Baking My Way Into Your Heart - Reprise
Derek wasn't excited to go to the coffee shop that morning, not at all. He didn't wake up early, wondering what kind of goods were going to be baked and he certainly wasn't thinking about the deliciousness that his coffee promised while he was shampooing his hair. And because Derek wasn't any of this, then it's completely and entirely improbable that he- a man that could practically schedule his bathroom breaks to the second- showed up at the coffee shop a full minute early.
Except that he was.
Derek frowned at his watch. He needed to get that fixed. He frowned at the clock on his phone. That was probably broken too.
"Good morning," came the cheery voice as he walked through the door. Derek glanced up, Stiles smiling jovially at him. "The same as yesterday?" he asked as Derek walked up to the register. Derek gave a curt nod. "Did you want me to call up Clara? You didn't exactly tell me yesterda-"
"That won't be necessary." He ignored the way the boy practically preened at this.
"Okay. One large coffee, extra hot, two pumps of hazelnut syrup, a shot of low-fat milk and no heart drawing in the foam."
"And no flowers either," Derek added, a bit surprised that he had remembered the order. It had taken Clara a little over a week to get it down without a pen in hand.
Stiles chuckled and nodded. "Right. No flowers either." He turned around to start the order.
"And um…"
"Hm?" Stiles' eyebrows went up in question as he turned back around.
Derek didn't say any more. He just darted his eyes over to the empty display case. "Nothing. Nevermind." He adjusted the strap of his satchel before making his way to his usual spot, not bothering to watch the barista for any mistakes like he normally did, even with Clara. He pushed aside the ball of disappointment he felt welling in his throat at the lack of pastries. 'They're probably not any good today anyway,' he tried to convince himself.
He looked up when a cup was placed gently down on the table. "Enjoy," Stiles smiled softly, turning back and disappearing into the kitchen.
Derek glanced at the coffee, cautious of it. 'It won't taste as good today. Yesterday was just surprisingly good. Today, it will just taste… good.' He pulled the cup forward, scoffing when he saw it. Instead of a heart or a flower, there was a drawing of a sun in the foam. Despite himself, he found the corners of his lips tugging upward. He pushed that aside too, before taking a sip of his coffee.
He was wrong again. It wasn't just good. It was as if this kid studied Derek's taste buds to create the perfect blend of coffee/hazelnut/milky goodness. He had to put the cup down, calming himself before he downed the hot beverage in one go. Besides, he had some reading to do.
About ten minutes into his reading, another plate was placed in front of him.
Stiles grinned at him sheepishly. "I was hoping they'd finish before you got here," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "And I know yesterday, you said you weren't a muffin man," he chuckled at his own joke, "So here's a strudel instead. It's apple."
Derek glanced down at the pastry, fighting the urge to just dig right in. Instead, he just turned back to his laptop and feinted reading.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the kid shift awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Welp… okay then. I'm just gonna… yeah." Stiles shuffled away, back into the kitchen.
Once he was out of sight, Derek sat up with excitement, reaching for the pastry. After just one bite, he closed his eyes, breathing deeply. It was like an orgasm for his mouth. It was flaky and fluffy, and the apple filling was sweet but not cloyingly so. Derek had to drop his head on the table, burying it in his arm to stifle the inevitable moan. Like, seriously. What was going on with these pastries? How did they make him feel warm inside with just one bite? Licking his lips, he took another bite. Scratch that. How did they make him feel warm inside with every bite?
When Stiles came back out with a tray of freshly baked strudel, Derek bolted upright, tossing his pastry back on the plate. The movement didn't go unnoticed, even as Derek pretended that he had been immersed in his reading the entire time. Stiles slid the tray into the display case before making his way over.
"Ah, so you tried it," he grinned, eyeballing the two missing bites. "How was it?"
Derek shrugged. "It was all right."
Stiles' eyes narrowed, studying the man before him. "Okay…" he said slowly, turning around and going into the kitchen once more.
Derek watched him go from the corner of his eye. Once the door closed behind him, he grabbed at the strudel once more, taking another deliciously satisfying bite.
"Ah ha!" Stiles jumped out, pointing at the only customer in the shop. "You like it!"
Derek seemed to freeze in place, like a kid getting caught sneaking treats from the cookie jar. He was still holding the strudel while a huge bite of it was making his cheek bulge.
"Admit it! You think it's delicious, don't you?" Stiles said, a self-satisfying beam on his face.
"I was hungry," Derek simply said, mouth full.
The boy rolled his eyes at the lie. It was the same Derek used just yesterday. Derek cursed his lack of creativity. He also cursed himself for taking another bite, right in front of the boy.
Stiles just watched him, entertained by the contradictions Derek provided. "Okay then. If you find yourself still hungry later on," he taunted, using finger quotes around 'hungry', "then I have some mini lemon tarts baking in the oven."
Derek almost gasped. Almost. He loved lemon.
"I can pack some up for you to take when you leave," he offered.
Not wanting to seem too eager at the prospect of more treats, Derek just shrugged, placing the rest of the strudel onto the plate and turning back to his laptop. "Yeah, sure, whatever."
He heard a snicker before seeing the boy disappear again. Derek reached for the strudel once more.
"By the way-" Stiles said, poking his head out the door. He smirked, seeing the pastry back in Derek's hand. "It wouldn't kill you to admit you like my baking. It would make our mornings together a lot better if you just admitted it." Derek didn't respond. Of course not. He was too busy eating. Stiles shrugged. "Just saying." And with that, he disappeared back into the kitchen.
Derek sighed, chomping down the last bit of the strudel before drowning it in his coffee. 'He doesn't know… it might kill me. They could be some magical words that cause a rabid dog to come bite me on the ass. Cause that's likely.' Derek snorted to himself before turning his attention back to his studies.
He made his way to the register when it was just about time for him to head to class. He reached for his wallet while glancing at the display case. Derek frowned. There were no lemon tarts.
"Ah," Stiles smiled. "Let me get those for you." He took the cup and plate from Derek, putting them aside for later. He pushed a few buttons on the register. "Oh yeah. Did you want those tarts, or no? They're cooling in the back, but they should be just about done."
Did Derek want them? Did Derek want them? Hell yeah he wanted them! But he wasn't going to tell the kid that. He shrugged again. "Whatever."
Stiles mirrored the gesture. "Okay then. Five twenty-five."
Derek stared at the boy. Did he not understand Derek code? 'Whatever' meant 'Go box up the good stuff and be snappy cause I got class in a few minutes!' He frowned.
"Is there something else?" Stiles asked, a sly smile forming on his lips.
"No. Whatever." Derek said again.
"Okay then," Stiles repeated slowly. "Five. Twenty. Five."
Derek nearly growled at the kid's petulance. "All right fine. I'll take a box, okay?"
Stiles grinned. "Six or twelve?"
"…Twelve." He didn't understand how the boy's grin could get bigger, but it did.
"All righty," he said, tapping the register once more. "Ten twenty-five."
Derek opened his wallet. 'Damn… I forgot to stop at an ATM last night…' He sighed, tossing his debit card onto the counter.
Stiles picked the card, glancing at the name. "D… Hale. What's the 'D' stand for?" He asked, swiping the card and handing it back.
Derek didn't answer. He just punched in his pin number before looking at the boy expectantly.
"Is it David? Daniel?"
Derek exhaled through his nose. "If you don't mind, I have a class I need to be getting to."
"Okay, okay." He headed back into the kitchen, coming out a minute later with a box in his hands. "Here you go… Dylan? Desmond?"
He cocked an eyebrow, taking the box into his hands. "Really? Desmond?"
"Delilah?" At scowl he was receiving, Stiles just laughed. "Well, I don't know!"
Derek just rolled his eyes before heading for the door.
"Have a nice day, Damien! Donald? Darius?"
Derek couldn't help himself. He chuckled softly, shaking his head as he walked out the door. This kid was something else.
And later, when Derek found himself staring at a box that used to be filled with mini tarts, and the name 'Dennis?' scribbled on the bottom, he felt a small smile tug at his lips. Yeah. This kid was definitely something else.
Notes: I have too many Sterek feels. And then I realize, one can never have too many Sterek feels. And then I write some more.