Scott is talking about a thousand miles a minute, in a combination of yesterday's horrible news of me telling him "oh, Derek Hale was in my room last night" and "Oh, Allison is just the most amazing girl in the world, and I seriously want to marry her." The speech was getting redundant, and was heavily based around Allison and less on Derek. It's like he wants to yell at me about it, just he wishes that it was somebody, anybody, besides Derek, so he won't have to say his name.
"Dude, I get it; Allison's amazing. She's the brightest star in your night sky, and the butter to your bread. Now can you please focus for two seconds on what you have to yell at me for?" I pause, adding on, "You can call him something else if you don't want to say his name.
He scoffs. "Yeah, like what? Mr. Brood?" I shrug, thinking that's not too bad a suggestion. He gets back to the topic. "I just think it's kind of creepy that he's in your room. I mean, what if he kills you in your sleep or something?"
"Yeah right," I reply. "Derek's been in my room three times now, and all he's done is sit there, either reading, or sketching, or talking to me, or-"
Scott waves a hand, cutting me off. "Wait, you said sketching right?" I nod, pulling out the profile he did of me. His eyes go all wide, going to hold it. "Dude, he DREW that?! That's insane!"
I nod, tucking it back in its spot. "Yeah, it's pretty great. I think he could seriously do great things to the world of art when he finishes school or whatever." I picked at my now soggy salad, doing anything to keep my hands distracted.
"Wow. Hey, do you uh..." he scratched his head, looking odd about something. I looked at him until he continued. "Do you think he would, uh, draw Allison and me for a birthday gift? I want to get her something for her birthday, and that might just be perfect."
I shrug. "I don't know... wait, why are you asking me this?" Cue puppy dog eyes. "Oh, you're making me ask him now, is that it? I'm not his boyfriend, you know; why don't you ask him yourself. You aren't afraid of the big, bad, broody art student, are you?"
He shakes his head. "No, it's just... what if he says no? Or, better yet, decides halfway through to take his pencil and stab me in the throat with it? This guy's unpredictable!"
"Nah, you are just overreacting. Look, if I ask him for you, will you stay quiet?" he nods, putting a stop to that conversation. Soon we go back to the norm; Allison and Scott making goo goo eyes over one another from different tables, and me going to fiddle with something in my notebook.
He says something else, me only listening in about halfway. "...ing out on Saturday, right?"
"What?" I ask dumbly, snapping out of my fog.
"I said," he repeated, slightly irritated, "We're hanging out on Saturday, right?"
"Coffee shop on Saturday. Sorry." He slams his hand down, obviously frustrated. People turn around to look, but we shoo them away with a seconds of awkward staring.
"I'm sorry, but Erica's been kind of crazy lately. She wants me to work this weekend. But..." I offer, putting my hand up. "I did pick up optional hours on Saturday, Five to Nine. I could get out of them, and make Rebecca take them instead?"
"Do it." He says, looking excited. I nod, sending a text over to Rebecca quickly, and overjoyed when she said she'd be more than happy to take them for me. I hold my arms up, looking at him. "I'm a free man on Saturday. Totally yours." he high fives me, happy that I not only gave him someone to see, but he has something to look forward to now.
The rest of the week went by pretty slowly. When I got home, it was about thirty minutes before I heard the familiar knocking of Derek; I had just jumped out of the shower, getting particularly smelly from practice today. Mostly because, sadly, our main goalie got transferred out of state, and I was the second best one on the team. So now, being first string and all, I might be able to get some interest from other people in the school. Or, maybe I can settle for being noticed.
I open the window, going to sit down. "Such a gentleman, always knocking before coming in." He rolled his eyes, sitting down on the bed and stripping his jacket off.
"Yeah, well, I was raised to be polite and kind. It's in my nature." He pulls out the same sketchbook, focus going straight to that. Sadly, my focus was on this project that Scott was way too caught up in with something else to pull his half. Derek cleared his throat, making me turn around.
"If you don't want to do more than your half, then why are you?" He was pointing his pencil at me, whilst I shook my head.
"It's not just his grade I'm worried about, you know; I'm trying to keep an all A standard, so I have an easier time with getting into college." Derek raised an eyebrow, seeming intrigued.
"College, huh? What are some you're interested in?" I shook my head, not sure if I even knew the answer to this one.
"I don't know... I definitely want a Masters in English. I want to stay some place close, so my dad doesn't have to live totally alone, but I want a different kind of atmosphere change. Like, I want to see the world, but I want to stay close to home, you know?" He nods, understanding completely.
"Have you thought of State college? That's where I'm going." He asked, scribbling something in his sketchbook. I raised my eyebrows.
"Really?" He nods. "Huh," I say, somewhat in disbelief. "Is the art program good there?" I question.
"Well, it's not so great in the fashion department, with making fabrics and the classes they offer, but everything else is pretty good. And then there is the draft in the West building, but I'm thankfully nice and warm in the East building, living alone." I scoff, making him look up.
"You live alone? What, like, in a loft or something?" He nods, making me look at him strange.
"Each college has a top level, which is the loft. Most of the time, it's four to five people at once, and reserved only to the most privileged students. But, with me having the means to live there, and alone, for that matter, I get sixteen hundred square feet of panoramic views and loft space all to myself."
"Wow..." is all I say. "Must be nice, living alone."
He shrugs. "It gets lonely from time to time. And slightly chilly. But, I like not being disturbed. Quiet time is exactly what I need after my last class." I nod, taking in all that information. Just then I remember what I wanted to ask.
"Hey, uh, Derek..." he looks up. Why did I get butterflies? I shake my head. "Uh, my friend Scott, was wondering if you would be okay with doing a, uh... I don't know; a drawing? A portrait?" he scratched his head, looking for the right words.
"Is it of people and only people?" I nod. "Then it's a portrait. Keep going." I nod.
"He was wondering if you would be willing to do a portrait of him and his girlfriend for a birthday present." He takes his in, thinking it over.
"When is her birthday?" He asks, making me search through the many various tidbits of information.
"It's uh... Three and a half weeks' away, if I'm correct." I check my calendar. "Yep, the 8th of November." He nods.
"Does he want full body, waist up, neck up, or face?" I furrow my brows, looking at him like he's crazy.
"Tell you what; how about I give you my number so you can text me the information?"
"Uh..."
Did he just slyly give me his number? Wait, is he hitting on me? Oh my gosh...Oh wow.
"Hey, Stiles; do you want my number or not?"
"Yes!" I say, sounding far more excited than I intended. I put my face in my hands, embarrassment creeping slowly over my face.
"I mean, yes, I do." He lowers his eyebrows, pulling out his cell phone.
"Okay, my number is..." he recites it off, me entering it into my phone. I was tempted to put him under 'sexy brooding uncontrollably hot man' as his name, but, well, I couldn't fit all of that. So I just put 'Derek' instead. I nodded when I finished, and was more than pleased to have his number. This was pretty great, I felt.
"Stiles, I got a question for you now." Yes, good looking?
"When are you working the coffee shop again?" oh.
"Uh, I'm working it Sunday; Friday is my birthday, and Saturday I got out of it to hang out with Scott. Definitely working the afternoon and evening shift, though. With Boyd, though, not so excited about that."
"Is that the darker skinned guy? Because, if it is, he better not hand me my coffee again."
"Really?" I put my chin in my hands, looking at him. "What happened when he did that?"
"Totally stumbled, and threw the steaming hot coffee all over me. Most of it hitting me in the crotch." I couldn't help my fit of laughter when he said that, making me clutch my sides from how much I was laughing. The scowl on his face was more fuel to add to the laughter machine that I was.
"How about I throw coffee on you, see how you like it." He couldn't scowl for long; he was soon smiling a bit, more than enjoying my fit of laughter.
"Oh man, I'm going to have to get him for that one; he's not going to be living that one down for a long while!" I sit back in my chair, wiping the tears from my eyes. He regains composure quicker than I did, picking up his sketchbook again.
That was only Monday. When Tuesday rolled around, I asked Scott on what he wanted for the style. I texted Derek the information, and he said he'd meet with Allison and Scott to start it soon. He couldn't thank me enough for this. Wednesday was slow, as usual, the only good thing was when I got a perfect score on my Calculus test when I thought I would fail it miserable; near college level math is difficult!
Thursday went without anything exciting, making me bang my head against a wall until I finally could go to bed for my birthday the next day.
Friday hit, and I was ecstatic; Eighteen and finally, in some fashion, an adult. Dad woke me up with a cheesy 'happy birthday' and a jig of sorts. He thought he twisted something, so he said "never again" and hobbled back down the stairs. At school, everyone knew that it was my birthday, even before they announced it on the intercom. Scott basically attacked me with a hug, grinning and ranting over how well the drawing is going; apparently he thinks this will be the best present Allison will ever get, well, besides the custom jewelry she was getting from her aunt.
"Yeah, it's no problem, man. I'm just happy that you are." I smile, putting my hand on his shoulder. I honestly don't remember the rest of that day, except that Allison had made me a cake and that honestly surprised me. No candles, but with the incident with the fire two years ago, we were smart. Even without the candles, the cake was delicious, perfectly sugary and sweet, and I had three slices of it too, her sending the rest of it home with a warning that I was to return it the next day.
Gladly not spoiled for dinner, Dad took me out to my favorite place to eat, and getting me what I needed for my birthday. It was kind of a long standing tradition between us; instead of getting us just whatever we wanted for our birthdays, we got each other what we needed, and only one or two things that we wanted. I got the cd and jacket I had wanted for the past little while, and everything else was what I needed. Pretty great end to the start of my 'adulthood.'
I decided to call it a night, heading up early. When I entered my bedroom, the window was open, making me think back to this afternoon; I don't recall leaving it open, so I get a little bit worried. I close it, not before looking out of it though; I don't think Derek did it though, because he doesn't do this kind of thing. Well, he did it the one time, but that was before all of this. Whatever though, I close it anyways, locking it.
I yelp when I turn around, and Derek is standing right in front of me. When I finally get my heart under control, I punch him in the shoulder.
"God damn it, Derek; Stop scaring me!" in return for that, he holds up a candle, lights a match, and touches it to the candle. His eyes don't leave mine the entire time he's doing it, looking, no pun intended, kind of hot.(i) I resist the urge to laugh, when he opens his mouth.
"Happy birthday. Now blow out the candle." I do so, coughing when the smoke came my way.
"What happened to..." cough. "To, gentleman Derek? Coming in without knocking?"
I saw him roll his eyes, even in the dark. "You weren't home. I let myself in politely." He tosses the candle in the trash bin, with perfect accuracy.
"Look, thanks for the candle and everything, but I kind of already did that at dinner. And, also, thanks for helping Scott with this for Allison's birthday present; I can't explain how much this means to him." I may have been kind of rambling then, especially when Derek looked like he wanted to say something, but I kept going. "I mean, I wish I had someone like him who did those nice things for me, and uh, he's just a really great friend, we've been friends since Kindergarten, ever since he stole my salmon crayon, which was my favorite on in the box of 24, and the-"
Derek cut me off by pressing his lips to mine, silencing me for the time being. His eyes were closed, slightly strained from the effort. My first reaction was shock, but then I came back to my senses, pushing back into his kiss with force, placing my hands on his chest. He broke free too soon for my liking, standing back a good two feet.
"It seemed like it was, you know, the only way to quiet you." I nod, touching my lips, hoping I could keep that sensation. He pulled something else out of his jacket; a cd case, with a handwritten playlist on the back of it.
"I put together a list of songs you might like. Just some things from your library, as well as mine." I took it, looking at the playlist.
"Thanks, Derek. That was really kind of you." Then I furrowed my brows, looking at the list; Thirty-one songs, but only thirty were labeled. Thirty-one was blank.
"Hey, Derek, riddle me this; why is number thirty-one on here blank?" I looked up to him. I could swear, his eyes were glowing, even in the dark.
"That's what I want to tell you; don't play the last song yet. I'll tell you when you can."
"But what if I want to listen to it?" He takes the cd out of my hands.
"Then I guess you'll just have to go without hearing it." He held it out of reach.
"Oh, come on, you big grump; I was joking! Please give it back; I want to listen to it. Really!" I reached out for it, crossing my arms. "It's selfish to give a present and take it back, you know; on my birthday too." I added. He smiled a bit, handing it back.
"Just, please? Put the cd on a playlist, and exclude that one?" I nod, agreeing to that. He smiles.
"Hey;" He looks at me. "I've never seen your teeth before. Didn't know you had them though; I thought you were just all fangs or something." I laugh nervously, setting the cd down.
With the silence pressing into the awkward territory, Derek grabs his coat to leave.
"Wait!" I say, grabbing his arm. He looks down at my hand, then to my face. "Don't leave yet. Stay a little longer? Please?"
He debates it, looking at me. "What about your dad?"
"I told my dad I was going to bed, and I didn't want to be disturbed. Normally he knows that once I ask that, he won't check in on me. And especially on my birthday. So, at least stay with me until I fall asleep?"
He takes his jacket back off, putting it on the back of the chair. "Is your bed comfy?" I can't help but grin as he sits down on the side of the bed opposite of where I normally sleep.
"Just to sleep. I don't want you over tired the next day." He said, shifting so I could be comfy. I took this chance to wrap my arm around Derek's stomach. I enjoyed feeling the grooves of his stomach, running a finger down each line, kind of soothing me to sleep.
I didn't know I had fallen asleep until I jerk awake, looking around; something was really warm, and... Solid. Derek! He's still here? I look up, seeing him lost in thought or something. Yep, he's definitely still here. He was rigid, staring out into the moonlight through the open blinds.
I poke him in the rib. "Hey," I say, sleepily, yawning when I did it. He looks down, rubbing his face.
"Hey. Sorry, did I wake you." I shake my head, settling my head back on his side.
"No, I just... woke up for some reason. Probably something about Muse being torn apart by Vampire guitarists or something."
Derek wasn't paying attention; instead he was just staring out the window. I figure it's nothing; he's probably just trying to stay awake.
"You can head home if you want, Derek; I'm not forcing you to stay."
"It's fine. I like this." I feel my cheeks heat up at his compliment, thankful it was dark so he couldn't see that. "Go back to sleep. I'm fine." I nod, more than happy to take that offer. I run my fingers over his stomach again and going to sleep without much effort. The last thing I remember is how nice and warm Derek's body was, even through the cloth.