utica on some lake in Adirondack Park.
Cora doesn't give Stiles anything more than the ticket, the B & B's address, and a kiss on the cheek before ushering Isaac out of the apartment, promising they'll see him in a few days. It's not until he's alone in the kitchen cleaning up the remains of their Chinese takeout twenty-minutes later that he realizes just what he's gotten himself into. Stiles was mostly focused on avoiding the clusterfuck that was Thanksgiving at the McCall's – with their sad looks and careful regard – and placating Cora that he hadn't really thought about spending the holiday with Derek.
And depending on when Laura's due to show up, it's possible he's going to have to suffer in only Derek's company for a couple of days. Derek, who he hasn't seen since he and Cora graduated high school. Derek, who is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the slight identity crisis Stiles endured when he was ten. It's a vivid memory, sitting at the big wooden table Mr. Hale had made from a huge pine that had fallen in a summer storm the previous year, working on a book report with Cora in the basement when sixteen-year-old Derek emerged from a room off the den, shirtless and sweaty from lifting weights. Stiles had been so embarrassed by his body's reaction that he insisted Cora come over to his house the next day to finish their project.
A few weeks later the Hale house had burned down while Cora was at Lydia Martin's sleepover and Derek and Laura were out of town for one of Derek's away lacrosse games. Their uncle Peter had gone out on a late-night grocery run for his pregnant wife and returned to the house engulfed in flames. He'd tried to get inside, but there wasn't anything he could do.
Stiles remembers sitting in the front seat of his dad's cruiser, listening to the crackling static of the police radio as additional firetrucks were called to the scene. The sheriff had been in such a rush to get out to the Hale property that he hadn't bothered with dropping Stiles off at the station for Tara to watch him.
Derek and Laura arrived half an hour after the 911 call first went out, half of BHFD's volunteer squad on site and battling the blaze while additional crews were en route. Stiles watched the eldest Hale siblings stumble from Laura's car to the edge of the perimeter the deputies had set up. In the orange glow of the flames, Stiles could see their faces – he'd had two years to let the wound left by his mother's death start to heal by then, and could relate to what Derek and Laura were going through.
Stiles directly disobeyed his dad's firm order to stay in the car to pop the trunk and dig out the blanket that was back there. The wind that kept giving new life to the flames as the house was slowly reduced to ash and charred beams also caused a back spray of water from the fire hoses as the firefighters battled on. Laura was led to one of the other squad cars by an officer fresh out of the academy while Derek stood apart, alone, tee starting to cling to his chest while he shivered. Stiles cautiously approached him and wordlessly handed over the old blanket that was part of a collection of raggedy quilts his mom had bought from a garage sale when he was little. Derek barely glanced at him as Stiles urged him to wrap the blanket around his shoulders, squeezing his hand in solidarity, returning to his dad's cruiser before he could get into trouble.
When the fire was deemed arson and Derek's older ex-girlfriend was accused of masterminding the whole thing, Derek had retreated in on himself, fleeing Beacon Hills as soon as he graduated for college in New York. Laura remained to raise Cora and visit their uncle as he slowly recuperated in a skilled-care facility outside of town. Derek came home for Cora's graduation, then Laura followed him back to New York once Cora was settled in a dorm room at UCLA, three floors below Stiles.
It's almost been for years since the last time Stiles saw Derek and he can count on one hand the number of face-to-face interactions they've ever had. He just hopes that Cora's at least given him and Laura a head's up that Stiles is tagging along. It'll be awkward regardless, but he doesn't want to show up on Derek's doorstep completely unannounced.
As he thinks it over some more, Stiles convinces himself that there's a ninety-five percent certainty this is all a very terrible idea and he should just lock himself in his apartment for the next two weeks until the spring semester starts. But that just leads to a hundred percent certainty of Cora harping on him for backing out for probably forever.
Besides, Stiles really doesn't want to spend Christmas alone. And there's no way holidays with the Hales can be worse than Thanksgiving at the McCall's.
So Stiles sucks it up and retreats to his bedroom to find his smallest suitcase, packing enough clothes to last him for the little over two weeks he'll be gone. As he packs, he thinks about what he'll say to Derek when he knocks on the front door. He wonders what they'll talk about, if they'll have anything in common – besides the fact that they both double-majored in English (and psychology for Stiles, architecture for Derek) – if Derek's still as unfairly attractive as he was four years ago. Of course, that leads Stiles to wonder if Derek will even remember him. The adult him, not child him that had gone red-faced and awkward at the sight of him without a shirt on.
As Stiles drops his suitcase by the front door he shakes his head and laughs at himself. Who's he kidding? He'd still go red-faced and awkward at the sight of half-naked Derek, considering what he'd looked like at graduation.
Yeah, there's no way he's coming back from Christmas break with his dignity intact.
