Derek checked his reflection in the car mirror. He didn't know why he was nervous. It was Stiles. So what this was the first time they'd ever hung out outside of work. He pulled the key from the ignition and made his way into the restaurant. He scanned the room to see Stiles sitting in a back corner, his phone in hand.
Derek rose a brow as he neared, it was odd to see Stiles in a plain t shirt and jeans but here he was.
"You're here early," Derek noted the time. He himself was there a few minutes early.
"Wanted to beat the lunch rush," Stiles gestured to the swarm of people filing in the door.
"Guess we'll be here a while," Derek tried not to groan.
"I already ordered, it's fine," Stiles shrugged.
Derek's head snapped back towards Stiles, "Excuse me?"
"I got you the broccoli cheddar soup and grilled chicken on ciabatta with an extra pickle. Oh and a lemonade of course," Stiles waved a dismissive hand as if it were obvious.
Derek's chest tugged with something he didn't like. It wasn't like Stiles remembered because he wanted to, it was what Derek always got when he came here. Stiles had ordered his lunch from here dozens of times. So why the tug?
"Thank you," Derek answered awkwardly as he shifted in the seat across from Stiles.
"Alright, so I was thinking," Stiles jumped right in, no hesitation, "You told Elijah we'd been dating for six months. I was thinking we could have started dating because-"
"I asked you out after the Unique Chic project wrap up. We were exhausted, we'd spent long hours together going over photos and designs. Lots of late nights in the office. Things got heated," Derek cut in reaching for his newly delivered lemonade.
"Oh the Unique Chic project," Stiles groaned, "Things got heated alright." He recalled the horrible month that had been. Every night he and Derek were in the office hours after everyone else had left. It was the worst project they'd ever worked on.
Derek concentrated on the lemon floating in his drink. He remembered that project well. It would be believable that he and Stiles started dating then, if it hadn't been for the snark and attitude thrown around.
"Okay, you asked me out, I thought it was a joke at first," Stiles nodded.
Derek frowned but didn't argue.
"Where was our first date?"
"What's your favorite restaurant?" Derek asked, his eyes falling back to the lemon.
"No, that's so cliché," Stiles rolled his eyes.
"Okay, what do you suggest?" Derek arched a brow at Stiles.
"Pretend you were gonna take me on a real date, where would you take me?" Stiles' eyes were set on Derek in a way that made him uncomfortable.
"Wherever you wanted to go," Derek shrugged, leaning back.
"Wow, you're super romantic," Stiles quipped. "Where'd you take Elijah on your first date?" maybe he'd get more info that way?
Derek grit his teeth, "I actually took him on the New York skyline cruise. We had dinner and he taught me how to dance."
Stiles noticed the pained expression on Derek's face as he recalled that night.
"Okay, so pretend you're trying to actually impress me," Stiles urged gently.
"Alright, I took you to Electric Lemon where a live band was playing that night," Derek shrugged again.
"Oh the rooftop restaurant? That sounds...nice," Stiles nodded thoughtfully, "I thought the cello player looked twelve."
Derek snorted a laugh but didn't argue.
"Alright, have we met each other's family yet?" Stiles asked as their lunch arrived.
"My parents aren't around to meet," Derek explained calmly.
"Oh," Stiles frowned, but filed that away for later.
"Your dad lives in California, correct?" Derek asked, quickly changing the subject before Stiles could pity him. He recalled hearing Stiles talk about California a lot.
"Yeah, Beacon Hills," Stiles nodded.
"Well we haven't met yet, but I'm looking forward to it," Derek offered a forced smile.
"Okay. I guess that covers that," Stiles looked thoughtful as he bit into his sandwich.
"This could have been done over text," Derek pointed out as he took a bite of his soup.
"True," Stiles agreed, "but we need to actually act like we know each other so it doesn't seem like we're two strangers."
"We're not two strangers. You've been working with us for almost a year," Derek frowned.
Stiles leveled him with a glare. "What's my name?"
Derek rolled his eyes, "Don't be stupid."
"It's not Stiles," he crossed his arms smugly.
Derek frowned, "What?"
"It's Mieczyslaw."
Derek blinked at a smirking Stiles.
"It's polish. Stiles is my middle name, after my grandfather."
"I...uh...didn't know that," Derek cleared his throat, turning his attention back to his soup.
"I know, like I said we need to act like we know each other," Stiles waved a hand as he spoke.
"Well Derek is my real first name, and my middle name is-"
"Samuel, I know," Stiles cut in around a mouth full of BLT.
A frown pulled on Derek's features and his chest tugged in that weird way again.
"You hate whipped cream on your coffee, you don't like cilantro, or salami, and you're allergic pistachios and smiling. You graduated top of your class. You only use classic yellow sticky notes. You only write in black ball point pens. You're not a fan of grid paper or papyrus font and you're secretly jealous that Isaac can keep any plant alive and you're only living plant is fake," Stiles rattled off before taking another bite of his sandwich.
Derek set his spoon down, "Okay, first of all it's your job to know those things and plants are hard to keep alive. They live for two weeks and then decide they're not happy and boom, dead overnight. Also I caught that quip about smiling," he leveled Stiles with a glare.
Stiles let out a laugh, pleased to have riled Derek up some.
Derek focused back on his lunch just as Stiles asked, "So what's everything you know about me?"
"Uh..." Derek looked back up at Stiles. "You also graduated top of your class. You type eighty words per minute. You're a size fifteen neck, 34 sleeve, 40 chest and 32 waist. You wear a size 10 shoe. And every Friday you go out with the team after work."
"Wow you know surprisingly more than I thought you would. It would be creepy that you know my exact measurements if you didn't work in the fashion industry."
Derek snorted.
"Okay tell me something about you that I don't know," Stiles gestured at Derek.
"I have two sisters. One older, one younger. Laura is the oldest, Cora is the youngest."
Immediately Stiles pulled out his notebook and scribbled quickly across it.
Derek's jaw clenched but he ignored it as he continued.
"My favorite color is blue. I hate the color orange but it's the color of my favorite baseball team. I'm a huge Mets fan. I-"
"Oh, hey the first thing we have in common," Stiles grinned up from his pad, "I love the Mets. Okay, what else?" he asked as he continued scribbling.
Derek hated that Stiles was taking notes like this was a business meeting.
"Is that really necessary?" Derek quipped nodding towards the pad where Stiles was finishing.
Stiles shrugged, "In case I need to reference it. What's your favorite drink?"
Derek stopped mid bite, "Stiles you get my coffee and lunch all the time, you know what I like," he gestured towards his lunch as if to prove his point.
"No I mean, if we went out to a bar or whatever, what's your go to?"
"I don't drink often, only if I'm stressed," Derek frowned, "but I'm a whiskey fan. Neat."
"Cool, I'll try pretty much anything, my favorite is long island iced tea though," Stiles spoke, not looking up from his notebook.
"I think you know enough about me. What about you?" Derek practically growled. He hated Stiles taking notes on him. This felt so much more...business than it had in the beginning.
"My favorite color is blue, I'm allergic to cantaloupe, it's the dumbest thing, I'm not a big fan of fish. Don't mind cilantro, like salami. No siblings. Dad's a sheriff," Stiles rattled off as he finished his notes. He poised his pen ready to ask Derek his next set of questions when Derek snapped.
"I think that's enough for today."
"Oh. Okay," Stiles frowned as he flipped his notepad closed, tucking it back into his back pocket.
"I want to ask though..." Stiles licked his bottom lip before biting down on it as he debated how to ask his question. "What's your endgame here?"
Derek frowned in confusion at the question.
"With us," Stiles clarified.
Derek swallowed as he shifted uncomfortably.
"I mean, are you hoping to get back together with Elijah, do you just want him to think you've moved on? What's the deal?"
Derek relaxed a bit at the context, "Why does that matter?"
"Well," Stiles pushed his mostly empty plate back and leaned on the table, "I need to know if I have to act like I'm totally in love with you or act as if it wouldn't be hard for him to sweep back in if he wanted."
Derek's jaw clenched, "Trust me, he doesn't want to," he grit out.
"So totally in love with you, got it," Stiles gave a nod.
Derek dropped his eyes to his glass of lemonade.
"Can I ask...what happened?" Stiles watched Derek carefully as his face pulled into an uncomfortable sneer.
"Stiles," Derek let out a heavy sigh, as he deflated. He did not want to talk about this right now.
"Look, the more I know the better. Plus it looks bad if we haven't had the 'ex talk' after six months," Stiles pointed out.
"Fine, who was your last partner?" Derek crossed his arms and raised his brow expectantly.
"Heather. We dated through college, broke up when she moved back home. It sucked but..." Stiles shrugged, "I got over it."
Derek rolled his eyes, of course Stiles had a simple break up.
"Elijah and I dated for five years. He ended it," Derek answered matter of factly.
"Why? Five years is a long time to just... throw away," Stiles frowned, waving a hand through the air in emphasis.
"My thoughts exactly," Derek shrugged.
"That was two years ago?" he asked, remembering what Elijah said at dinner.
Derek's jaw clenched again, "No. We broke up a few months before you came to the office."
Stiles frowned, "But that was barely a year ago."
Derek hummed in agreement before grabbing his drink.
"But Elijah said-"
"Yeah," Derek snapped, cutting Stiles off.
Stiles suddenly understood Derek's animosity towards Elijah. He acted as though his and Derek's relationship had been a mere blip that happened ages ago when, in reality, it was five years of their lives just over a year ago.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table before Derek cleared his throat, "I'll get the check."
"I already put it on the business card," Stiles cut in, reaching for his drink.
"You what? Why? This isn't a business lunch," Derek frowned.
Stiles raised his brows, "Isn't it?"
Derek clenched his jaw and ignored the sinking in his chest, "Fine. I'll see you Monday, be there early so we can explain the situation to the team," he stood then.
"Sure," Stiles nodded before Derek made his way towards the door leaving him alone.
That had gone better than he expected.
*AN*
As usual, I hope you enjoy!