Baking My Way Into Your Heart - Impromptu
Sunday. Sundays were the perfect days to sleep in, lounge, and overall just relax. Sundays were good days to forget the world and do something just for you. So then what was Derek doing at six in the morning hiding behind a cabbage stall?
The answer to that could be found on Wednesday, just a few days ago. Derek was enjoying his coffee and a cinnamon roll, complete with a drizzle of frosting, when Stiles collapsed into the chair in front of him. He interlocked his fingers, stretching his arms above him as Derek pointedly did not stare at the flash of skin he could see from the side of the boy's apron… much anyway.
"Man, I can't wait 'til Sunday."
"What happens Sunday?"
"What happens Sunday? I'll tell you what happens Sunday. Sunday is when I get some delicious cherries so I can finally try out this cherry-almond teacake recipe I have. They get a little harder to come by this late in the season, but the vendor assured me that he'll have some this time."
"Vendor?"
"Yeah, at the farmer's market. I go every Sunday to grab some fresh stuff for the apartment. Lately though, my boss has been giving me money to buy stuff for the shop for when I bake. Pretty sweet deal, eh?"
Derek simply nodded, taking a swig of coffee. He made a little mental note, before listening to Stiles go on about some obscure topic he knew nothing about.
Which led Derek to today: Sunday. He figured he could drop by the farmer's market, casually walk by the boy when he saw him, and then they could spend the morning together perusing the produce. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But when Derek got there, he began to have second thoughts.
'What if he thinks I'm stalking him?' Derek frowned. He didn't want Stiles to think that at all, but Derek could see how it might look that way. He began to think that this was a terrible idea. He should've just stayed home, like he did every weekend, and studied like the good student he's supposed to be.
And then he saw him. Stiles was just a few booths down, wearing a red hoodie and pulling a little cart behind him. It looked like he had just arrived since the cart was empty.
'Shit…' Derek felt his heart jump to his throat. He ducked behind a cabbage stall, peering around the side of it to catch a glimpse of the other boy. He was getting closer. 'Damn… I gotta go before he sees me.' He paused, mulling over things a bit more. 'Well… so what if he sees me? I'm just here to buy some food. I like food. It'll be fine,' Derek persuaded himself, building his courage. He stepped out from behind the stall, moving forward towards the younger boy. He felt bold. He felt confident. He felt… like a creepy stalker perv that followed this guy everywhere. Derek instantly turned back around trying to get a clean getaway.
"Mr. Hale?"
Derek inwardly winced. "Shit," he mumbled under his breath. He had been caught. Slowly, he turned around.
"Ah! I thought that was you!" Stiles beamed, walking over to Derek. "Getting some shopping done?"
Derek just nodded. He glanced at the cabbage, grabbing one firmly in his hands. "I like cabbage." Derek instantly berated himself for his stupidity. 'I like cabbage? Seriously?'
Stiles' brows arched up, amused. "Cabbage, huh?"
Derek closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know why I said that. I mean, cabbage is fine. I like it fine. I mean, I like it the same amount as a normal person does." He shut his mouth, afraid of the verbal vomit he would spew should he leave it open any longer.
Stiles just smiled. He examined the display before picking up a head for himself. "I gotta get some vegetables for the apartment, too. I have to find ways to hide them in dishes, otherwise Scott won't eat it."
Derek furrowed his brows. "Scott? Your friend?"
"Yeah. I have to cook for us or else he'd live off of hot pockets and instant noodles."
This gave Derek a reminder to refill his stock of hot pockets and instant noodles on his way back to his apartment. Not everyone has a Stiles to cook for them. He saw Stiles hand some money to the vendor. Derek looked at the cabbage in his hands. 'I guess I should pay for this too. My hands were all over it…' He pulled out his wallet, handing the vendor a couple of ones before slipping the greens into a small plastic bag. He suddenly wished he brought a bigger bag with him, or something.
"Here," Stiles said, hand held out for the cabbage. "You can put your stuff here for now."
"Uh, thanks."
The pair moseyed on down from stall to stall, Stiles picking up a few things along the way. Stiles idly chatted like he normally did while Derek just listened. He briefly wondered why he had been so nervous in the beginning. Stiles seemed perfectly content having Derek tag along. They passed by some baked goods, the smells drawing them to it. Stiles happily munched on some hot and toasty croissants while Derek picked at a palmier.
"Mmm," Stiles sighed blissfully. "These are so good."
Derek reached into the bag in Stiles' hand and tore off a piece for himself. He popped it in his mouth, assessing the fluffy bread. "Hm." He shrugged. 'It's not as good as yours,' he thought to himself.
"Oh, um, thanks."
Or at least he thought he had thought the thought.
Derek felt the brush creep up and demanded it go away. He dared a glance at Stiles who was smiling contently, bringing another piece up to his lips. Derek shoved another piece of his palmier into his mouth, hoping that would keep him from saying any more embarrassing things.
They continued along amiably. Stiles grabbed his much anticipated cherries, thanking the vendor profusely. Derek helped him with a box of apples and another of blackberries. Once the cart was getting a little heavier, Derek just took the handle, not bothering to say anything about. He didn't miss the quick look of surprise, followed by a grateful smile on Stiles' face. He hid a small smile of his own. Later, Derek tried to contain his excitement when he saw Stiles pick up a bushel of lemons and add it to the cart.
"These things seem to go fast at the bakery," the boy commented, eyes shifting accusingly at Derek.
The older boy just shrugged. "You don't have to make lemon treats." And there goes the word vomit again. Derek regretted it before he even finished the sentence.
"Oh, is that right?" Stiles smirked, rubbing his chin as if considering the notion. "I don't think that would sit right with one of the regular customers. He seems to like lemon. Maybe almost as much as he likes cabbage."
Derek closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. Coming here really might have been and awful idea.
Stiles just laughed again. "Come on, Sourface. Cheer up. I wouldn't dream of taking away your precious lemons." Derek just hid another little smile.
They stopped at a few more stalls. Stiles picked up some more fruit, bagged up some various vegetables, and chatted the entire way. Much too soon it was time for them to part ways. Stiles' cart was packed as Derek held on to his cabbage, half-eaten palmier, and a bag of red seedless grapes he had purchased and begun to munch on. He briefly wondered if he should have bought some more stuff to make him look like less of a creeper, but he was okay with not having done so. He was actually having a hard time wondering what he was going to do with the cabbage alone, so having a bunch of other fresh produce would completely throw him. Most of his food came from a freezer or from whatever delivery menu he grabbed from the stack by his phone. Cooking was definitely not his thing.
"You sure you don't need help with that stuff?" Derek asked, nodding to the full cart, popping a grape into his mouth.
"Nah, I'll be fine. I don't live too far from here and I can convince Scott to help me bring these to the shop later."
Derek picked off another grape, holding it halfway to his mouth. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
Then, like it was the most natural thing to do in the world, Stiles bent forward, grabbing the grape by his teeth and eating it. "You betcha," he winked. "See ya, Dwayne," Stiles smiled, waving before he turned to head home, full cart in tow.
Derek, however, was glued to the spot. He didn't even think he was breathing at this point. He was just left staring between the retreating figure in the red hoodie and his fingers. Fingers that nearly brushed against that boy's lips. He didn't know how long he stood there, even after Stiles disappeared around a corner. Then, a small smile tugged at his lips. Slowly, it grew to full-blown grin. Coming to the market today had been his best idea ever.
/\/\/\
Derek frowned. This couldn't be right.
Fourteen. Four. Teen.
He stared at the scale in his bathroom. He didn't even know why he had one. It was probably just one of those things his sister was convinced he needed and so threw one into the cart of stuff to buy for college. But when Derek slipped into a pair of jeans this morning, he was surprised to see that they were getting a little snug. He finally pulled that scale out and weighed himself.
He had gained fourteen pounds. Fourteen.
Derek groaned, sliding a hand down his face. He didn't understand it. He still worked out every morning before getting ready for school. He sighed. 'It's all those pastries I've been eating. Maybe I should cut back…'
He thought about that. He loved Stiles' baking. It was part of his routine now to get a pastry with his coffee in the morning. He wasn't willing to alter that. Derek devised a new plan. This was going to mess with his schedule, but it was necessary if he wanted to stay relatively in shape.
Derek continued his day like normal. It wasn't until later in the evening, after he finished all his schoolwork that he implemented the new part in his routine. Derek slipped into a pullover sweater and some shorts. He laced up his sneakers, leaving his apartment. Then, he began to jog.
It was seven at night. He liked the cool air and the hazy sky, the sun having just set behind the hills. He jogged over to the school, knowing there he wouldn't have to worry about getting run over if he just circled the campus. Derek felt good. He felt the sweat begin to gloss his skin. He continued running through the night until the only things lighting the sky were the moon and the stars. After about an hour and a half of running, Derek slowed down, wiping his forehead on his sleeve. He shook out his joints, stretching his legs, giving his body a cool down after the work out.
"Mr. Hale?"
Derek straightened up, turning at the sound of the familiar voice.
"Stiles?"
The boy grinned. "Yeah! Hey!" He hiked his backpack on his shoulder before jogging over to his friend.
Derek was honestly stunned. He hadn't planned on this. No, seriously. This time he hadn't. "What are you doing here?"
"I go here," Stiles teased, using Derek's own line against him. "I just got out of class."
Derek looked at his watch. It was 8:30. "You're taking night classes?"
"Well, duh. I work in the mornings."
Derek blinked. "When do you sleep?"
Stiles laughed. "I sleep. I'm good off 5 hours. I'm usually too hyped up to sleep much longer than that. So what about you? What are you doing here?"
"Jogging."
"Ah," the boy smirked. "Getting a little pudgy around the edges, eh?" He teased, patting Derek's stomach.
Derek fought the urge to lean in to the touch, and just settled for blushing. Luckily, it was dark out so he didn't have to worry about Stiles seeing. He straightened up, pulling on a poker face. "Well, who do I have to blame for that?" He asked, giving Stiles an accusatory look.
"Don't blame me, Dashiki. I'm not forcing you to eat all those treats."
"Dashiki? That's not even a name. That's an article of clothing."
Stiles merely shrugged. "Well, I'm running out of options."
Derek just shook his head despite his amusement. "So-um…" he gulped, drawing invisible patterns into the sidewalk with the toe of his shoe. "Do you… do you want me to walk you home?" He peeked up.
Stiles was smiling. "Sure. I could use the company."
Derek let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He relaxed. "So, what class did you just have?"
"Sociology."
Derek cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't realize science majors needed sociology."
"Well, typically they don't. But ultimately, I want to get into forensics and solve murders and stuff. Sociology will help me pick people's brains."
"Huh." Derek grunted.
"What?"
"That's kind of what I'm studying."
"What? War tactics?"
Derek just looked sideways at the younger boy. "No. Criminology."
Stiles chuckled in surprise. "No way! So you're like studying history and mythology for what? Wait, wait, I can guess it. History for war tactics, duh. And mythology for…" he tapped his chin, face contorted in concentration. "For what?"
"You can tell a lot about a person's motivations if you know their beliefs."
"Ah! That's perfect!" He grinned up at Derek, a little hop in his step. "You know what would totally be awesome? If we had, like, an agency together. You can be the super cool detective guy and I'll be the even cooler lab guy."
Derek scoffed. "And why exactly would you be cooler if you're the one in the lab while I'm the one on the streets, kicking ass?"
"Because, Donatello, because. Despite all your physical prowess, you wouldn't get anywhere without me and my superior brain," he tapped his temple, emphasizing his point. "You'll be like 'Stiles! I need your help!' every single case." Derek just rolled his eyes. "But that's okay! Cause that means whenever some bad guy wants revenge on me and my greatness, you'll be like my own personal bodyguard." He turned a winning smile on to Derek. "I can picture it now. We'll get our own TV show: Mr. Hale and Stilinator!" He swept his hand across the night sky as if their names were in lights. "We'll win over the world, you with your dark, broody, mysterious thing going on and me with my wit, charm, and pure sex appeal." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Derek simply shook his head, unable to stop the smile form on his lips. 'This kid…'
"Oh, and you'll do the thing. With the sunglasses. And make ridiculous puns like 'Looks like this party was… to die for.' And we'll have an awesome theme song and have dolls made in our likeness and we'll get movie deals and sick cars and everything." Stiles finally took a second to breathe. He smiled, warmly at Derek. "Yeah. That'll be us."
Derek looked at Stiles, taking in the kid's exuberance. Slowly, he nodded. "Yeah. That'll be us," he repeated.
Stiles' smile grew. He threw an arm around the older boy's shoulders. "You and me, kid. We're going places."
Derek liked the sound of that.
Soon they arrived at Stiles' apartment building.
"Well thank you for walking me home, kind sir," Stiles said in a poor excuse of a southern belle accent. He batted his eyelashes, miming twirling a parasol. "I do appreciate it. A true gentleman is so hard to find these days."
Derek scoffed. "You're ridiculous, you know that right?"
"I find that's what people love most about me," he grinned, smugly.
"Ah! Yes! Stiles! Feed me!"
Derek saw a blur of motion before Stiles was bombarded by another person. Derek was just about to rip the stranger off of him, but then recognized the messy mop of hair.
"I was just about to go out to get some Mushu pork!" Scott whined, pulling back a bit from the bro-hug.
"Gross man. You know that stuff is all grease."
"Well, I'm hungry."
Stiles sighed. "You're hopeless." He returned his attention back to Derek. "Mr. Hale, this is Scott."
"Hm?" Scott made a confused face before turning to see Derek standing right there. "Oh! Dude, you scared me!" He chuckled, patting his chest. "How's it going?" He asked, holding out a hand.
Derek just looked at the hand before trailing his eyes back up the boy lazily.
Stiles snorted. "Be nice to my roommate."
Derek's furrowed his brow. "Roommate? You guys live together?"
"Yeah, dude. That's what 'roommate' implies," Stiles said, amused.
"Stiles is like the best roommate. It's like living back home with my mom."
"Thanks, bud," Stiles smiled, throwing his arm around Scott's shoulders, giving a little squeeze. "Although, I can't say the same about you."
"Oh, ha ha." Scott gave his friend a withering look.
Derek's was having a hard time paying attention. His eyes were focused on the hand on Scott's shoulder.
"Do you want to come up? I'll make us some dinner," Stiles offered.
He tore his eyes away from the hand. He trained his face into a blank expression. "No thanks. I already ate," he lied. He wanted to try Stiles' cooking, very much so. But he definitely didn't want to share it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he understood that he was being childish. But quite frankly, he didn't care.
"You sure?" he asked again.
Derek just nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."
They were all distracted by the sound of a growling stomach. Scott grinned sheepishly. "I guess I'm hungrier than I thought."
Derek glowered at the boy.
"All right," Stiles said, dropping his arm back to his side. "I should get cooking then."
"Night, Mr. Hale. It was good to finally meet you." Scott smiled courteously, holding his hand out. "Oh, right. You don't." He dropped his hand back down.
"Night, Derek," Stiles smiled. "See you tomorrow."
For a second, Derek was thrown, hearing Stiles finally get his name right. It warmed his insides against the cooling air of the night. He nodded, his earlier animosity slipping away. "Night." He watched the pair enter their building before heading back home.
Derek had to admit. Seeing Scott with Stiles made him yearn for something. He wondered what it would've been like to have a close friend like that. Maybe they'dbe rooming together. Maybe they'd be the ones cooking for each other. But then he thought back to what Stiles had said earlier. "Mr. Hale and the Stilinator." So maybe Derek didn't have that kind of friendship now. But maybe, just maybe, he could have that in the future.
Notes: -Removes ridiculous word vomit caused by sleep deprivation- 14 pounds is a reference to Hoechlin's own 14 pound weight gain just before the pool scene XD Ya know. Just in case you didn't know :D I like cabbage. I love lamp 8D