Stiles swallowed nervously and turned to Erica who was smiling at him with encouragement. Okay, I can totally do this, he thought to himself. He walked slowly towards his seat and took the time observe his "boyfriend" a little bit more. At some point the guy had stopped looking at Stiles and he was now going through his phone. He was sitting casually with his right leg draped over his left, cellphone in one hand and glass of scotch in the other. Stiles shuffled his way towards his seat and cleared his throat once he got there.
"Um, Derek?" Stiles asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Derek looked up and his eyes widened for a fraction of a second before a smile lit over his face.
"Yes, I'm Derek Hale. You're Stiles I presume?" Derek asked extending his hand.
"Stiles Stilinski." He answered shaking Derek's hand.
Derek signaled Stiles to sit down angling his body towards him once the young man was sitting at his side and looked at him expectantly.
"W-what? Do I have something on my face? Is it a booger!?" Stiles exclaimed horrified, covering his nose with his hand.
Derek gave a hearty laugh and grabbed Stiles's hand, pulling it away from his nose. Stiles looked at where Derek's hand grabbed his wrist, Derek's very big, masculine yet soft hand. He wasn't really surprised. Yes, the guy exuded masculinity through every pore but he probably didn't do any hard labor. He wondered how those hands would feel on his bare skin; running down his neck, his chest, gripping into his thighs- Oh God. Stiles crossed his legs and prayed Derek didn't look down to his lap or he would find a surprise. A surprise that only rose more by the second.
"There's nothing on your face." Derek smiled letting go of Stiles's hand. "Lydia didn't say much about the job, she just said I'd have to play your new boyfriend? I was just waiting for you to give me some background history, or for you to come up with a cover story."
"Of course we will. We're going to my brother's wedding, where I'll be his best man. About two years ago my boyfriend ended our one year engagement and broke up with me. We had been together for four years. I still don't understand why he ended it, we were happy." Stiles said softly, he looked at Derek and noticed his pitying glance. "The thing is, Jackson is my future brother in law's foster brother, so he'll be at the wedding. In fact, he's the other best man. Since my dad's always been really big on spending time with the family and family gatherings in general, he insisted the entire wedding party should spend two weeks prior to the wedding together at our lake house. Which means my ex and I will be stuck under the same roof again. Anyways, ever since the break up my family's kind of been a pain in the ass, and honestly the last thing I want is for them to throw me another pity party or having them on my case and setting me up with random strangers." Derek chuckled and Stiles rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you know what I mean. Thank God you're hot, that shall keep them calm for a little while before asking questions."
Derek sat stunned at Stiles's comment before raising his eyebrows and sipping from his scotch. Once he finished his drink he pulled out an ipad from his traveler's bag, and proceeded to look through it with a look of concentration.
"Ok," he said, fingers flying across the screen taking notes. "We'll tell your parents I'm your boyfriend and we've been dating for a few weeks. If they ask why you had never mentioned me before, you tell them is because you didn't want to say anything until you were sure my feelings were genuine. It'll make sense; the last thing you want after what happened with Jackson is to get your heart broken again. Once I declared my true feelings you felt it was right to reciprocate, so you opened yourself to me and we got past all the emotional turmoil. Since things are turning pretty serious you decided it was time for them to find out about me, which is why you decided to bring me along as your date. Should we say we met at the opera?" Derek finished, looking at a gaping Stiles.
He'd only managed to process part of had come out of Derek's mouth. His dick twitched at the "you opened yourself to me" part and all coherent thoughts flew out of the window at that point. Stiles gave it to him, the guy took his job seriously. Who the hell manages to come up with such a plan (load of crap, really) in less than five minutes? Stiles needed a drink if he was going to process all of this.
"I'm sorry, that won't do." He said distractedly.
"No?" Derek asked surprised.
"There's no way my parents will believe I set foot in the Opera. The Opera, really? Who even goes to the Opera? Let's say we met through Lydia, it's more believable and also kinda true." He shrugged.
Stiles raised himself from his seat, moving his eyes around the front of the cabin trying to spot Erica. She always gave him an extra serving of whatever alcohol they had when he traveled.
Derek nodded and went back to typing.
"Would you care for some champagne?" a voice purred by Stiles's ear.
"Erica, thank God." He muttered snatching two champagne flutes from her tray, and downing both of them in four gulps.
Derek gave him a look raising his eyebrows. Seriously, how does he do that?
"Someone's a bit thirsty." Erica teased while handing Derek a champagne flute. "Flying makes him nervous." She offered to Derek who looked between them in confusion.
"I take it you know each other." Derek said, his lips twitching.
Before Stiles had a chance to say anything Erica jumped in.
"Yes, I've known Stilinski for a long time. We went to high school together, I even had a crush on him for a while, didn't I Stiles?" she smiled and Stiles made a face which resulted in Erica swatting his arm playfully. "Then I realized he didn't really play for my team so we stuck on being friends. I owe a lot to this one, made my high school life less of a hell and a bit more bearable. Don't know where I'd be without him." She finished quietly.
Stiles ducked his face in embarrassment, smiling fondly at Erica. Derek observed the exchange between the two of them with a small smile playing on his lips.
"That's nice, almost sounds like you're the perfect man." Derek murmurs huskily.
Stiles looked up upon hearing Derek's tone of voice and met Derek's intense gaze.
"Guess that's my cue to go." Erica drawled suppressing a laugh.
Stiles dismissed her with a wave of his hand and turned to look at Derek. Who was still looking at him. God, that fucking smolder.
"Gah" Stiles groaned.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked frowning.
Good, at least he wasn't smoldering anymore.
"I'm fine. Like Erica said, I hate flying."
Derek nodded before giving him one last glance and going back to his drink.
Stiles groaned and strategically placed his messenger bag in front of the growing bulge in his pants. He was going to have to spend five hours and thirty minutes sitting next to 185 pounds of pure sex on legs. Oh the joy.
"Stiles, we seriously need to go. The shirt you had on was fine." Derek said, trying to sound patient but clearly failing, from the other side of the door.
"Tell that to Miss sassypants." Stiles muttered.
After their plane landed they rented a car and made their way towards Beacon Hills. Somewhere along the way Lydia called Stiles and asked him if he had changed into the outfit she picked out for him. Stiles's annoyed sigh was enough indication to let her know he hadn't, so she ordered Derek to stop somewhere where Stiles could get changed. Which is why he was now standing in the bathroom at Finstock's café.
"Is she always this bossy?" Derek had whispered, he didn't want to be at receiving end of Lydia's wrath.
"She's all bark and no bite, you get used to it after a while." Stiles had answered.
"Hey! I resent that, I'm not that sassy. Now stop whining and turn around, I need to see how that shirt looks on you." Lydia's voice snapped at him.
Stiles sighed heavily and turned towards the sink where he had perched his iphone in order for Lydia to see him while she told him which outfit to wear. Many people considered this ichat thing a gift, it was more of a curse for Stiles since it meant Lydia could reach him anywhere and bitch about his appearance. However, he didn't mind so much this time. He needed to look good for when he showed up at his parents' house and he knew his typical plaid shirts wouldn't do the job.
"Hmm, have you been working out lately?" Lydia asked, eyeing him appraisingly and doing a twirling motion with her index finger asking him to turn around.
"Yup, been doing lots of that lately. It's one of the only ways I can cope with anxiety lately." He answered.
"It's starting to show. That shirt looks great on you; the plum color does you justice. And those pants do wonders for your ass. You have a great ass, damn you, Stiles." She growled, sticking her tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes and blew her a mock kiss as she turned to talk to someone who'd just walked into her office. He looked at himself in the mirror and nodded in approval.
"Not too shabby, Stilinski." He whispered to himself.
He wore a long sleeved, dark plum colored dress shirt that fit snuggly on his chest, and black slacks. He flexed his arms and watched the way the fabric stretched over his arms. Lydia was right, his late work out sessions were paying off. Looking at his phone to make sure Lydia was still not paying attention he turned around and glanced over his shoulder to look at his butt. Nice. He thought smiling smugly. Eat your heart out Jackson Whittemore.
"Stiles," Derek moaned from the other sound of door once again.
Stiles jumped startled at Derek's moan. Okay, the guy needed to stop saying Stiles's name like that. It did tingly things to his private parts.
"Let him in Stiles, we need a second opinion." Lydia said, waving someone out of her office from the other side of his cellphone screen.
Stiles wiped his hands on his pants and opened the door carefully. Derek was standing with his hands on his hips and his back towards Stiles. Stiles cleared his throat and
Derek turned around muttering a "finally" before stopping in his tracks.
"Soooo?" Lydia's voice asked. "Doesn't he look ready to eat?"
Derek's eyes raked Stiles's body, his gaze stopping for a few seconds on his narrow chest then working its way up to his face. Stiles shuffled awkwardly, he was not used to being stared at like that.
"He looks bangable to me." A voice behind Derek commented.
The guy looked familiar to Stiles but he couldn't fathom why.
"Greenberg! Stop talking to the costumers and get your ass back to work." Someone yelled at the guy.
Stiles laughed and looked back at Derek , though his laugh died on his lips quickly upon seeing the other's expression. There was the intense look. Was this what people called eye fucking? Stiles wouldn't know, he never had much experience in that department.
"Yeah, he does." Derek said gruffly.
When he realized he was still staring at Stiles he cleared his throat and shook his head.
"Can we go now?" he pleaded at Stiles.
"Yes, you should go. I'll be there in a few days, and please slap Scott and Isaac for me when you see them." Lydia chirped from my phone before hanging up.
Stiles grabbed his stuff from the bathroom and followed Derek outside. He was still not sure about the car they were driving.
"Tell me again why we rented a Camaro?" Stiles said warily.
"What?" Derek challenged, "I like this car." He said before getting in.
Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
As they drove through Beacon Hills memories of his childhood slammed into Stiles like a strong current, some good, some bad. No matter how much he complained about it he missed this place. He had some great times there, but most of all he missed his family and friends. Jackson was probably there already, showing up "fashionably late", he always knew how to get people's attention. Luckily, Stiles had made sure he and Derek were going to show up late too. Okay, not really; he just really had to pee. So after Derek gave him one of his signature looks, you know the freaky raising of the eyebrow one? They stopped at gas station.
The closer they got to the house the more anxious Stiles felt. Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea. He pulled on his shirt collar and swallowed nervously. He should've stayed home and just mailed Scott his wedding present. Scottie would've understood, because Scottie was like that. Always understanding and caring, always looking out for his big bro Stiles. The kid was like a human being made of fluff and rainbows.
"What does your dad do for a living again?" Derek's voice asked; though it sounded far away to Stiles since he was too busy freaking out.
"He used to be the town sheriff a few years ago but he's the Mayor now." Stiles answered from his daze.
Shuddering, he cracked his neck and flexed his hands after wiping them on his pants. Everyone knew how shaken up he had been after the break up. Even if they had always insisted it was time to move one were they really going to believe he got in a relationship out of the blue. More importantly, would they believe that a guy like Derek would give him the time of the day? They'd always said he'd lucked out with Jackson, miracles don't happen twice.
"Stiles," Derek said soothingly.
He stopped walking and stood in front of Stiles placing his hands on his shoulders. They were standing on the porch of his parents' lake house about to go in. When the hell did they get out of the car?
"Relax, everything will go according to plan. They will believe us."
"No, they won't. You don't understand. My entire life I've been put down by these people, except for my parents and my brother. They've always seen me as the weird, hyperactive kid whose mom died of cancer. I tried to change and put myself at their level of "normal" but I was never good enough. When I was with Jackson it was different, I finally belonged somewhere. I was great at being Jackson's boyfriend, and even that I managed to fuck." He finished, biting his lower lip trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill.
Derek sighed, a sympathetic expression on his face.
"Sti-"
"And let's not even talk about you. They won't believe for a minute you're interested in me." Stiles cut in.
Derek shook his head.
"They will becau-"
"I mean look at you." Stiles whined, bringing his hands to paw at Derek's chest.
"Please, you need-"
"It's like you're freaking photo shopped. Do you seriously believe-" Stiles was cut off from his rant when Derek slapped him.
He FUCKING slapped him.
"Dude! " Stiles cried indignantly before shoving Derek.
It was useless, the guy was so freaking heavy Stiles only managed push away a little bit. A dark expression crossed Derek's face before he growled (I kid no not the guy fucking growled) and pushed Stiles against the wall.
"Oh my God, please don't kill me!" Stiles screamed shrilly, cowering against the wall.
"Snap out of it, Stiles. Everything's going to work just fine, want to know why?" Stiles nodded, his head bobbing rapidly. "Because you will calm the fuck the down, make yourself look presentable, and because I know how to do my fucking job!" He shouted.
Oh God, I've unleashed the kraken/. Stiles thought. Whatever happened to the nice Derek he met on the plane? Derek backed away from him and rearranged Stiles's shirt, smoothing away the wrinkles he'd left. Stiles was still plastered to the wall looking at Derek, asking permission for moving, when Derek grunted and nodded to the door. Stiles moved away from him and rang the doorbell.
"Look, I'm sorry by the way I reacted. I'm not a violent person; I have no idea where that came from." Derek apologized looking sheepish.
"No, s-s'okay man. You're right; I need to get my head on the game." Stiles stuttered.
A woman Stiles had never seen before opened the door and welcomed them inside.
Derek turned to Stiles raising his eyebrows and gave him a small smile before rolling his shoulders.
"Are you ready for this?" he asked softly, wrapping his hand around Stiles's.
"As I'll ever be," he mumbled back, stepping inside and pulling Derek with him.
"Stiles, baby, you're finally here!" his mom, Melissa, cried from across the room as soon as she spotted them by the foyer.
She made her way towards them and Stiles stopped in his spot, his body tensing up again. Feeling his distress, Derek gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Stiles found himself comforted by his touch and exhaled the anxious breath he had been holding.
"Let's rock this bitch!" he said under his breath earning a chuckle from Derek.
Stiles grinned in return. Maybe things would work out after all.
