Stiles had to leave early in the afternoon and by then Derek had another missed call from his mother and two more messages from Laura. He had left his phone in the living room while he and Stiles had spent most of the day in the bedroom. The last thing he needed was for his mother to call while Stiles had four of his skilled fingers up his ass, torturing his prostate.

And he would have to go back to the store at some point for the final paperwork and to get his last paycheck.

Derek was just not sure what he wanted to face first, his family or Harris. In the end Laura made the decision for him by calling him.

For a long second Derek stared at her name on the display and he was tempted to not answer but then he pressed the green button.

"You're avoiding me." She accused him before he'd even had the phone anywhere close to his ear.

"Hello to you too." Derek made himself comfortable on the couch with his legs stretched out. He suppressed a sigh when his movement put stress on his used hole but he didn't have time to savor that feeling because Laura was already talking.

"Mom is telling everybody that you're going to disgrace Cora's wedding by bringing some mouthy teenager as your partner."

"The mouthy part is correct." Derek said and tried really hard to not think about what Stiles had done with that mouth of his earlier today. Derek should have asked him to cage him again.

"How old is he?"

"Twenty-four." Derek sighed, at least it wasn't his mother interrogating him. With Laura chances were good that she would take his side in the end. "I know he sounds younger, he looks younger, but he's an adult."

"And it's a he?" She asked somewhat carefully. "I always thought were just fooling around with men, nothing serious."

"That's what Mom likes to think." Derek corrected. With his sisters he'd never really spoken about his preferences and since they were still living in Beacon Hills, they had absorbed their mother's view. "It's serious, we've been together for a while now."

There was a long moment of silence at the other end and Derek gave her the time she needed to wrap her head around the new information.

"You haven't been serious with someone since …" She hesitated.

"Kate." Derek finished the sentence for her. "She was toxic, I know that now. But Stiles is different." He could tell her about the negotiations and safe-words and the absolute trust he had in Stiles but that would have been way too much information.

"Stiles? That's his name?"

"It's a nickname, he doesn't like his real name." He explained. Stiles had insisted on the nickname when they had changed from online names to real ones and Derek hadn't asked since then. It didn't really matter.

"So I can tell Mom to seat Stiles next to you?" She was testing the name but Derek didn't hear a hint of disapproval in her voice.

"Yes." He could tell her to not bother with a chair but he didn't. Instead he asked: "Are you okay with this?"

"Derek, I want you to be happy and if this Stiles makes you happy …"

"He does."

"Then I'm happy for you." There was some rustling on her end and Derek could picture her getting more comfortable. "And now spill, tell your big sister everything. How did you meet?"

Derek laughed and then he spent the next hour telling her everything. He left out what kind of website they had met on and the wheelchair didn't come up so he didn't feel the need to mention it either. When he ended the call, Derek leaned back with a smile and the good feeling that it wasn't him against the whole family. Laura approved of his relationship with a man and he was confident that she would be able to calm down their mother.

At least until they found out about the chair. He hoped that it wouldn't make a difference but he didn't know. That was something that had never come up. Him coming out as bi hadn't even been enough to cause an awkward dinner. Laura had been the one with inappropriate questions afterwards but she hadn't pushed the issue when instead of an answer he had just glared at her. His dad had tried to give him the talk about safe anal sex, a conversation both of them had later silently agreed on had never happened, and his mom had patted his shoulder and had said something about his wild phase and trying things out. All in all it had gone over well.

And Derek was pretty sure that they would accept that he was serious with a man, given time.

However, disabilities had never been a topic so Derek had no idea what to expect. At least he had Peter on his side.

The other thing Derek had failed to mention was that he had quit his job and was now pursuing a career as a professional artist. He doubted his mother was ready for that bomb.

To put his mind on other things Derek wrote Erica, asking if Harris was in. If Stiles was serious with the road trip, he should get things sorted out at the store soon.

Harris was in so Derek had no excuse do not get it over with right now. With a sigh he grabbed his camera, maybe he got a few shots while he was out, and then he was on his way to the store.

Hopefully for the last time, he thought.

When he entered, he didn't see Erica out on the floor so he headed for the break room.

"Missed us already?" She greeted him and handed him a coffee like always. He had forgotten to take his mug when he'd stormed out yesterday.

"Just want to get it over with." Derek took the mug. "My sister's wedding is in a few weeks and Stiles is talking about a road trip to California. We might leave this weekend or early next week." It depended on how quickly Stiles could wrap up the things he was working on and Derek wouldn't put it past him to push it to get an early start.

"Road trip?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Can he do that? I mean … you know." She made a vague gesture.

"We'll take his car." Which he probably should test drive before they were on the road. Stiles' car didn't even have pedals to operate.

"Yeah but …" She paused, searching for words. "Doesn't he need special stuff?"

"Not really?" Derek wasn't sure what she was talking about. But he did make a mental note to pack the hand grip and the stool he'd bought for Stiles. With those Stiles should be fine with almost every bathroom.

There was more on her mind, that much was clear, but after a moment of pondering, she shrugged it off.

"Anyway." She changed the topic. "You'll be gone for weeks?"

"A month at least." He hadn't even thought about how long they would be gone.

"We need to have a farewell party, then." Erica decided.

A minute later he'd somehow been roped into a party on Saturday. Erica had texted Stiles who had instantly agreed and had asked if he could invite Lydia as well. When Derek left the break room, Erica was still typing with Stiles, nailing down the details of when and where.

"Mr Hale." Harris greeted him when Derek entered his office. "I knew you'd come crawling back."

"I'm just here for my last paycheck." Derek told him and tried very hard to keep his voice neutral. "And I guess there is some paperwork involved? I want to get that out of the way before I go on vacation with my boyfriend." He didn't try to hide the smirk forming on his lips when he saw Harris' expression at the mention of his boyfriend.

"Where do you even go on vacation with somebody like that?" Harris snorted but sorted through some papers. "Just that we're clear, there's no job waiting for you here when you came back after he has spent all your money. I hope he lets you fuck him so you get at least something out of this charity case. Not that I can understand how somebody can be into cripples. The thought alone is disgusting."

"He earns his own money." Derek muttered, pretending he hadn't heard the last bit. If Harris didn't shut his mouth soon, he would do it for him and he just knew that Harris was only waiting for him to lose his patience. He would not give this asshole the satisfaction to call security on him.

"How?" Harris seemed actually surprised by that statement. But then a smile formed on his lips. "Let me guess. He has one of those fake jobs intend to make them feel useful but are a total waste of time. And a monkey could do a better job at it." He looked very proud of himself.

"Actually." Derek snatched the check out of Harris' hand. "He's an artist."

He could see the laughter bubbling up in Harris' chest so Derek leaned forward as if he was about to tell him a secret.

"And before you laugh." He said in a low voice. "You know that big cereal pyramid we have in the food section? The one people like to kick over for fun? Next time you have to rebuild it, have a good look at the picture on the front. I doubt a monkey could have done that job."

He straightened up again, now looking down at Harris. Who just gaped at him.

"Are we done here?" Derek asked. He was more than done but he didn't want to come back later because something wasn't in order.

The paperwork took a few more minutes which went by in grim silence with the bare minimum of words.

Then the last slip of paper was signed and Derek was ready to leave. And to hopefully never see Harris ever again.

He pocketed his check but at the door he stopped and gave Harris one last look.

"You asked if I at least get a good fuck out of this." He reminded him of his own words. "Just FYI, we celebrated me quitting this shitty job with some marathon sex. I'm still sore from the pounding he gave me."

The smug expression fell from Harris' face and the last Derek saw of him was a comic expression of clear disbelief complete with bulging eyes and mouth hanging open.

Derek slammed the door shut with a satisfying thud. Then he hurried out of the store with his face burning hot. He couldn't believe what he'd just said, it sounded more like something Stiles would say. But damn had it felt good.

In his car he took a deep breath. And collapsed in manic laughter.

Just told my ex boss that I'm still sore from the pounding you gave me, he wrote because he just had to tell somebody.

You what? Stiles answered immediately.

Derek didn't even know what to say to that.

No idea, he wrote honestly. Wanna do something later?

He knew that Stiles had his online class today and he didn't want to interrupt but he felt like celebrating.

Absolutely, came the prompt answer. I need to hear that story

Over a few drinks? Today Derek felt bold. Except for their first date over coffee, they had spent all their time either at Derek's or Stiles' place.

We can give that bar Erica suggested a test drive, came his answer after a moment.

Erica suggested a bar?

For Saturday

It took Derek a moment to remember the farewell party Erica and Stiles had been planning.

Erica says the place is okay for me but I'd like to see for myself, Stiles wrote. You know, before everybody is there

That Derek understood. It would be awkward if they arrived there on Saturday just to find out that the restrooms were in the basement or the place was too cramped to navigate with a wheelchair.

It's a date, Derek wrote with a warm feeling in his stomach. Stiles didn't want to get embarrassed in front of his friends but he was totally fine with Derek seeing him struggle.

As an answer Stiles sent him an emoji blowing a kiss at him.