Derek climbs in through the window of Stiles’s room that night. It takes him a moment to find the stereo in Stiles’s room (because really, why bother when everything’s digital these days?), but when he does, he slides a CD in without pushing play.
He sits on Stiles’s bed, while Stiles stays in the chair, twisting it idly back and forth, trying not to flush. Derek returned the CD. He doesn’t want it. Fuck.
“I get Lean on Me,” Derek says, voice low. “And I think I get Shadows of the Night. But Elvis?”
“He’s a classic, dude. And I couldn’t decide on one Beatles song, so I figured one Elvis song could cover the whole range of classics on its own.” Stiles doesn’t address the fact that the particular song is Can’t Help Falling in Love because yeah, he’s still feeling cowardly and trying to have the conversation without actually having the conversation.
Derek makes a small snort of a noise. “Felt like you had to immortalize getting your head shoved into a steering wheel?”
Is that what he got out of Here (in Your Arms)? Stiles is so screwed. Complete fucking failure. Of course Derek looked at the line about the car and ignored everything else. “Are you going to try to deconstruct every song on it, or could you possibly just leave me to my misery here, Derek?”
“I’m curious.” Derek lies back, head pillowed on his arms as he looks up at the ceiling.
“Curiosity killed the wolf.”
“Cat, not wolf.” Derek hmphs. “Doesn’t seem to do you much good generally, either.”
Silence, and Stiles finds himself tapping out the rhythm to The Story of Your Life with his fingers, the song stuck in his mind because he knows it comes next. Derek doesn’t say a word, but the soft hum under his breath sounds suspiciously like he’s singing Animal.
“MCR wasn’t a bad choice,” Derek muses. “But Lifehouse is old. And N’Sync? Stiles, you have better taste than that.”
Stiles refuses to defend it. If there was ever a song that defined I’m not going to hurt you like she did, it’s It’s Gonna Be Me. So what if it’s a boy band and dorky as hell? That’s why he called it Dorky Heart Music.
And probably why it feels like his heart is being ripped out now.
“Fine,” he mutters. “So you’ve made fun of my musical taste. Go now. Just… go. Okay? Leave me alone to lick my wounds.”
For a moment it looks like Derek’s going to say something. But he just rolls to his feet in one fluid motion and makes his way to window. He pauses there on the sill and nods at the stereo. “Push play,” he says, and then he disappears.
Out of the room, and out of Stiles’s life, he’s sure.
He tilts the chair back, eyes closed, staring at the backs of his eyelids. Slow breaths and trying to erase this most embarrassing moment out of all moments in his life from his mind.
Push play.
Sure, fine, why the fuck not?
The remote is on his desk and he pushes play, watching as the CD spins up and notes that there are three songs on it.
Three. Not the one he made then.
Stiles sits up, leaning elbows on his knees as he bows his head and listens.
My Hero by the Foo Fighters makes him smile, a slow grin that widens every time the chorus comes around.
He starts to flush when the Magnetic Fields start to sing When My Boy Walks Down the Street. This can’t be… is it a response? An answer mix?
When he hears Howl by Florence and the Machine, the blood pounds, heart thundering and body starting to ache.
A sidekick song, sheer fluffy romance, and a good hard want to fuck song…
Stiles goes to the window and leans out. “I know you’re waiting,” he whispers into the night. “Get your ass up here.” He steps back to let Derek leverage himself in, and they stand there, staring.
Time to stop being a coward. Time to start talking.
When Stiles starts to sing, Derek quiets him with a kiss.
Okay, sure, Stiles can deal with this. They’re still not talking, but it’s a much better version of not talking than before.
Derek nips his lip and Stiles moans. Definitely a better version of not talking.
NOTE: The music for these is in a playlist on Spotify, for which I will share the URL as soon as I switch computers. In the meantime... the track listings.
Dorky Heart Music (a mix by Stiles Stilinski)
1. “Lean on Me” - Club Nouveau 2. “Shadows of the Night” - Pat Benatar 3. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” - Elvis Presley 4. “Here (In Your Arms)” - Hellogoodbye 5. “The Story of Your Life” - We the Kings 6. “Animal” - Neon Trees 7. “ Bulletproof Heart” - My Chemical Romance 8. “You And Me” - Lifehouse 9. “It’s Gonna Be Me” - N’Sync 10. “Running From Lions” - All Time Low 11. “Be My Animal” - The Good Natured 12. “Hungry Like the Wolf” - Duran Duran 13. “The Bad Touch” - Bloodhound Gang 14. “I Will Always Love You” - Dolly Parton
Derek’s Response
1. “My Hero” - Foo Fighters 2. “When My Boy Walks Down the Street” - The Magnetic Fields 3. “Howl” - Florence + The Machine
If someone can tell me another place to construct this playlist online, I will happily do that (because I know Spotify isn't an option for everyone).
Also, as an editor's note, Stiles says that if you're going to go the completely dorky route and include "I Will Always Love You" on a Valentine's Day heartfelt mix, it has to be the Dolly Parton original, not the overplayed and overdivaed Whitney Houston version. I think he just wants to be unique.
...I am old enough to remember The Bodyguard as a new movie, being shown as second run at my school when I was in graduate school. It was a huge Thing for a while, but then it sort of faded.
I've also seen The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas which is where I fell in love with the original Dolly Parton song (and sobbed my heart out over it, because yeah, not a happy song there).
That's what I mean. Everyone remembers the song, like even know people know it, but most people now have no idea what the movie is about.
There's a movie called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas? Okay, I feel like this is a thing I have to watch. Also, I don't think Dolly Parton's version of the song is happy at all. I think it's sad.
It's a musical, starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds and it's hysterically funny and kind of adorable. I love the music from it so much; it's one of my favorites. By the time you get to the end of it, and both the song "I WIll Always Love You" and "Hard Candy Christmas" your eyes ought to be misty.
YAY! I am so glad you liked it. I could NOT resist this prompt... the playlist started as soon as I got going this morning. I had fun with it, thank you for prompting!
He sits on Stiles’s bed, while Stiles stays in the chair, twisting it idly back and forth, trying not to flush. Derek returned the CD. He doesn’t want it. Fuck.
“I get Lean on Me,” Derek says, voice low. “And I think I get Shadows of the Night. But Elvis?”
“He’s a classic, dude. And I couldn’t decide on one Beatles song, so I figured one Elvis song could cover the whole range of classics on its own.” Stiles doesn’t address the fact that the particular song is Can’t Help Falling in Love because yeah, he’s still feeling cowardly and trying to have the conversation without actually having the conversation.
Derek makes a small snort of a noise. “Felt like you had to immortalize getting your head shoved into a steering wheel?”
Is that what he got out of Here (in Your Arms)? Stiles is so screwed. Complete fucking failure. Of course Derek looked at the line about the car and ignored everything else. “Are you going to try to deconstruct every song on it, or could you possibly just leave me to my misery here, Derek?”
“I’m curious.” Derek lies back, head pillowed on his arms as he looks up at the ceiling.
“Curiosity killed the wolf.”
“Cat, not wolf.” Derek hmphs. “Doesn’t seem to do you much good generally, either.”
Silence, and Stiles finds himself tapping out the rhythm to The Story of Your Life with his fingers, the song stuck in his mind because he knows it comes next. Derek doesn’t say a word, but the soft hum under his breath sounds suspiciously like he’s singing Animal.
“MCR wasn’t a bad choice,” Derek muses. “But Lifehouse is old. And N’Sync? Stiles, you have better taste than that.”
Stiles refuses to defend it. If there was ever a song that defined I’m not going to hurt you like she did, it’s It’s Gonna Be Me. So what if it’s a boy band and dorky as hell? That’s why he called it Dorky Heart Music.
And probably why it feels like his heart is being ripped out now.
“Fine,” he mutters. “So you’ve made fun of my musical taste. Go now. Just… go. Okay? Leave me alone to lick my wounds.”
For a moment it looks like Derek’s going to say something. But he just rolls to his feet in one fluid motion and makes his way to window. He pauses there on the sill and nods at the stereo. “Push play,” he says, and then he disappears.
Out of the room, and out of Stiles’s life, he’s sure.
He tilts the chair back, eyes closed, staring at the backs of his eyelids. Slow breaths and trying to erase this most embarrassing moment out of all moments in his life from his mind.
Push play.
Sure, fine, why the fuck not?
The remote is on his desk and he pushes play, watching as the CD spins up and notes that there are three songs on it.
Three. Not the one he made then.
Stiles sits up, leaning elbows on his knees as he bows his head and listens.
My Hero by the Foo Fighters makes him smile, a slow grin that widens every time the chorus comes around.
He starts to flush when the Magnetic Fields start to sing When My Boy Walks Down the Street. This can’t be… is it a response? An answer mix?
When he hears Howl by Florence and the Machine, the blood pounds, heart thundering and body starting to ache.
A sidekick song, sheer fluffy romance, and a good hard want to fuck song…
Stiles goes to the window and leans out. “I know you’re waiting,” he whispers into the night. “Get your ass up here.” He steps back to let Derek leverage himself in, and they stand there, staring.
Time to stop being a coward. Time to start talking.
When Stiles starts to sing, Derek quiets him with a kiss.
Okay, sure, Stiles can deal with this. They’re still not talking, but it’s a much better version of not talking than before.
Derek nips his lip and Stiles moans. Definitely a better version of not talking.
I Will Always Love You, indeed.
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Dorky Heart Music (a mix by Stiles Stilinski)
1. “Lean on Me” - Club Nouveau
2. “Shadows of the Night” - Pat Benatar
3. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” - Elvis Presley
4. “Here (In Your Arms)” - Hellogoodbye
5. “The Story of Your Life” - We the Kings
6. “Animal” - Neon Trees
7. “ Bulletproof Heart” - My Chemical Romance
8. “You And Me” - Lifehouse
9. “It’s Gonna Be Me” - N’Sync
10. “Running From Lions” - All Time Low
11. “Be My Animal” - The Good Natured
12. “Hungry Like the Wolf” - Duran Duran
13. “The Bad Touch” - Bloodhound Gang
14. “I Will Always Love You” - Dolly Parton
Derek’s Response
1. “My Hero” - Foo Fighters
2. “When My Boy Walks Down the Street” - The Magnetic Fields
3. “Howl” - Florence + The Machine
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If someone can tell me another place to construct this playlist online, I will happily do that (because I know Spotify isn't an option for everyone).
Also, as an editor's note, Stiles says that if you're going to go the completely dorky route and include "I Will Always Love You" on a Valentine's Day heartfelt mix, it has to be the Dolly Parton original, not the overplayed and overdivaed Whitney Houston version. I think he just wants to be unique.
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Also, Dolly Parton. Yes.
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I have loved that song since before Whitney remade it for The Bodyguard. It is such a gorgeous song.
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I've also seen The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas which is where I fell in love with the original Dolly Parton song (and sobbed my heart out over it, because yeah, not a happy song there).
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There's a movie called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas? Okay, I feel like this is a thing I have to watch. Also, I don't think Dolly Parton's version of the song is happy at all. I think it's sad.
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EVERYTHING
I'm just going to sit here and hug my computer and have ship feels, okay? Okay.
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