ONLYā¦ STILES DOESNāT KNOW ABOUT IT. He made an offhand comment once (that Derek took to heart) about how the societal construct of a significant other has such far-reaching implications that heās once again facing social ostracism for not having one, even in college, for godās sake.
So canāt you just imagine Stilesā bewilderment the first time this happens? Like, maybe Derek is visiting Stiles at college, and theyāre getting ramen at that slightly disreputable-looking but hellaciously delicious place on the corner, you know the one, when Charles from Stiles PoliSci 201 class passes by.
āHey Stiles,ā he might say with a friendly smile,Ā āwhoās your friend. Havenāt seen him around campus.ā
āOh Charles, hey,ā Stiles could say in return,Ā āthis is Derek-ā
āIām Stilesā ex,ā Derek mentions casually as he deftly handles his chopsticks.
āSay what now?ā Stiles asks faintly.
āYouāre Stilesā ex?ā Charles asks incredulously, and Derek has this guy pegged, okay? Stiles may have mentioned Charles a time or two, but Derek can tell the kind of person he is, and itās the kind of person to gossip. So even though heās only in town for the weekend, Derek is gonna make this good,Ā and restore some of Stilesā social standing while heās here.
āYeah,ā Derek says, flicking his eyes up to Stiles who is staring at him in outright bewilderment. He injects just the right amount of wistfulness into his voice when he says,Ā āBest year of my life.ā
It works, because Charles is helpless to do anything but sink into the chair opposite Derek at the little outdoor bistro table Stiles and Derek have packed themselves into, too-long legs tangling comfortably together beneath the wrought iron.
āWhat happened?ā Charles asks, straight as a ruler but still drawn in by Derekās impossibly-soft watercolour eyes as he manages a sad smile.
Derek shrugs.Ā āLife, I guess. Stiles was going off to college, and I didnāt want to be the thing that held him back.ā He carefully puts his chopsticks down and looked earnestly at Charles.Ā āHe was always too good for me, anyway, so it was only a matter of time.ā
From the corner of his eye Derek can see Stilesā spine straighten indignantly, because if thereās one thing about Stiles that heās learned over the years, itās that he absolutely will not hear Derek talk about himself that way.
āSo when he told me he wanted to end it,ā Derek continues sadly,Ā āof course I wasnāt about to argue. Stiles was always destined for bigger and better things than me.ā
āOkay, first of allāā Stiles begins, but Charles cuts right across him, enthralled.
āHow did you guys even meet?ā
Smiling, Derek glances over at Stiles and takes a drink of his water.Ā āI was a couple years ahead of him at school, and then went on to work with his dad. Life kept throwing us together, and I guess there was a kind of inevitability to it. To us, you know? And then one day The Lovers came to town and put on a lawn concert.ā He has to tamp down on a smirk at this point, because Stiles hatesĀ indie music.Ā āIād overheard how much Stiles loved them, so I got us tickets and packed up Momās travel comforter and asked him to go with me, and it was then that I knew.ā
āWe never went to a lawn concert and sat on your momās old comforter!ā Stiles exclaims, because what the fuck is even happening right now?
āIt was the first time we held hands,ā DerekĀ āremembersā fondly, and Charles is hooked, line and sinker.
And the conversation continues like this, in spite of Stiles refutations, for the next twenty minutes, Derek offering a heavily-sanitised version of the last five years of their life with a romantic spin and Charles listening raptly.
Somewhere along the way, the tone changes. Stiles notices that Derekās wistfulness isnāt forced, and the way his hand brushes briefly, hesitatingly, across the back of Stilesā hand is lingering and infinitely careful. Stiles finds himself as drawn in as Charles, wishing that it had all happened the way Derek is telling it, because of courseĀ heās been in love with Derek for a million years but this point, and of courseĀ he wrote it off firmly in the Never Going To Happen column. But thereās something about the way Derek is speaking now, regretful and a little sad, thatās getting beneath Stilesā skin.
āDerek,ā he murmurs softly when he canāt take it any more, his heart feeling like itās cracking apart. He needs to put a stop to this now, because heād compartmentalised, okay? Heād managed to push all that unrequited shit down deep enough to have a real, adult friendship with Derek and now his stupid prankĀ or whatever was threatening to dredge it all back up and Stiles just canāt, okay? He canāt do that again, because it almost destroyed him once and heās tiredā¦
āWe had it so good, baby,ā Derek says eventually, and Stiles is done.
āFor fuckās sake, we werenātāā
āIām so sorry I took you for granted,ā Derek says simply, finally meeting Stilesā eyes head-on. āYou deserved better than me.ā
Stiles might not be a werewolf, but he knows a fundamental truth when he hears one. Derekās not pretending, not anymore; he believes every word of what heās saying, and Stiles decides that if this is it, if this is how their friendship ends, heās going out in a blaze of glory.
āThere was never anyone better than you,ā he snaps fiercely, and knows his heartbeat is steady, even if itās racing.Ā āAnd if you truly believe anything you just said, you should have never let me go.ā
Derekās expression is wide open and heartbreakingly vulnerable, because he gets it now, Stiles can tell, and itās gone beyond a prank or a tease or whatever the hell it started as.Ā āNo,ā Derek agrees quietly, eyes burning with intensity.Ā āI shouldnāt have.ā
Neither of them notice Charles leaving, wrapped up in each other and trading lingering kisses and soft, murmured apologies and promises as he goes. Derekās only here for the weekend, after all, and they might have started this just now, but for both of them itās been going on a lot longer and they have a lot of time to make up for.
Derek was right, too; when Stiles goes back to call heās the subject of the best kind of rumour and speculation, but what does he care? Heās got someone who loves him enough to create for them an entire history of devotion and love before they even kissed. He always had.
@missmaladicta I AM SO HERE FOR THIS SHIT
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