Happy birthday to my most glorious beta, lilijuliet!
Everything Looks Good On You
Even though Spencer hears Derek coming back from his run, he doesn't shove the box back in the closet. Besides, now that he's seen what's in it, Spencer certainly can't un-see them. Not letting Derek know that he knows probably isn't fair either.
When Derek walks in and sees everything scattered on the floor, he's unnaturally quiet. For a moment, Spencer's scared that he's mad, but then Derek just smirks and sits down next to him. "So you finally found my old modeling photos?"
"You didn't hide them very well," he says, relieved. "What are these pants you're wearing? And with those work boots? I mean, I know it was the 90's, but damn man."
"That was one of my more comfortable photo shoots," Derek admits.
"Clearly. I mean, look at these," he says, pulling out some of the more ridiculous twisty poses. "And how many times did you have to jump and shout to get this one with the headphones just right?"
"Far too many," Derek says with a chuckle.
"I think this is my favorite," he says, pulling out a picture of Derek in a brightly colored speedo with a yellow button up hanging from his shoulders, leaning back in what is an extremely unnatural position.
It's then that Derek looks perhaps the most sheepish Spencer has ever seen him. "It's my earliest, okay? I didn't even read the contract past the no nudity clause, I'm lucky it wasn't worse." He pauses. "Have you looked at all of them yet?"
Spencer tilts his head, interest piqued. "No, why?"
Derek takes the box and digs around until he finds what he's looking for, somewhere towards the bottom. "Well, for one, that's not the only one of me in a speedo, but also, I think you'll like this photo better than me in a goofy bathing suits."
His hair is a little ridiculous, the black pants are tight, but both of those are unremarkable compared to some of the others pictures; it's what's on top that's what catches his attention. The leather strips spread across his chest and down his torso, forming squares over his well-toned muscles, and there's a zipper down the center, slightly unzipped.
Spencer lets out a breathy "oh."
"It was for a gay fashion magazine," Derek offers. "Modeling's how I paid off all my school loans."
He's still heavily concentrating on all the leather, but his brain helpfully supplies, "I thought about doing that."
"And?"
Spencer makes a noise of disbelief. "Oh come on, who would hire me? Never would have worked."
"Pretty boy? You coulda been on the next page of that magazine, right along with me."
"I was thirteen at the time," Spencer says, not lifting his gaze from the pictures.
Derek gives him a playful shove. "You know that's not what I mean."
"Still. Seems a little odd that anyone would hire me."
"Was I right though? About this one being your favorite?" Derek asks, pulling it from Spencer's lap. Spencer nods. "Well, you're in luck because I'm almost positive that's one of the outfits I got to keep."
"You're lying!" Spencer exclaims. "It's definitely not here, I'd have found it if it was."
"Exactly. It's in a storage unit back in Chicago. Next time we visit my mama, I'll make sure to grab it," he promises, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh god," Spencer says, head in his hands. "Only if you can promise me Fran won't find out. She'd never let me live it down."
Derek pats him on the back. "She'd never let me live it down either, so you know I'll try my best."
So that night, Spencer goes to bed dreaming of all the lovely things they'll do with the shirt that's not really a shirt at all.
A/N - All of the photos described here are actual photos from Shemar's modeling days and they can be found in two posts. Since ffn does not support links, I'll be posting them along with the listing for this fic on tumblr (fdorkfic).