The first thing Derek noticed was that the picker upper was male. The second was the close cropped, buzz-cut hair that made the boy's head fuzzy. Next were the bright, golden eyes that shined at him from behind dark lashes. The slightly upturned nose and the plumped, bowed lips, then the smattering of moles across his pale skin. After that Derek took in the entirety of the boy, his lanky thinness, long fingers as they gripped a duffle bag in one hand and a large bucket of supplies in the other, and the awful plaid, long-sleeved shirt on top of a graphic tee over ratty blue jeans. It took him all of three seconds to assess the awkward, restless kid before turning to let him into the house.
"Ah, hi there. My name's Stiles and you must be Derek Hale. I'd shake your hand but my hands are kind of full. Um, whoa…" the boy cut off his chattering as he took in the sight of Derek's living room. "They weren't kidding when they said it was a big job."
"You can start anywhere. I don't really have any loose objects or trinkets but before you throw something out that isn't in a trash bag ask me. Unless it's obviously trash, then leave me alone." Derek said as Stiles stepped into the house and shut the door after him with a shove of his foot.
Derek locked the door behind the boy and stalked away, stepping over the piles back to his room. He shut his door against whatever noise the boy was going to make and pulled open his laptop again. There was a knock on his door before he even had time to place his fingers on the keyboard.
"What?" he yelled at the door.
"Um, sorry to bother you right off the bat but I need to know where to put all my stuff."
"I don't care, put it anywhere. You're just here to clean."
"Right, um, I'll just…yeah, ok."
Derek listened to the boy's clumsy steps wander back into the living room before tuning him out and pressing the keys down under his fingers to form the next words of his novel.
Hours went by without too much noise outside of his room. A few times there'd be a rather loud curse or obnoxious singing but other than the constant rustling of bags and shuffling of feet Derek was able to ignore the fact that there was someone else encroaching on his territory.
Night fell without Derek noticing and soon there was another knock on his door followed by a long yawn. Derek had managed to get another thirty pages typed on his story and was glad with his much needed progress. He saved his document again before completely shutting off his computer for the night and getting up to open his door. Stiles stood there smelling only lightly of garbage despite how much he'd been working with it but looking thoroughly rumpled.
"Let me look at your work, and then you can go home."
"Huh?" Stiles asked, confused, while Derek scooted around him to get a look at his progress.
It was amazing really. The piles of trash that'd been in his living room had been completely removed, leaving a still dirty but thankfully nearly empty space. The hall and kitchen hadn't been touched yet but that was ok. That could be done tomorrow when the boy arrived again to resume his work.
"Good job. How many hours was that?"
"A little over five." Stiles answered from right behind him.
Derek turned and nodded at him. "Alright. What time are you getting here tomorrow?"
Stiles gave him a slightly baffled look as if he were slightly stupid and asking stupid questions. "You did look over the contract, right?"
"I skimmed over it. Why?"
"You know what 'picker upper in-house housekeeping' means right? It means we housekeep in the house. It's required for the contractor to provide lodging for the employee, me."
Derek frowned long and hard at Stiles, making the boy shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. "I don't remember reading that anywhere."
"Yeah, because you skimmed through it. It states in, like, the second paragraph of the rules and guidelines that the picker upper is to be provided with all the accommodations of the employer."
Derek growled low in his throat making Stiles take a startled step back. Pulling out his phone Derek pulled up his email and checked the rules and guidelines he hadn't really read and to his displeasure it was right there in paragraph two just like the kid had said.
"Damn it." He said and stalked past the fidgety boy and into his room to quickly pull out a few blankets from his closet and a spare pillow he almost never used.
"Uh, you know it's cool, I don't have to stay here. I can just call up the company and tell them what's up and we can set you up with someone who can do commute. I just can't 'cause I don't have the money for gas or food."
"No. You're already here. I should've looked over the contract more thoroughly and yes it's an inconvenience but I can deal with it. I don't have a spare bed but since my room is the only clean room you can sleep on the floor."
Stiles grimaced but accepted the blankets and pillow thrust at him. "Yeah, I guess that would work. I haven't even seen inside your room yet."
"It's nothing much."
Derek was a little tense when Stiles stepped into his room and immediately walked over to the bookshelf in the back corner to peruse through his books and CDs, then briefly looking in the closet before settling to stand beside the bed.
"You really don't have much. I was able to take a look in your kitchen and other rooms and there was seriously nothing in there! What do you eat?"
"Take-out. Hurry up and set up so I can turn out the light."
"Ah, right, bed. Dude, you have a gigantic bed by the way." Stiles commented as he laid one blanket on the floor then the other blanket on top of that before climbing under the top one and stuffing the pillow under his head, still fully clothed.
Derek flicked the light out and shucked his jeans but kept his grey Henley and black boxers on before climbing into his bed. There was some rustling on the floor but he ignored it as best he could, trying to sleep so that he could get through the next few days or however long it took for the boy to finish cleaning. There was only ten more days until Laura came back to check on his house. He needed the boy done and gone before she got there so that he could get rid of his smell. If Laura knew that someone else had cleaned his house there'd be even more ammo to use against him for his mom and dad. Then they'd insist he move back in with all of them and he just couldn't take that overcrowded, rowdy house. He'd never get anything done.
"What are we doing for breakfast? You don't have any food. I can cook you know, so as soon as I get the kitchen cleared out I can totally cook the meals."
"I'll drive to the store to get breakfast. Go to sleep."
"Right, right, sleep." Stiles yawned. "I'm really tired but I'm not used to this place so it's hard to sleep. You ever get that? The inability to sleep even though you're really tired?"
"Yes, right now is a prime example. Just shut up and close your eyes. You'll sleep faster that way."
Stiles gave a suffering sigh and shifted some more under his blanket but thankfully didn't say anything else. Derek finally settled back in to sleep but now his mind was awake again. He listened to the boy's heart as he slowly fell into sleep. It was weird having another person in his house, let alone in his room. Laura had just barged in two weeks ago but he'd voluntarily let this boy in, had asked him even! Derek felt pretty pathetic at this point though and just had to suck it up if he wanted Laura off his back.
After another fifteen minutes or so of clearing his head Derek finally fell into a fitful sleep, waking a few times during the night because of the oddity of having someone else in his house.
The morning alarm went off on his phone exactly at seven and woke Derek from a dreamless sleep. The boy was still asleep on his floor, sprawled out with half of his body uncovered by the blanket. Derek scrubbed a hand over his face and frowned at the tiredness in his body. He hadn't really slept all too well and wasn't quite ready to face the day yet but oh well, he had to suck it up.
Climbing out of bed he yawned and stretched, popping a couple of joints before heading to the bathroom. He used the toilet before washing his face and brushing his teeth. He fixed his hair quickly by carding his fingers through it before heading out again. Quickly he tugged on a clean change of clothes and his shoes. Stiles was in the exact same position and didn't look to be moving so he grabbed his keys and wallet and headed for the door.
The drive to the donut shop was quick and he picked up an orange juice for the kid and a coffee for himself along with a dozen different donuts before heading back. When he unlocked the door and slammed it behind him the kid was just making his way out of his room, scratching at his belly and yawning loudly.
"Duuude, it's way early in the morning. How are you awake right now? Did you even sleep last night 'cause I feel like a zombie and we crashed pretty early? Are those donuts?"
Derek watched awareness crawl through the kid and he just rolled his eyes and held out the donut box with the orange juice on top.
"Sweeeeet. You are too good to me. Mmmm." Stiles moaned as he grabbed the box with one hand and the cup with the other hand and sat right down there on the floor.
"Save a glazed and chocolate for me." Derek said as he stepped around him and into his room.
Despite how tired Stiles had looked coming out of his room he'd actually folded up the blankets and put them and the pillow in a neat pile in the corner of the room. This kid wasn't actually all that bad, except for the incessant talking and overall jitteriness. At least he knew how to do his job.
"These are amazing! The sprinkle donuts with the pink icing are my favorite! The white ones too!" Stiles yelled at him from outside the door and Derek just rolled his eyes.
Derek booted up his laptop and pulled up his novel document and started re-read through the last paragraphs to pick up where he'd left off before putting his fingers to the keyboard and began typing again. He only got through a page and a half before Stiles knocked on his open door. He turned around to look at him who was holding out the donut box and looking content.
"I left half for you. Thanks for breakfast and the juice. It was great. Do you think that I could shower real quick before I get to work? I feel kinda grubby."
Derek nodded and pointed to the bathroom. "You can leave the box of donuts on my bed. I'll eat them later."
"Okey, I'll just do that then."
The boy walked over to his bag and grabbed a change of clothes, his toiletry bag, and a towel before disappearing into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. The water started and Derek could hear the boy undress before he stepped into the stream of water and let out a loud yelp.
"Dude! You could have warned me about your water!" Stiles yelled.
A smirk lifted on Derek's lips and he shook his head as he continued typing. He sipped at his coffee as he continued typing. Soon he was lost in the words and didn't even notice when Stiles came back out of the bathroom with a peeved look on his face.
"You need to get your water lines checked." He grumbled at Derek as he stuffed his dirty clothes into a plastic grocery bag he took out of his bag before shoving it back in.
"I don't really care."
"Well, what if you catch a cold? You'll just get sicker if you shower or bathe in that water. What if your girlfriend comes over and she needs a shower? She'll have to freeze in that freakishly cold water!"
Derek just shook his head. "No one ever comes over here."
"Aw, that's just sad. So you always have to go over to her house whenever you meet? Well, I guess with the way that your house is I guess I can understand."
"No, I mean I never see anyone." Derek turned a stern glare on Stiles where he was zipping up his bag. "I don't date."
Stiles threw him a pitying glance which Derek returned with a glare. Stiles held up his hands and shook his head.
"Ok, ok, dropping it. I won't pry into your sad and lonely life."
There was a hint of humor there but Stiles was already running from the room by the time that Derek turned to berate him.
"Shut up and get to work!" he yelled out to him and simply got a quick laugh in response.
Derek shook his head and quick saved his progress before getting up and picking up the box of donuts on his bed and sitting down, pulling open the box. There were two chocolate, two glazed, one apple fritter, and a sugar coated donut left in the box. He'd eaten all the sprinkle donuts. Derek lifted a chocolate one to his mouth and bit into its sugary goodness. He loved pretty much all foods but adored sweets. It was completely contradictory to his looks and he rarely indulged in sweets but when he did it was like bliss. He quickly devoured the chocolate and glazed donuts but savored the sugar coated donut and apple fritter. After washing it all down with the last of his lukewarm coffee he went back to typing.