Sterek One Shots: Book Two

Watch You Smile

"Please, don't do this again," Allison says. "Don't bother complaining about the inevitable." Stiles thinks that's a little hypocritical, seeing as she's already got her forehead pressed to the glass of the counter in defeat.

"Fill balloons!" he demands, firing the latex blobs at her. The bounce off her with satisfying thuds.

"Where's Scott? Why isn't he helping us?" she asks, head popping up to survey the room. There's no one browsing. Second hour isn't usually busy anyway, but the day of Valentine's Day deliveries, everyone knows to steer clear. Stiles and the others made Twitter and Facebook posts to the school's feeds as well as their own. Stiles is pretty sure Allison threatened to cut a bitch if anyone bothered coming in.

"Scott had to run to the Student Council room to see if they have any balloons," Stiles says. It's automatic at this point to fit the neck of the balloon over the nozzle of the helium tank and press down to fill them. Remove, tie, repeat. Some asshole ordered 8 red balloons, 8 pink balloons, and 8 white balloons plus two foil balloons. Stiles feels bad for whoever is receiving this bunch.

The stupid bell over the door tinkles a greeting. Stiles watches as Allison's body tenses, ready to challenge whoever's coming through the door to a duel. It's just a delivery guy, carrying two giant, plastic totes of single red roses in water. Scott comes in behind him with another tote and, presumably, the rest of the balloons from the Student Council.

"I forgot about the roses," Stiles says, darkly. "How could I forget about the roses?"

"How could you?" Scott asks, placing his tote on the countertop with a flourish. "It's only the most important part." Stiles rolls his eyes at him.

"At least we don't have to deliver them," Allison says, unlatching the boxes and withdrawing a rose. For a flower that's been packed in a small space with a bunch of other flowers, it still unfurls prettily, blood red and soft.

"I volunteered," Stiles said, side eyeing the mass of balloons that have accumulated. There's still more to fill, but Lydia promised him Monday's chemistry homework if he helped the Student Council deliver them. Plus, he gets to get out of homeroom. This year he dropped out of honors and took a regular math class, so he's constantly bored. All he does is stare at the back of Derek Hale's perfect head and imagine scenarios where they end up making out somehow. It's really terrible and his easiest class, so it's better to just skip it anyway.

"Gross, why?" Scott asks.

"Lydia promised me chem," Stiles says, with a shrug. He can't afford to be distracted, there's still a few orders left to fill and now they have to match the cards to the roses. It's going to be a nightmare. Stiles wiggles a filled balloon off the helium tank and ties it, handing it to Allison so she can tie a ribbon around the bottom. Scott starts on the cards while Allison and Stiles keep making balloons. A well-oiled machine that runs on boredom and a lost sense of purpose.

"What did Jackson get Lydia?" Stiles asks, idly.

"A dozen red roses, a bouquet of balloons, and a giant dog stuffed animal that has to be delivered to her during lunch, since she's delivering orders during third," Allison says, with a roll of her eyes. "It's pathetic. But, surprise, surprise, she's going to go to spring fling with him."

"No way," Stiles says. "She was doing so well." Allison snorts out a laugh through her nose, eyebrows hitching up in amusement.

"If 'doing well' is hooking up with him every couple of weeks, then yes, she was doing very well."

"Gross," Scott and Stiles say, in unison.

"What about Derek?" Stiles says, trying to be nonchalant, but landing on the wrong side of completely interested. Scott laughs at him, wiggling his eyebrows knowingly.