Contains: OC(very minor character), minor amounts of swearing, excessive fluff, also there are a couple hints about canon abuse
A/N: For the purposes of this story, Scott and Allison go to community college in Beacon Hills. Stiles is enrolled there too, but only for online classes. Just FYI.
"You should ask him out."
Isaac nearly fell over in surprise, wrenching his gaze from a certain crooked smile to stare at Derek. Derek stared back. To the untrained eye he would have looked angry, but Isaac knew the man well enough to know that was just his default expression.
Derek was a regular at The Wolf Pack, the coffee-shop where Isaac worked, and ten-time winner of Stiles' annual 'Business with the most cliché hipster name' award. The first day Derek had come in, Stiles had immediately pegged him as a black-coffee-with-no-sugar-or-cream type. Derek had surprised them all by then proceeding to (rather smugly, Isaac always thought) order an iced white chocolate mocha. With extra whipped cream, even.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Isaac replied automatically in response to Derek's statement. Because he totally hadn't been staring at Scott again. Not at all. (Scott was another regular, who had been coming to The Wolf Pack since before Isaac had been hired two years ago. He was the nicest, cutest person Isaac had ever met. It had been love at first sight. For Isaac, at least.)
"If you say so," Derek shrugged, not pressing the issue, unlike a certain ADD individual Isaac worked with.
"The usual?" Isaac diverted, automatically reaching for a cup. Derek nodded and Isaac rang him up before he moved to make Derek's order. While he was waiting for the espresso machine to work properly (the thing had needed replacing for the last five years, but somehow it kept chugging; Stiles always claimed magic), he heard the sharp click of heels and turned his head to see Lydia take his place at the register, where a couple more customers were waiting. When Lydia had gotten hired a few months back, Isaac had been skeptical, given her perpetually perfect looks paired with designer dresses and shoes. He had thought she wouldn't last a week in a minimum wage job, but she had surprised everyone by not only doing all the work required, but doing it ten times better than everyone else combined.
"He's right you know," Lydia said in her most condescending voice once she had taken the customers' orders. When Isaac glanced at her, she was examining her nails, seemingly disinterested. But like with Derek, Isaac knew better. There was always more going on in her brain than she let on. Which usually meant bad things. Mostly for Stiles, but occasionally for other people too. People like Isaac.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he muttered, finishing Derek's white mocha and handing it over before he started on the next drink. When he next dared to glance at Lydia she was giving him what Stiles referred to as 'Condescending Look #37, aka: did you really just say that?'.
"Yes, you do," Lydia snapped, crossing her arms.
"I don't know why you all care so much," Isaac muttered. He finished up the two orders Lydia had taken and calling them out so the customers could pick them up .By the time he turned back to Lydia, her face had gone carefully blank.
"We just want you to be happy, Isaac," she said after a moment, her voice uncharacteristically soft. Isaac immediately looked down at the floor, uncomfortable with sympathy. He didn't really know how she had found out about his past, but with Lydia, it was usually best not to ask. Lydia sighed, but didn't say anything else, still looking at him. Isaac was in the middle of considering a tactical retreat to the break room when she was distracted by the arrival of her boyfriend.
"I'm going on break," Lydia announced, taking off her apron and throwing it at Isaac. He managed to catch it, rather than having it end up over his head (he wasn't Stiles for goodness' sake). She slid gracefully over the counter so she could greet Jackson properly with a kiss. She then walked over to an empty table to claim them a spot. Isaac silently cursed her for abandoning him because that meant Isaac would have to deal with whatever unnecessarily complicated thing Jackson decided he wanted for the day, which would inevitably come with no less than ten snide remarks about the quality of the coffee and the shop in general.
Isaac resisted the urge to sigh when Jackson made his way to the register. He risked a glance around, but Scott was already gone. Isaac did sigh, at that point. It was going to be a long day.
The next morning, Isaac opened up the shop as usual while the owners, Erica and Boyd, 'went over finances' in Boyd's office. Which was totally code for office sex, they weren't fooling anybody. They were quiet at least, a fact for which Isaac was eternally grateful. And he did enjoy the peace that came before the customers. And Stiles. Mostly Stiles.
"Hey, Isaac." Isaac offered a small wave in return to Danny's greeting. Danny was the baker, and he came in every morning to load up the display case. Isaac liked Danny. He knew how to keep to himself and mind his own business, unlike some coworkers Isaac knew. They worked together in silence for a few minutes, Danny arranging scones and Isaac powering up the machines, before the peace was abruptly shattered.
"Danny my man!" Isaac couldn't help his wince at the loud voice as Stiles entered the shop.
"Hey Stiles," Danny said, his voice fondly exasperated.
"Isaac!" Stiles continued on. "Did you miss me?" The previous day had been Stiles' day off.
"Not even a little bit," Isaac replied, but he couldn't resist the small smile when Stiles dramatically clutched at his heart.
"You wound me," Stiles pouted.
"I could give you a real wound if you aren't ready to serve customers in the next two minutes." The three boys turned to see Erica leaning against the wall, looking as sexy and crazy as always.
"Yes sir, mister bossman," Stiles mock-saluted and started towards the back room. Erica flipped him off, but he just blew her a kiss. Isaac and Danny shook their heads, getting back to what they were doing. A few minutes later, Danny had cleared out to be replaced by one of the part-time baristas, a boisterous girl named Holly. She was pretty new and Isaac didn't really know much about her apart from the fact that she had dropped out of high school and that she made a mean vanilla latte. She was nice enough, and a good worker. Isaac exchanged polite greetings with her before she went into the back to grab her apron.
Not long after, customers started to trickle in, and Isaac was caught up in the work until late in the morning, at which point Holly went home. A little after eleven, he was stuck leaning against the counter while Stiles talked his ear off, possibly about superheroes, but also perhaps the merits of make-up. Stiles was hard to follow sometimes, and he didn't particularly care if his audience was a little distracted.
"Hey, are you listening?" Or maybe he did mind, considering he had just cut himself off in the middle of a sentence about time travel.
"Absolutely, I am not," Isaac replied, offering his best innocent smile when Stiles frowned at him.
"Dude," Stiles whined, his arms waving emphatically. "You're worse than Derek, I swear."
"Definitely not," Derek snorted. Isaac snickered while Stiles let out an undignified squeak.
"I'm putting a bell on you, I swear," Stiles groaned, turning to face Derek, who had apparently just arrived.
"Only if it comes on a leather collar," Derek deadpanned. Stiles turned bright red, making a somewhat worrying choking sound. Isaac's snicker turned into a chuckle.
"You're the worst," Stiles hissed at Derek. He turned to Isaac, jabbing his side. "And you are an enabler." Isaac stuck his tongue out at him. Stiles rolled his eyes. "White mocha?" he asked Derek, who nodded. And winked. Stiles made another of his choking sounds, ringing up the order and turning to make it. Isaac laughed again. "I hate you, so much," Stiles said, and really, he could have been talking to Derek or Isaac. Probably both of them.
"No, you don't," they replied in unison. Stiles groaned.
Of course, that was when Scott decided to walk in. And he definitely wasn't alone. The smile dropped right off Isaac's face when he caught sight of the girl Scott was talking and laughing with. She was beautiful, with long, brown hair, matching big brown eyes, and a stunning smile. Isaac felt his heart sink to the floor as she casually brushed a hand along Scott's arm.
"I have to go," Isaac blurted. He bolted for the break room, but not before he caught sight of Derek's sympathetic expression, and Stiles' confused one.
Isaac threw himself onto the couch Stiles had dragged into the break room a year ago upon getting hired. (Erica and Boyd had been almost suspiciously cool with it.) He ran a hand over his face, silently berating himself.
Of course, of fucking course Scott would have a girlfriend. And naturally she would just happen to be supermodel-level hot. Isaac grimaced, flopping over onto his side.
"Isaac?" Isaac lifted his head just enough to see Derek, iced drink in hand.
"How did you get back here?" he asked.
"Stiles is really easy to bribe when you know how," Derek shrugged.
"Remind me to smack him," Isaac grumbled, sitting up so he could face Derek, who had taken a seat on one of the old plastic chairs.
"I will," Derek promised solemnly, his eyes giving away his amusement.
"For the record, I don't want to talk about it," Isaac blurted before Derek could say anything.
"Okay," Derek said in a tone that made Isaac 100% sure they were going to talk about it anyway. "But they aren't dating." Well, that got his attention.
"What?"
"Stiles is Scott's best friend, remember? They were talking, and Scott said that she was just a classmate. They're working on a project together."
Isaac raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. Derek looked unimpressed.
"Just stop hiding," Derek insisted. He stood up and in one motion he grabbed the back of Isaac's shirt, hauled him up, and pushed him towards the door.
"You can't manhandle me," Isaac protested weakly. "I'm not Stiles."
"Thank god," Derek muttered under his breath. He steered Isaac out of the room, slipping out to the main area while Isaac grudgingly shuffled to where Stiles was behind the register. Isaac smacked him upside the head for good measure.
"What the hell was that for?" Stiles yelled indignantly. Isaac didn't answer, too busy scanning the tables until he spotted the face he was looking for.
"Derek was right," he mumbled. Scott was indeed, doing work with the girl, papers and notebooks spread on the table in front of them while the sipped their coffee.
"Don't sound so surprised," Derek scowled.
"Sorry," Isaac offered. Derek gave a nod, and Isaac went back to trying to subtly keep an eye on Scott.
"Dude, stop staring like that, you look like a serial killer." Isaac redirected the look towards Stiles, who held his hands up in mock surrender. "Just some friendly advice."
"Can I smack him again?" Isaac wondered aloud.
"I prefer my boyfriend with as little brain-damage as possible," Derek said. "Though, with Stiles, I realize that's a pretty low bar."
"I do not have brain damage," Stiles protested, scandalized.
"Debatable," Isaac said.
"I hate all of you," Stiles reiterated, throwing his hands up in defeat. "This is it. I'm officially done. I'm moving to the Federated States of Micronesia, and none of you are invited to visit. Or maybe I'll try Sealand. I hear it's nice this time of year. Yeah, a micro-nation would be perfect. There would be no room for assholes who might try to bother me."
"You have problems," Derek told him.
"Says the guy made of sarcasm and issues," Stiles shot back.
"You love my sarcasm and issues," Derek retorted.
"Yeah, you're right," Stiles sighed, defeated. Derek grinned, and leaned across the counter to give Stiles a kiss.
"Stiles! You promised you wouldn't make out with him while I was here," they turn to see Scott standing behind Derek, hands clamped over his eyes.
"Sorry, buddy," Stiles said, not sounding sorry at all. Scott peeked through his fingers to make sure they were done before lowering his hands.
"Not cool," he pouted. Isaac tried not to think how adorable that made him look.
"Hey, I have totally never ragged on you whenever you wanted to get smoochy with someone," Stiles crossed his arms.
"Yeah, you have," Scott frowned.
"Okay, well, Tyler totally doesn't count," Stiles scoffed. "He was an even bigger douchebag than Jackson."
"What about Marie, back in high school?" Scott countered. "Or Jason? Or Ann?"
"Your logic has no place here," Stiles waved his hand dismissively.
"Yeah, whatever dude," Scott shook his head, smiling.
"Hey, where'd Allison go?" Stiles asked suddenly. Isaac glanced over to where Scott had been sitting, and the brunette girl was gone.
"Her dad called," Scott shrugged. "Family emergency or something, so she had to bail."
"Oh, okay. Did you need something?" Stiles finally asked.
"Yeah, actually," Scott said, looking like he just remembered something. "I was hoping I could talk to Isaac?" Isaac was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a second.
"Me?" he asked, and Scott nodded, looking nervous. Isaac glanced at Stiles and Derek. Derek gave him a small smile and Stiles gave him a grin and a thumbs up before they made themselves scarce. Isaac swallowed. "So, what's up?"
"Uh," Scott started, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Isaac offered the best smile he could muster given his nerves. It apparently worked, as Scott returned the smile. "I was actually wondering if you maybe wanted to get some dinner with me after your shift? Like a date?" It took a second before Isaac could properly process the question.
"What?" He mentally slapped himself. "I mean, yeah, I'd like that," he amended quickly.
Scott's smile was blinding, and he bounced lightly in place, like he did whenever he was excited. "Really? That's great!"
Isaac stared a bit, and Scott sobered. "I just meant, I've kinda been wanting to ask you out for a while."
"I've been kinda been wanting you to ask me out, too," Isaac admitted. Scott resumed his bouncing.
"Your shift ends at six, right?" Scott asked and Isaac nodded. "I'll come back then." Isaac couldn't do much more than nod again. Scott beamed. "I'll see you." He went over to the table and gathered the remaining papers, shoving them into his backpack. He started towards the door before veering at the last second so he was in front of Isaac again. He stood still for a second, eyes darting around the shop.
Isaac was about to ask if he was okay when Scott leaned over the counter and placed a soft kiss on his lips. It was over all too soon and suddenly Scott was at the door.
"See you at six!" Scott waved excitedly.
"Yeah," Isaac agreed softly, waving back as Scott disappeared.
"Fucking finally." Isaac jumped when Stile's voice came from right behind him.
"I think you both need bells," Isaac muttered, turning to face Stiles and Derek.
"Aw, we could get a matching couples set," Stiles cooed.
"No," Derek said flatly.
"You have no sense of adventure," Stiles complained. Derek didn't reply, choosing instead to slap Stiles' ass. Stiles half-heartedly glared at him.
"You two are the worst," Isaac told them.
"You have no room to talk," Stiles snorted. "You and Scott are going to be positively cavity-inducing."
Isaac blushed when Derek nodded in agreement.
"I hate you," Isaac said.
"No you don't," Stiles grinned.
"You're taking the next shift," Isaac scowled, walking to the break room.
"Meanie," Stiles called after him.
Isaac didn't bother replying. He was too busy thinking about the fact that he had a date with Scott McCall.
Oh, god, Stiles was right, they were going to be cavity-inducing.