Cousin Miguel

Part 8

They arrived at the supermarket a few minutes later, hopping out of the Jeep and getting a shopping cart. "We need a lot of things, shall we split up or...?", Stiles asked looking at Derek. "No...um...I mean I have nowhere else to be, we can as well just do the shopping together", the last word came out kind of quietly. "If you want to", he added and looked at Stiles. "Of course", he said smiling and started walking through the halls of the supermarket with Derek. First they got coffee, napkins, milk, juice and cereal - the every day stuff as Stiles liked to call it. "What are you gonna cook?", Derek asked curious. "Lasagna", Stiles answered "it's my dad's favourite food". He smiled at Derek, while he put some apples in the shopping cart. "Do you want any other fruit?", Stiles asked him and Derek squinted his eyes looking at the various fruits before him. He finally picked some strawberries, not only  because it was his favourite fruit, but because it was Stiles' as well. Stiles put in some fresh tomatoes, as he prefered fresh sauce to the canned one. Next they got flour, sugar and eggs. "What is that all for?", Derek asked. "I am gonna bake an apple pie for dessert", Stiles shrugged. "You bake?", Derek wondered. "You underestimate me", Stiles returned. "Maybe Isaac is right...", Derek mumbled. "Hey I heard that. And boys can cook and bake, too. It doesn't make me less of a man", Stiles argued. "You're right. I'm sorry", Derek apologized, sensing he found a weak spot there. "No...I know it was a joke, I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just not the first time something like that was said to me", Stiles told him and Derek nodded. They left the topic alone and continued their way to the noodles where Stiles picked two pakets of lasagna noodles. "How much are you going to cook?", Derek asked and Stiles laughed at him like he was naive. "Once you feed Scott, he always comes back. Especially when you mention fresh cooked dinner in front of him. I bet he already guessed that i am about to make lasagna. It's not only my dad's favourite you know", he explained and Derek nodded at him trying to hide a smile. "Yeah I know I am pack mom", Stiles said and laughed, silently giving permission for Derek to do the same, and playfully punched him on his arm."We need meat and I need chocolate", he then announced and after they got the meat, they headed for the sweets section. Stiles picked two large pakets of Snickers. "Don't you think you are jumpy enough without a sugar rush?", Derek asked. "First of all, never ever ruin my chocolate for me. Second, they help me calm down when I have nightmares", he answered. "How often does that happen?", Derek asked, a little worried. "Nearly every night", Stiles shrugged "sometimes it's not that bad, sometimes I wake up covered in sweat and tears". He didn't mind telling Derek about that since he comforted him, when he talked about his mom. "Since when?", Derek asked really worried now. "Since I died, I guess", Stiles said "man, that sounds really weird". He laughed a little and Derek did too, but he swore himself to keep an eye on Stiles. Well, more so than anyway. "We got everything", Stiles said eventually "unless you want anything else?", Stiles looked at Derek questioningly. Derek thought about it. "Derek, you can talk to me you know", Stiles said laughing. "I really don't want to exploit this. You already do enough for me", Derek said. Stiles rolled his eyes. "Derek, what is it?", he asked softly. "I haven't had ice cream in years", Derek admitted shy and Stiles threw his head back laughing. Derek actually blushed and looked to the ground. "Oh my god that was so cute", Stiles said and Derek's eyes shot up to look at him. Stiles noticed his mistake and stopped laughing. "What flavor?", he then quickly asked, just to keep Derek from killing him, because he just described big bad alpha sourwolf as cute. Fucking idiot, why did you say that?, Stiles thought. Does he really think I am cute?, were Derek's thoughts. "What's your favourite?", Derek asked Stiles as the silence was getting awkward. "Cookie, I guess", Stiles told him truthfully "there are even raw bits of dough in there". "That sounds like diabetes to me", Derek thought out loud "let's get that one". Stiles laughed and the awkward tension between the two of them was gone. They got some other things like bread,  cheese, cinnamon, cocoa powder, butter and peanut butter, that hadn't been on the shopping list, but Stiles decided were needed at home. After they got everything in the shopping cart, they headed towards the cashiers. Stiles paid for the food, although Derek offered to pay for it. Stiles slapped his hand away. "You are our guest", he demanded and didn't leave room for any argument from Derek. They got everything in bags and put it in the trunk of the Jeep, then  headed home. Derek already considered it as home too. He felt cared for and welcome and everything seemed a bit better when Stiles was around him. He smiled at that thought. "What are you smiling about?", Stiles asked. "Just excited for your cooking", Derek half lied, he was really excited to eat a homemade meal from Stiles "can I help you with anything later?" "I am sure I can find something for you to do where  you can't ruin my awesome cooking", Stiles sassed. "Well thanks for the trust I guess", Derek said. Stiles laughed and Derek felt that feeling in his chest again, this pure happiness which emerges alone from Stiles laughter. It made him happy to know that Stiles was happy. But then he remembered that Stiles had nightmares and the happiness switched places with an unsettling feeling. Worry. He was gonna do everything he could to help Stiles avoid those nightmares. He only wanted to see him smiling. He wanted him to be genuinly happy.