Sterek(oneshots)

As the seconds tick by

"What?"

"It's my client. I'm sorry, I've really got to take this. It's probably about the problem with-"

"It's fine," Stiles waved a hand, trying to stamp down the disappointment.

"Hello?" Derek answered as he pushed away from the table. "Mr. Van Dyne, what can I do for you?"

Stiles sighed as he pushed the crouton around his bowl some more, waiting for Derek to come back in. He glanced at the clock on the wall the large roman numerals were framed in black iron. The second hand ticked by, but he couldn't hear the rhythmic thrum as it circled around.

"Would you like a few boxes to go?" The waiter asked then, startling Stiles from his hypnotic state.

"Oh, umm," Stiles glanced over at Derek's half eaten food and then towards the door Derek had disappeared out of. "Sure."

He didn't know when Derek would be back and according to the clock it had somehow already been ten minutes.

Stiles continued to watch the clock. Eleven minutes now and one...two...three...

Dropping his eyes Stiles pulled out his wallet just as the waiter returned, "I'll take the check as well."

"Of course, I'll get that right out for you."

By the time Stiles had paid and packed up the remaining food, it had been almost twenty minutes. Stiles was livid to say the least.

When he stepped out of the restaurant, he didn't even see Derek. Had he left?

Stiles scanned the parking garage as he made his way to his car and saw Derek's car with him inside, still on the phone, papers strewn about his lap.

Stiles decided not to even bother. Instead he sent Derek a text that simply said, 'see you at home' before climbing in his car and leaving.

When he got home, he put the leftovers in the fridge and kicked off his shoes. As he made his way up the stairs his phone rang. He pulled it out to see Derek's name.

He debated answering it but he really didn't want to, so he let it go to voicemail. He stripped his over shirt off just as it pinged with a message. With a sigh he pressed play.

"Stiles, I'm so sorry, this job has gone...it doesn't matter, but I just need you to know that I'm really sorry. I didn't realize how long I'd been on the phone. I know it's late, but I'm gonna go meet Lukas at the office for an hour or two to see if we can't remedy this problem. I assume you are already in bed. I promise this is all gonna be worth it when it's over. I love you, Stiles."

When the message ended a tear fell from Stiles cheek and he realized he was crying.

He didn't know what to do. He hated this. He felt so...unimportant to Derek. He'd never felt that way in his life. They had been married for three years and he'd never felt like this. What had changed?

He considered calling Scott, but he knew that he and Allison had been doing wedding planning all day. Erica and Boyd had enough to deal with, with the new baby.

Peter would know. Peter knew Derek better than anyone except maybe Laura. But Stiles had always been closer with Peter.

Stiles dialed Peter's number, not even bothering to hide the tears in his voice.

"Stiles?" Peter's concerned tone answered.

"Peter, hey, you got a second?" Stiles asked quietly.

"Of course, what's wrong?"

"It's Derek, he...he's been...I don't think he loves me anymore," Stiles sniffed, as the tears fell more freely now. Saying it out loud was different than thinking it to yourself.