Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters
These drabbles can be read chronologically or not. Dealer's choice. I'm writing them in a progression style but they all pretty much stand alone.
Isaac had been meaning to take the kitchen in the loft for a test run since they moved in but hadn't found the time. Today though was one of the rare days that the stars aligned and he didn't have lacrosse practice, or a bunch of homework to complete, or mandatory training with Derek (now that it was just the two of them with Erica and Boyd missing he focused all his attention on the younger man to get him fighting ready for the Alphas), so he decided to cook for a change.
The Hale house had no kitchen (well, it did but it didn't work what with it being a burnt husk and all) and neither did the train-depot. So the loft's modest kitchen was a significant upgrade in comparison; what with its cabinets for food storage, sink with running water, an actual working fridge, and a gas stove.
On his way home from school he stopped off at all the local supermarket to pick up all the ingredients before he biked back to the loft.
It doesn't take long for him to fall into the rhythm of the motions. The even tempo of the knife meeting the cutting board is a soothing feeling he has surprisingly missed.
"What are you making?"
Isaac's even cutting falters as he flinches in surprise, almost cutting through his own hand instead of the tomato, as he looks up at Derek hovering in the doorway.
"I…I was just cooking some food."
"I can see that. That's why I didn't ask what you were doing. I asked what you were making." Derek repeats and Isaac's left cheek flinches as it's prone to do when he feels berated or scolded.
"Spaghetti Bolognese," He answers. "It's Italian."
Isaac mentally flinches after he says that last bit. Of course Derek would know it was Italian. It's spaghetti for god sakes.
He almost expects the other man to yell at him or give some cheeky remark about if he thought Derek was an idiot but instead the other man just arches a brow and asks, "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"Cooking was one of my chores back when my dad was alive." He replies as he goes back to dicing tomatoes for the sauce as the alpha comes into the kitchen fully. "I picked up on it from my mom. She used to show me." A small smile spreads across Isaac's face as he tells Derek this, a warm feeling creeping inside him at the thought of his mother.
His brother and father called him a 'mama's boy', but he didn't care. He loved spending the afternoon by his mother's knees helping her cook meals for their family. And if he was good (like if he measured the flour for cakes out right) he would get a treat (like skimming the sides of the bowl). But as time passed, and his mother got sick, she lacked the strength most days to cook food for her family. So Isaac did it for her. It was her turn to sit on the stool in the kitchen and patiently wait for him to need her to do something while he did the bulk of the work. He knew she wasn't happy about it, putting that burden on him, but he didn't mind.
When she finally passed it was unspoken that he would be the one to do the cooking. Then it became the cleaning, and the washing after Camden left, and then making sure he bills got paid when his father was too drunk to do them, until there was nothing left for his father to do but find faults in his work and punish him for each slight.
Isaac thought sometimes that the cancer hadn't just spread into his mother's body but his father's as well. Like it was the cancer that turned him from the loving, caring parent he had been into the monster that locked him up in freezers and never touched him unless it was with his fist.
"Isaac….?"
Isaac's head darts up and his blue-grey eyes lock with Derek's yellow-green that have a concerned expression fixed on the beta.
"Sorry! Must have spaced out," He replies quickly, quicker to paste on a smile and get back to cooking. "Do you want some? I made enough for two plus left overs." He doesn't look at Derek when he asks, using the scape goat of adding the tomatoes to the sauce and stirring to not have to face his inevitable rejection.
"Sure."
The teen stops stirring and turns half way around to catch Derek's back just as he's leaving. But he had heard it. He had heard him say yes.
Isaac feels warmth bloom in his chest as Derek complements his cooking, surprised that he likes it. At first he thinks Derek is only saying it to be polite, but the fact that there are no left overs for tomorrow seems to be proof enough.
This is one of 30 prompts I found. Interested in seeming more? Please let me know.
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