Fic: Feel good about where I stand || PG || Pre-Derek/Stiles
Feel good about where I stand
PG, pre-Stiles/Derek, 1150+ words
Written for a card_writing challenge at gameofcards. My randomized prompts were Courage and The character is offered a new and exciting job.
"Dude, you guys have never even kissed, right?"
Stiles closed his eyes and thumped his head against the wall as Scott's words echoed in his mind.
"No, Scott. We've never kissed. But we-we... we-to me, I mean-we've been spending a lot of time together this summer and ..."
"And you thought that Derek would have made a move by now?"
Stiles sighed. "Yeah, I guess."
"Why haven't you made the move?" Scott asked and Stiles wanted to reach through the phone and hit him for being so innocently obvious.
"Just... shut up, Scott," Stiles grumbled across the line and Scott chuckled.
"When are you going to tell him?" Scott asked and then, right on cue, the doorbell rang and Stiles cursed softly.
"I guess right now," Stiles replied.
"Good luck, buddy," Scott said as they hung up.
Stiles graduated from college in the spring and his dad helped him land a job at city hall that was supposed to be temporary, at most for a year. He was in their IT department and helped his dad on the side to go through cold cases and find out which ones related to the supernatural.
Lydia stayed in Boston for the summer to get a jump on her Phd that Stiles was sure would take her no time at all to finish. Scott was taking summer courses at Beacon Hills Community College to upgrade so he could advance from vet tech to actual veterinarian courses at a school he hadn't chosen yet. He was waiting on Kira to decide what grad school she was going to first and would make plans from there, although everyone knew he'd have to end up at Berkley in order to stay close to pack territory.
But Stiles got a call from a headhunter in Los Angeles earlier that day via one of the temp agencies he worked for in San Francisco during college. It was out of the blue and exactly what he wanted-in a year or so.
Once he got over his crush on Derek, he figured.
See, high school was one thing. He had a mad crush on Derek then but then came Malia and Lydia and Jacob from the lacrosse team and a few people throughout college. In his last year, though, Derek started coming around more. Derek started visiting him at college and when Stiles came home for holidays Derek and his dad were pals-buddies-so he was always around. What Stiles couldn't help his dad with from college he turned to Derek for.
Derek who moved out of the loft and into a house in town, something big enough for the whole pack so they could have meetings and bonding without ruining the McCall house. Derek who started volunteering for Meals on Wheels and had all the old ladies charmed. Derek who still called Stiles on his bullshit and managed to convey just how irritated he was with Stiles with an arched eyebrow alone.
This was beyond a crush now. This was flirting with dangerous territory and Stiles hadn't even flirted with Derek yet. The bravado of his youth was replaced with being frozen in terror with the idea of actually doing something about his feelings.
The doorbell rang again and Stiles jumped and swore to himself again. He hurried down the stairs and flung the door open with a grin.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked and Stiles' face fell.
"How do you do that?"
"You're one of the worst people I know at hiding how you feel. Quit avoiding, what's wrong?" Derek repeated as he stepped into the house.
"Nothing! Like, really. Nothing's wrong, per se."
"So do say?" Derek replied and Stiles couldn't help but snicker at the very obvious dad joke. Derek was ace at those. Not so much any other jokes, but dad jokes he had in the bag.
"I got a job offer today," Stile started, leading them into the living room. He sat on the arm of a chair while Derek leaned against the side of the couch with his arms crossed.
"That's great! With who?" Derek asked, genuinely pleased.
Stiles took a deep breath. "Neilson and Strauss in Los Angeles."
Derek seemed to freeze and Stiles could see the muscles in his jaw tighten. "That's great," he forced out.
"Yeah, it is. Sure!" Stiles said and then made a face at how fake that sounded.
"Why don't you want to take it?" Derek asked, looking down at the floor, seemingly very interested in his shoes.
Stiles bit his lip and then said, "I don't know. It seems like everything I want since I went to school for this job. But there's something that makes me want to say no. I can't put my finger on it, though."
Derek looked up and met Stiles' eyes. "That's stupid. You should take the job. You were away at school for four years, this is what you're supposed to do. You can help your dad from there and this is what you were going to do in a year anyway."
"Maybe..." Stiles said lowly.
"You second guessing yourself? Don't, you deserve this," Derek said with such ferocity that it only reinforced Stiles' reluctance to go. "You should take the job."
Derek pushed away from the couch and started to walk to the kitchen, then switched courses and headed straight for the front door. Classic Derek avoidance. "I have to go."
Stiles' heart was pounding in his chest so loud he was surprised Derek didn't comment on it. He felt the fear rising in his stomach, his forehead get sweaty and before he knew it he was word vomiting. "Bullshit."
"What?" Derek asked, turning around, face unreadable.
"You don't want me to go as much as I don't want to. And I know why," Stiles said boldly, wondering if courage often felt like the need to barf.
"Why?" Derek asked, approaching Stiles in a way that in the past would have appeared threatening.
"Youlikeme," Stiles said in a rush. Then he took a deep breath and repeated, "You like me. Like I like you. And you don't want me to go. I know that because I don't want me to go for the same reason!"
Derek blinked. "Gotta say, I'm a little confused by how that went."
Stiles stepped up to Derek, closing the space between them. He leaned in and whispered into Derek's ear. "I like you and I don't want to move away from here because I don't want to leave you. Tell me that's what you want, too."
Derek was still long enough that Stiles started to panic inside but then Derek's arms snaked around his waist and held him tight.
"What took you so long?" Derek whispered back and swallowed Stiles' squawk of outrage with his mouth.
PG, pre-Stiles/Derek, 1150+ words
Written for a card_writing challenge at gameofcards. My randomized prompts were Courage and The character is offered a new and exciting job.
"Dude, you guys have never even kissed, right?"
Stiles closed his eyes and thumped his head against the wall as Scott's words echoed in his mind.
"No, Scott. We've never kissed. But we-we... we-to me, I mean-we've been spending a lot of time together this summer and ..."
"And you thought that Derek would have made a move by now?"
Stiles sighed. "Yeah, I guess."
"Why haven't you made the move?" Scott asked and Stiles wanted to reach through the phone and hit him for being so innocently obvious.
"Just... shut up, Scott," Stiles grumbled across the line and Scott chuckled.
"When are you going to tell him?" Scott asked and then, right on cue, the doorbell rang and Stiles cursed softly.
"I guess right now," Stiles replied.
"Good luck, buddy," Scott said as they hung up.
Stiles graduated from college in the spring and his dad helped him land a job at city hall that was supposed to be temporary, at most for a year. He was in their IT department and helped his dad on the side to go through cold cases and find out which ones related to the supernatural.
Lydia stayed in Boston for the summer to get a jump on her Phd that Stiles was sure would take her no time at all to finish. Scott was taking summer courses at Beacon Hills Community College to upgrade so he could advance from vet tech to actual veterinarian courses at a school he hadn't chosen yet. He was waiting on Kira to decide what grad school she was going to first and would make plans from there, although everyone knew he'd have to end up at Berkley in order to stay close to pack territory.
But Stiles got a call from a headhunter in Los Angeles earlier that day via one of the temp agencies he worked for in San Francisco during college. It was out of the blue and exactly what he wanted-in a year or so.
Once he got over his crush on Derek, he figured.
See, high school was one thing. He had a mad crush on Derek then but then came Malia and Lydia and Jacob from the lacrosse team and a few people throughout college. In his last year, though, Derek started coming around more. Derek started visiting him at college and when Stiles came home for holidays Derek and his dad were pals-buddies-so he was always around. What Stiles couldn't help his dad with from college he turned to Derek for.
Derek who moved out of the loft and into a house in town, something big enough for the whole pack so they could have meetings and bonding without ruining the McCall house. Derek who started volunteering for Meals on Wheels and had all the old ladies charmed. Derek who still called Stiles on his bullshit and managed to convey just how irritated he was with Stiles with an arched eyebrow alone.
This was beyond a crush now. This was flirting with dangerous territory and Stiles hadn't even flirted with Derek yet. The bravado of his youth was replaced with being frozen in terror with the idea of actually doing something about his feelings.
The doorbell rang again and Stiles jumped and swore to himself again. He hurried down the stairs and flung the door open with a grin.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked and Stiles' face fell.
"How do you do that?"
"You're one of the worst people I know at hiding how you feel. Quit avoiding, what's wrong?" Derek repeated as he stepped into the house.
"Nothing! Like, really. Nothing's wrong, per se."
"So do say?" Derek replied and Stiles couldn't help but snicker at the very obvious dad joke. Derek was ace at those. Not so much any other jokes, but dad jokes he had in the bag.
"I got a job offer today," Stile started, leading them into the living room. He sat on the arm of a chair while Derek leaned against the side of the couch with his arms crossed.
"That's great! With who?" Derek asked, genuinely pleased.
Stiles took a deep breath. "Neilson and Strauss in Los Angeles."
Derek seemed to freeze and Stiles could see the muscles in his jaw tighten. "That's great," he forced out.
"Yeah, it is. Sure!" Stiles said and then made a face at how fake that sounded.
"Why don't you want to take it?" Derek asked, looking down at the floor, seemingly very interested in his shoes.
Stiles bit his lip and then said, "I don't know. It seems like everything I want since I went to school for this job. But there's something that makes me want to say no. I can't put my finger on it, though."
Derek looked up and met Stiles' eyes. "That's stupid. You should take the job. You were away at school for four years, this is what you're supposed to do. You can help your dad from there and this is what you were going to do in a year anyway."
"Maybe..." Stiles said lowly.
"You second guessing yourself? Don't, you deserve this," Derek said with such ferocity that it only reinforced Stiles' reluctance to go. "You should take the job."
Derek pushed away from the couch and started to walk to the kitchen, then switched courses and headed straight for the front door. Classic Derek avoidance. "I have to go."
Stiles' heart was pounding in his chest so loud he was surprised Derek didn't comment on it. He felt the fear rising in his stomach, his forehead get sweaty and before he knew it he was word vomiting. "Bullshit."
"What?" Derek asked, turning around, face unreadable.
"You don't want me to go as much as I don't want to. And I know why," Stiles said boldly, wondering if courage often felt like the need to barf.
"Why?" Derek asked, approaching Stiles in a way that in the past would have appeared threatening.
"Youlikeme," Stiles said in a rush. Then he took a deep breath and repeated, "You like me. Like I like you. And you don't want me to go. I know that because I don't want me to go for the same reason!"
Derek blinked. "Gotta say, I'm a little confused by how that went."
Stiles stepped up to Derek, closing the space between them. He leaned in and whispered into Derek's ear. "I like you and I don't want to move away from here because I don't want to leave you. Tell me that's what you want, too."
Derek was still long enough that Stiles started to panic inside but then Derek's arms snaked around his waist and held him tight.
"What took you so long?" Derek whispered back and swallowed Stiles' squawk of outrage with his mouth.