I just wanted to say that I love that you ran the acesterek week! I think there are just so many challenges going on right now that it's a bit oversaturated perhaps? Plus there are just fewer ace folk around comparatively, but I'm glad I got to participate! I saw you like buddie and Sterek, so I'd love a ficlet based on 'Drinking Song for the Socially Anxious' by The Amazing Devil for either of them? Ace content for bonus points? Thank you again! :) Have a great day!
This is not proofread or beta-d or anything bc I was too nervous to ask anyone rip
And I was in such a groove, writing the scenario the song had me imagine that I didn't focus on including ace talk but you know I headcanon both on as ace!!
Hope you like it 💖
"You’re lying on some coats," comes the spectacular conclusion after the door opens.
The foreign bedroom is dark, illuminated only by the light spilling in from the hallway and what little comfort he'd had from the street light visible through the window. Stiles had hoped he would go unnoticed in the mess of clothes but of course his hopes had immediately been shattered. It was par of the course. He was hiding in the coat room on a stranger's bed, after all. Not the desirable teenage life everyone dreamed of.
"Yep," he replies, making sure to add the twisting trill of sarcasm to his tone because, "I know."
The dark shadow doesn't move further into the room, nor think about closing the door to protect them from the thumping clamor of the party downstairs. Exactly what he'd been trying to escape, so Stiles groans and waves a hand.
"You're letting the party in."
A moment later, the door falls shut and Stiles sighs in relief, succumbing to his recovery in the dark. He just needs to summon enough energy to be able to make it back through the house and get home without crashing straight into a stop sign. Conveniently that also gave him enough time to sober up. Although he played with risks and sped straight past rules, he would never do anything stupid with alcohol. Not after all he'd seen it could do through his dad... Professionally, as well as personally.
A shadow falls over him and dread bolts through him like lightning. He gasps, jumping up and--
"AAAAAahh oh my fucking God, Derek! You can't just-" let's himself fall back down, nearly brining himself on the headboard. "Warn a guy, Jesus christ. You can't just sneak up on people like that."
He's still trying to catch his breath from the shock while Derek has the audacity to just stand there silently like he's actually some kind of axe murderer in the dark. His aesthetic would fit that career path well enough.
Stiles groans, pressing his palms against his eyes, trying to bury, bury, calm, save his energy. This was the last thing he needed. And from the really attractive Derek Hale, at that. Mysterious, quiet, superstar golden boy who showed up to ace everything he set his hands on at school and then disappearing. He only really hung out with Erica and Boyd, who are also aloof and distanced and just as hot and untouchable.
Derek finally speaks, only to parrot his entrance phrase. "You're lying on the coats."
"My life just flashed before my eyes, you ass. God."
Another short silence.
"How did you know it was me?" Derek sounds a lot smaller than his presence in the school halls.
Stiles stops short.
"I- uh, I'm very observant if you didn't know. A+ observer over here, even without the gift of much vision right now. There's your voice and the tall, the-the hair up, leather jacket or whatever and i- I mean I'm quick, you know? I know everyone. I could- i could recognize both Lydia and Jackson by scent alone. It's not just you, I mean-who doesn't know you. Jackson wishes he were you." Stiles laughs nervously." I swear I'm not weird, okay? I'm not a creeper like Matt, trust me... Fuck, how can you trust me when you don't even know who I am? I... "
Stiles trails off. Derek doesn't know who he is. He could make his escape before this situation got even more awkward and branded him as a social outcast forever. Sitting up quickly, he gages his escape route. He could totally make it, there was only a slight fog left in his head.
"Actually, I'm just-" He gestures past Derek.
"Stiles."
"What?"
"You're Stiles," Derek repeats, lightly like he hasn't just butchered Stiles whole future social life in Beacon Hills. He'll have to leave the state. Maybe go straight to England. Or better yet, Australia, where he could get devoured by an alligator ten times his size.
And Derek is just amused.
"Okay. Fine, whatever, it's me. You win. What are you even doing here? Party's downstairs." Stiles is trying to sound irritated, he really is but all he can really think of is that /Derek knows he is/. Derek can recognize him in the dark. Derek hasn't laughed at and left him to sulk alone in the coat room. Derek is...
... sitting down next to him?
Stiles blinks.
"Well, I was going to grab Erica and Boyd's jacket so we could get out of here," Derek starts slowly, voice as soft and careful as his movement onto the bed. Is this what Derek is like when he's not running across the court, basketball secure and flink, steel in his hand, voice booming through the gym?
As fast as his heart is racing and cheeks burning from the butterflies that decided to ambush him, he's feeling a lot more comfortable and settled now than he did 5 minutes ago. The commotion downstairs and outside has blurred into background noise, he streetlight not breaking hard against the dark of the night but painting the world in a soft gray... Stiles suddenly felt ready to take on the world.
Snorting, he turns to meet Derek's eyes, a calm blend of dark ash. "But now you've decided to humor the nerd hiding in the coat pile out of pity?"
It's a defense mechanism, putting the worst life could do out there into words so it couldn't take him by surprise. Stiles was desperately hoping he would be proven wrong.
"But you seem to be enjoying this party just as much as I am."
Stiles averts his gaze for a moment, sticking his hands under his thighs so they would stop moving. He couldn't scare Derek off now.
"Oh, you don't enjoy watching everyone you sit in class with strip and grind on each other?" Stiles asks and brusts out laughing at Derek's grimace.
"Well, feel free to join me here in this super cool, improvised Batcave. I mean, misery loves company, right?"
"Something like that." There's that amused one again, and as Stiles looks over again, this time it's Derek who ducks his head bashfully, giving Stiles the last bit of courage to embrace this wholeheartedly. He pulls his phone up from his side, and untangles one of the earbuds for Derek.
"I was watching cat videos before you so rudely interrupted but I could be pursuaded to consider other options if you have any interesting suggestions," he explains as he pops in the other earbud and settled into a comfortable position next to Derek, careful not to get too close. He knows he can be a little too touchy feely for some people and Derek seems like a no touchy kind of guy.
But the teen surprises him when he leans in enough to brush Stiles' shoulder as he imparts his attention to the cracked phone screen.
"I dressed my cat as Batman for Halloween, once," Derek so casually informs him and Stiles nearly chokes.
"You did not!"
Derek nods with a grin. "He wouldn't let me come near him for a week after that."
"I need to see those photos before we proceed to do anything else. It is a prerequisite. I don't make the rules but that is a thing I cannot live without seeing." Maybe Stiles should really dial it down a bit but any coherent thoughts flew straight out the window as he watched Derek immediately pull up his photo gallery and thumb to a cat picture folder titled 'Salem' to show him the whole photo shoot, because that's when he knew he was already in head over heels.