Derek agrees to pick Stiles up at the end of the boy's shift at the library to discuss how exactly they are going to do this. Stiles left not long after Derek said yes to let him tag along, and they were already on board with using the Jeep – 'Her name is Jessie' Stiles had told him – for the trip. It had more space than the Camaro, and that would be a good thing in case they decided to sleep in the car for a few nights.
Stiles is already waiting when Derek parks the Camaro outside of the old building, wearing his uniform of flannel shirts over band tees – blue flannel over an AC/DC tee with an Angus Young holding an apple and Teacher's Pet written across it in yellow and pink, and Derek can't help but think Laura would have gotten a kick out of that, if she ever saw it.
"We need to make a stop," Stiles tells him as soon as he gets into the passenger seat and closes the door.
"Stiles."
"Derek," he says, and taps his fingers on the dashboard when Derek doesn't respond. "Come on, it's just a stop. It won't take five minutes. I just need to stop by The Mothership and pick up a few CDs and then we can go eat and plot our way through America."
The Mothership was Beacon Hills' record shop. It had been renovated and had its name changed when its old owner died, leaving the shop to one of his grandsons. They had a pretty good selection of music people came in to trade or sell, and Derek had to admit he had spent more of his time there going through stacks of CDs and old vinyl copies for something to buy than he'd like. And if the band t-shirts Stiles wore all the time were any indication, the boy did too.
"Five minutes."
"Awesome," Stiles beams at him.
It's a little bit unsettling to see Stiles smiling. His smile changes and lights up his whole face, making him about ten times more attractive to Derek. He pretends that's because no one has looked at him that way for a long time without expecting something in return, and not because Stiles gets this glint in his eyes or how his teeth sometimes bite down on his lower lip, as if he's trying to keep himself from bursting out of happiness.
The drive to the record shop is a short one, with Stiles chattering mindlessly about his morning at the library from 'there was this girl reading John Green's The Fault In Our Stars and I knew it would happen but it was still so awkward when I had to go bring her tissues and ask her not to get her tears all over the book' and 'Mr. Harris stopped by and had me running around the library after all this ridiculously old and heavy books and man I hate him so much' to things Derek absolutely did not need to know about ever 'Coach Finstock came in asking if we had a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey'.
As they come to a stop in front of the store, Stiles slides off the passenger seat and starts walking towards the front door. Derek turns off the ignition, grabs his jacket from the backseat and follows him in.
"Dude, you could have stayed in the car," Stiles tells him when he notices Derek walking beside him.
"Stop calling me dude."
The store is so crammed with music and people that it's sometimes difficult to squeeze through the aisles. Everywhere are carts filled with CDs, vinyl records and cassette tapes, with handwritten signs plastered on the walls categorizing everything by genre, and even those are divided with subcategories.
Derek starts walking around the store while Stiles goes off to find whatever it is he's looking for. He has always preferred listening to music on vinyl over any other way – even though he ends up buying everything digitally later too -, because that's what he grew up with. With his parents listening to his dad's old records and dancing around in the living room, or those sunny Sunday mornings when his mom would wake him up by putting on The Beatles' Abbey Road and singing along to the songs.
Going to The Mothership with Stiles ends up being a good idea when he finds a used copy of The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers with the zipper cover. The record is in pretty good condition, so he makes his way to the cash register to pay for it and wait for Stiles in the car. He's reaching for his wallet when Stiles stops by his side, holding two CDs in his hand.
"Thank fuck I found this copy of Sawdust. Scott, totally breaking the bro code by the way, lost mine," Stiles places the CDs on the counter, and Derek is pleasantly surprised to see that the second one is Brothers by The Black Keys. But then the boy is reaching for his purchase and asking, "What do we have here?"
Derek tries to reach for the vinyl first, but Stiles sneaky fingers are faster. He turns the record to look at the cover, and gets this soft smile on his face. He looks up at Derek and down at the record again, tracing his fingers up and down the zipper on the front of it.
"My mom was a big Stones fan," Stiles says, giving the record back to Derek's outstretched hand. "I think her favorite track on that one was Wild Horses. Or maybe Moonlight Mile, I don't really… remember."
Derek stares at him for a beat or two before he says, "Those are good songs."
Stiles looks at him at little surprised and then breaks into that beam of his, even though Derek can still see the lingering grief in his eyes. Stiles' mom died about ten years ago, and if you look close enough you can still see the sadness whenever Stiles talks about her, how he has to stop and get a hold of himself every time he shares a little bit about who and how she was, or their memories together. Derek understands, because when he thinks about his family all he ever smells is smoke.
He tries not to think about Laura at all.
"Yeah, they really are," the boy says. "Now, let's go. I am starving."
Stiles pays for his things and they go back to the car. They haven't agreed on a place to eat, so Derek just drives to where it feels right: to Ruth's. And taking the way Stiles almost jumps from his seat out of excitement into the street, he did good.
"Dude, I love this place! And not just because Danny works here and sometimes gives us free coffee or pastries, or because they make breakfast food all day, even though that'd be a good enough reason alone for loving any food establishment, but the name. You can't expect me not to fall in love with a coffee shop called Bean Me Up. They'd revoke my nerd card otherwise."
"Your nerd card?"
Stiles shrugs, "I am who I am."
They walk into the shop and Stiles directs them to one of the empty tables, sprawling himself in one of the chairs with so little grace you'd expect it to fall back on the ground with him in it. Derek is patiently waiting for the day he'll see Stiles trip on his own feet and faceplant somewhere.
A boy about Stiles' age with tanned skin and the deepest dimples Derek has ever seen walks over to their table, eyes going between Stiles to him and back to Stiles again.
"Hey, Stiles," the boy says.
"Danny, my man," Stiles gets up to hug him, then turns around and points at Derek. "Danny, meet Derek. Derek, this is Danny. Now, Derek, if you'd stop frowning and looking serial killer-y and maybe cracked a smiled sometime, you might make some friends."
Derek just rolls his eyes and nods at Danny, who he notices is looking at him a little bit wide-eyed and terrified. "Wait," Derek starts when Stiles opens his mouth again. "Danny. The one you asked to listen in to my private conversation with Ruth, with the promise of baked goods if he was successful. That Danny."
Stiles gapes at him, and Danny inches a little bit closer to Stiles. Derek just looks at both of them, secretly amused and waiting to see what they'll come up with. He also sort of gets a kick out of the fear both boys must be feeling. Like, at any moment now, Derek might get up from the table and kick their asses.
"I'm really sorry, Derek," Danny says, smiling apologetically and showing off his dimples. "But no one can resist an opportunity to eat Stiles' cakes."
"Damn right," Stiles looks so proud of himself right then Derek wants to roll his eyes again.
Seeing Danny is still using Stiles as his own personal shield, Derek turns to him, "Don't do it again. Even if he promises you cakes. Or talks you to death."
"Hey!" Stiles protests at the same time Danny says, "I won't."
Stiles sits back down, and Derek can't believe he's actually pouting. Like having his own personal spy compromised was the saddest thing to ever happen to him.
"Stop pouting," Derek tells him.
"I'm not pouting!"
"You are," Danny says. "And as cute as you look while doing it, Derek's right. You should stop. It's not going to work. I won't spy for you anymore. I'd rather have Broody Dark and Dangerous here on my good side."
Derek is just about to tell Danny that no, absolutely not when Stiles throws his arms up and announces, "I knew I was attractive to gay guys!"
"Please," Danny snorts. "You knew that since the time we all got drunk at Lydia's birthday party two years ago and you made out with half the band she hired to play."
"What? They were the entertainment. I was entertained."
Derek just looks on between them with his eyebrows almost up to his hairline, because he is not prepared to deal with this information. To have confirmation that Stiles is gay - or at least not that contrary to the idea of hooking up with guys - and then to realize that they will be spending the foreseeable future packed together in a car almost makes Derek want to cancel the whole thing on the spot.
Or just really thank the universe for this opportunity.
Stiles sits back down, but he doesn't make eye contact with Derek again as Danny takes their orders and leaves with a wave and saying he'll be right back.
"So," Derek doesn't like Stiles not looking at him. It makes him nervous, for some reason.
"Is it going to be a problem?"
"What?" Derek asks, because he has no idea what Stiles is talking about.
"Me? I mean, me liking guys too. Is that going to be a problem? Considering we'll be spending a lot of time together this summer and all that."
Derek takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly through his nose. "No, Stiles. It's not going to be a problem," and then he adds, "As long as you don't have a problem with it too."
"Of course I don't have a problem with it. I mean, why would I have a problem with me liking guys? That's would be stu-" and Derek can see the moment it all clicks together in Stiles' head and the boy looks up at him, finally meeting his eyes. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
"I didn't. I mean. You and. I had no," this time it's Stiles who takes a deep breath, Derek being graced by the faint blush in the boy's cheeks as he gathers his thoughts. "No, man. It's definitely not going to be a problem."
"Good."
"You don't look the type, though."
"Type?" Derek narrows his eyes. He's used to it, people assuming he's straight – or just assuming things, really - just because of the way he looks. It doesn't mean he likes it any less.
"To like guys," Stiles says with a thoughtful look on his face. "Although the fact that you're ridiculously attractive should probably be a warning, you know? The hot ones are usually taken, which I know you're not because hey small town, or they are…"
"Gay," Derek finishes the sentence for him. He thinks about calling Stiles on saying he's ridiculously attractive, but that's a can of worms he's not ready to open just yet.
Danny comes back with their food just then, conversation put on hold as they eat in silence. Mostly in silence, expect when Stiles takes a bite from something and makes the most unbelievable noises.
"I want to leave on Friday," Derek tells him after they've finished eating.
"For New York?"
"No, for the mall," Derek deadpans. "Yes, New York. What else would I be talking about?"
"Friday," Stiles rolls the word in his mouth like he's testing it out. "Okay, I think that's doable. I just have to let Agnes know I will be leaving sooner than I thought. A lot sooner. But, yeah, we can leave Friday."
"Is your dad going to be okay with you leaving?" because the last thing Derek needs is having the Sheriff after him thinking he kidnapped his soon.
"He'll understand," Stiles smirks. "Plus, I'm already eighteen. There's nothing he can do, not really."
"He can make our lives difficult."
"He won't. I'll talk to him. And like I said, he'll understand why I want to go."
Derek thinks he will, too. The Sheriff is a good man, he trusts his son and Stiles is right, he will understand.
They both go over the specifics of Friday's departure, and as they outline the plans, the knot in Derek's stomach winds tighter and tighter. This isn't some vague idea in his head anymore; it's becoming more and more concrete. He's really going to do this, and Stiles will be there with him.
"I can't believe this is actually happening," Derek mutters. And he doesn't mean just this – the trip to New York – but everything that has changed in his life since Laura.
"Yeah, I know," he hears Stiles whisper in response. His expressions changes, then. There's something there – understanding, maybe?
They don't have much to talk about after that, so they pick up their things and leave. Stiles makes sure to leave behind a good tip for Danny.
"Do me a favor," Derek tells Stiles as he stops in front of the Sheriff's house. "Try and pack light."
Stiles wrinkles his nose, "I hate packing."
Derek rolls his eyes, "Tough shit."
Stiles laughs and closes the car door behind him, stopping at his front door to turn around and wave at Derek, "See you later, Derek!"