Chapter 24:
Kate had been busy with work and running errands; she had been gone a large part of the day and returned only in the evening, quite exhausted after terrible rush hour traffic. Her feet hurt from standing on high heels so long, her face felt oily and gross from all the makeup, her bra felt too tight. From the kitchen there emanated sounds of something sizzling in a pan, clinking of dishware, the tap coming on and then off. She grinned tiredly as she made her way there, she pulled her purse off one shoulder and set her keys down; "You guys cook together," she said, leaning forth against the bar to curve her aching back, "That's so cute.
Stiles turned from where he was stirring something in the pan, he even had a fucking apron on (she didn't remember buying that?), he grinned and waved, "Hello!"
Derek turned to greet her as well, he appeared to be peeling vegetables over the sink.
"How was your day?" he asked, and Kate was now sitting on one of the barstools, trying to pick apart the intricate fastens of her shoes. "Don't make him anything fried, Stiles," she warned, "he'll get fat"—because Derek had a very strict diet; Stiles grinned, "He has been putting on the pounds, hasn't he?"
Derek frowned, "I HAVE NOT!" and Stiles laughed at that. "He's been very good about his diet, really. This is very light canola oil."
"Yeah," Derek said, he tugged at Stiles' apron strings from behind, "you're the one who made fun of my low-fat desserts."
Stiles grinned at the recollection; he turned his head momentarily when Derek pulled his strings. Kate liked watching this; it brought a smile to her face after her long day; she was hungry, as well. There was a stack on the counter of letters that had come in the mail and she began going through them, brushing back strands of hair that fell in her face, turning her ankles in circles and making them crack; Derek glanced at her over his shoulder, aware she appeared like she could be cheered up.
"You totally missed it," he said, "we were making out all day."
Stiles snorted so loud he got both of them looking in his direction.
"Right," he said, smiling sarcastically in the pan in his hand. "That is…exactly…the thing you missed."
"All day," Derek repeated.
They hadn't actually made out at all, but it did cheer Kate up to hear it.
"And you stopped the moment I came in?" She asked, and without missing a beat Derek replied, "Yup…"
"Actually we were cooking completely naked until you came in."
"With just—" Derek said, signaling his chest and abdomen, "—just aprons, you know—"
"Because—this isn't—you know—something she'd want to see at all."
"All this we said while we were making out."
They finally got her to laugh. "I really missed out on some good stuff!" she said, "You'll just have to do it again, so I can see."
Stiles and Derek were back to cooking, both smiling while going about the tasks.
"Nope, it was a one-time thing," Stiles said, "and you missed it."
Derek turned his head partway to Kate. He smiled and winked while rubbing his hands with a kitchen towel; he then walked over to Stiles and got one hand on his shoulder, startling him inadvertently, he leaned in to kiss him and completely missed. Stiles scrambled with the pan, it scraped loudly on the stovetop and he got the wooden spoon on Derek's arm, staining his sleeve with the sauce.
"Shit, what are you—" he muttered, and now Derek was examining his sleeve for the stain, he was holding the fabric out and looking over his shoulder.
For Kate, this was good enough.
They had her undivided attention, she was sitting stiffly with both hands over her mouth, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.
Stiles and Derek were now laughing about it, Stiles was on about how that was dangerous, and he could have burned something, and also he was apologizing for getting the spoon on Derek's shirt.
"Look at her," Derek smirked, "having a great time."
Stiles glanced up from the pan; it was very compelling to play to her obvious interest.
She wasn't even saying anything, she was too stunned; she'd never actually seen them at it before.
"It's like she'd under some spell," Stiles grinned while going back to stirring, suddenly shy.
"Again," she finally managed to say, completely flushed in the face, eyes bright—like she forgot how tired she was.
Stiles chuckled silently, Derek was back to his side of the kitchen and shook his head without looking up. "no, that was a one-time thing."
"That's what you said last time!"
"Yeah, well…" he mumbled, enable to think of a good response.
"Pretend it's for a film!" Kate said.
"Yeah, what kind of film?" Stiles couldn't help asking, it got Kate squealing with surprise, and now Derek turned toward him, outright laughing.
"We know…exactly…what kind of film…you want to see…" he said while pointing at her, and she got both hands down on the counter, "Yes…!"
"Too bad it is not happening," Stiles said, finally turning off the stove and proceeding to the other side of the kitchen, where he began pouring the contents of the pan into a large bowl.
"Oh, come on! Now you have to!" she cried, and Stiles would be lying if he'd said he didn't like the attention.
"Now we have to," Derek said without turning around, he held his hands to the sides like it couldn't be helped.
"Do we have to?" Stiles asked, he wiped his hands on the towel and turned to Derek with his brow furrowed, like it were a serious matter of deliberation.
Derek glanced at Kate, then back at Stiles; they were now pretending to weigh the pros against the cons, intentionally giving her a hard time. "But the weather just isn't right for it," Stiles said with convincing severity, "the sun—isn't in the right position in the sky—oh, it's evening, isn't it—this stars, then—"
"Just do it already…" Kate whined miserably from behind her hands, and Stiles glanced at her with pretense of serious concern. "Really suffering there, isn't she?"
"I think we should humor her," Derek said.
"Yes, you should humor me."
It was somehow embarrassing with her watching—
"Alright," Derek said to Stiles, "I'm doing it." He wanted to have him prepared this time, as not to startle him.
Kate stiffened in her seat, both legs and arms crossed very tight.
"Alright," Stiles resigned finally, he smiled good-naturedly at Kate, "why is it so fucking embarrassing now…"
Kate might have muttered about how cute that was, but she didn't want to disrupt whatever might have; she watched with breath suspended while Derek got one hand on Stiles' cheek, he leaned forward and kissed him very slowly. They both knew the sort of thing she wanted to see. They gave it their best work of passionate movie kiss, actually having a great time with it, trying to outdo each other in a convincing delivery.
Kate was completely floored. She stared with both hands clasped over her mouth; smiling widely and so overcome with love she was stupidly speechless. She chuckled, watching them go back to work after the fact like nothing happened at all, she brushed her hair behind one ear, she finally murmured, "Oh my god…"
"Happy now?" Stiles asked from over the sink where now he was rinsing the pan, there was just a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth; Derek was turned the other way and sliding the chopped vegetables into another container.
"Oh my god…" Kate mumbled again, it came muffled from behind her hands, she was quietly chuckling. Derek couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her so giddy. "That was…" she said, "…that was the hottest thing I've ever seen."
"We should set the table," Derek said to Stiles, and Stiles agreed, but they both were blushing.
They loved the way she was looking at them.
It was great fun for the rest of the evening to tease her about it, because she remained in a lightheaded state of euphoria ever since, she wasn't really listening to anything or paying attention, she didn't even eat much. Stiles and Derek were aware of the power they had, the temptation to torment her about it was almost irresistible. They touched each other ever so slightly, they chose carefully calculated times to call each other baby, they made subtle references to what they'd presumably done while she wasn't home.
"Oh, would you get your foot off of mine? I'm trying to have dinner," Stiles said, and Derek scoffed in surprise, he regarded him from over his fork, "That's not what you said yesterday," he said with a small grin.
Kate was loving every minute of it, and she was in love with them both.
"Oh, you're not eating anything," Derek said, leaning toward her, "and after we've spent all this time—"
She chuckled, smiling big with her eyes tightly shut. "You guys are such—you're so—"
"We're so what?" Stiles asked with pretense of absolute concern, he deliberately got one hand on Derek's hand.
She was terribly easy to please. She made them feel very attractive and desirable, and was very nice toward them if only they kept it up.
They were watching a movie later that evening, and when it was over Stiles had got up and stretched. "I'm going for a bath, Derek," he said mid-yawn, "if you want to come with."
It was an excellent delivery and would be almost convincing if Derek hadn't know him so well: Stiles showered in the mornings, after running. "But we've taken our bath today already," he said, and now Kate tossed a cushion at his head.
"I'm going to kill you. Both of you," she laughed, "if I die of—sexual frustration, it's your fault!"
"Our fault? Stiles asked with feigned astonishment, he had one hand on his chest like he was genuinely hurt; he dodged the cushion that came flying at him after that.
She watched him later while he was brushing his teeth at the bathroom sink, she was standing beside Derek in the hall. "How can a guy be so hot?" she asked genuinely fascinated. "You'd agree with me, right?"
Derek laughed; he nodded like he was weighing it over. "He is fucking sexy," he said. By now, it was pretty much a universally-accepted fact, and Derek was aware it had legitimate basis.
"God, his—" Kate said, "—his ass is so—perfect!"
She continued with a complete breakdown of every bit of him, eyes bright with enthusiasm, and it was something to which everyone could relate. Derek gently mussed her hair and leaned to kiss her briskly, "I know what you want," he said, and then left to get ready for bed.