A/N: some sterek because I can't help myself!
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Sterek AU: Artist!Stiles and Shy!Derek meet in a coffee-house when their waiter, Barista!Isaac, points out to Derek that Stiles has been staring at him.
Derek didn’t have a lot to do in his life.
He managed stocks and owned a few investment houses which meant all he had to do was collect his shares and manage his tenants, all of which were quite laid-back and always paid their rent on time.
The rest of the time he was free to do as he liked, and there were many things that he enjoyed doing. Mostly he did them alone; he had always been a little bit of a loner. When his sister Cora came to town she would drag him up and down and all over the place claiming that he didn’t get out enough.
While he liked going out and meeting new people, nothing suited him better than sitting in his local coffee-shop reading as he made his way through two large cappuccinos and more often than not a slice of apple pie.
He sat in the same spot every time and he was in there at least three times a week. The barista knew his order too, he would even bring him his second cup of coffee if he’d been sitting there with his nose in his book for more than an hour. He was probably the closest thing to a friend Derek had these days, well, if you don’t count his sisters.
This particular day he sat up at the counter, one hand holding his paper-back and the other holding the coffee cup as he downed the last of cup number one. He put it back down on the saucer and pushed his black frames up higher on his nose.
In an instant Isaac was there to take the cup from him.
“You must read about three books a week, I swear that’s not the same one from yesterday,” he said with a smile, flicking his dish-rag over his shoulder.
Derek looked up with a smile, noting the page number and putting the book down on the counter. “Probably closer to four, I have a lot of time.”
“Clearly,” Isaac said. “If only all of us could be so lucky.”
“Not jealous are you?” Derek smiled.
“Me? No, of course not. Coffee is where it’s at,” he said.
“And here I was thinking you were passionate about your job,” Derek said.
Isaac smiled as he turned to hand the used coffee cup to one of the other waitresses. “You know I actually am? Only I dream of owning the shop, not just serving in it.”
“If I ever decide to invest in one I’ll remember that.”
“So, your usual I assume?”
“I don’t see why not,” Derek said.
“I don’t see why you have to drink the coffee first and then order a piece of pie, but that’s just me.”
“It’s just how I do it,” Derek chuckled a little.
“I know, I know. One apple pie coming right up, sans coffee,” Isaac laughed, his eyes looking up for a moment. “By the way, the guy in the side booth has been casually checking you out since you came in, just in case you wanted to know.”
Derek felt the tips of his ears flush a little as Isaac shot him a grin and he turned slowly to the side. There was only one guy in a booth, the few other people were sitting at tables or in pairs, and this one guy was scribbling something down into his notebook.
He had a pencil in his hand and another in his mouth, his brow furrowed and his nose right up close to the page. Surely Isaac didn’t mean him?
Without warning he looked up, right at Derek, and there was no mistaking the fact that he was gorgeous.
He had big brown eyes shrouded under thick eyelashes and his dark hair seemed to stick up at the front. The two of them caught the other’s gaze and the guy in the booth seemed to smile from under his pencil while Derek just froze like someone had just shone a torch in his face and very quickly turned back to his book.
He fumbled as he tried to pick it up, his damned cheeks flushing as he opened to the right page and pretended to read.
The guy smiled to himself and went back to his scribbling while Derek just closed his eyes and shook his head a little. When Cora took him out places she was always introducing him to people and breaking the ice with ease. When he was alone he was about as hopeless as a deer trying to rollerblade.
Isaac walked back over, plate of pie in hand and raised an eyebrow at Derek. He put the plate down and leant his elbows on the counter.
“You know, hiding doesn’t really solve anything,” he said quietly and Derek scowled up at him from over the book.
He huffed out a sigh and put it down, reaching for the plate and shaking his head a little.
“Why don’t you go and talk to him?” Isaac asked and Derek gave him another look as if to say ‘you have to be joking’. “Seriously, he’s been looking at you literally since you walked through the door. Are you really that bad at first impressions?”
Derek looked up, eyebrow raised. “When you first started making conversation with me I spilt sugar all over the bench.”
Isaac smiled as he remembered, “oh yeah,” he said. “Don’t forget about the coffee dribbling out of your mouth.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do,” Derek said.
“Come on, you find him attractive right?”
Derek risked another glance over at the stranger who now had the pencil out of his mouth and was instead running his thumb over his bottom lip, seemingly deep in thought. His eyes flicked up and Derek cleared his throat in the most obvious way as he turned back to Isaac with rosy cheeks.
Isaac just shook his head at Derek. “Is it really that awkward to make eye contact with another human being?”
“Hey, I come here for the friendly service, don’t take that away from me,” Derek said.
Isaac chuckled, “but you do find him attractive?”
Derek sighed and nodded, there was no point in denying it.
“So go over there and talk to him, offer to buy him a coffee, what have you got to lose?”
“My dignity,” he muttered under his breath.
Isaac was right and he knew it. He was never going to ‘get right up in there’ as Cora put it if he didn’t at least try. So he stood up and steadied himself before turning to face the stranger again.
“I’ll save your seat,” Isaac said. “No promises on the pie though.”
Derek shook his head as he walked over to the booth and cleared his throat a little. The guy looked up and smiled.
“Uh, hi,” Derek said, clearing his throat again and hoping that Isaac wasn’t watching and laughing. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were uh, that you were watching me. I mean maybe you weren’t, maybe we just kept locking eyes or something…”
“No, I was watching you,” the guy said. “I’m Stiles.”
He held out his hand and Derek took it, giving it a brief shake before his hands slipped back instinctively into his pockets.
“Oh, okay,” was all he could say, and then he remembered that the guy had introduced himself and so he stumbled over his words for a second. “Derek, I’m Derek.”
Stiles gave him a warm smile and just sat in silence for a second, staring up at his face. Derek swallowed, he knew he was blushing but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Yeah, sorry if it was super creepy,” Stiles said.
“Uh, no, not really.”
“I just really like your face, you know, your jawline and cheek bones,” he said and Derek felt one of his eyebrows shoot up. “Sorry, again, way to sound like a creeper. I’m an artist, drawings, paintings… I was sketching you actually…” he said, turning the page on his notebook – which turned out to be a sketch book – and spinning it around to show Derek the pictures of him sitting at the counter and reading his book.
They were all in dark graphite pencil and ranged from just his face to just his hands or one of him from the chest up, complete with a steaming coffee cup on the table.
They were actually really good.
“Wow, you’re talented,” Derek said.
“Thanks, and sorry if this is the strangest thing to happen to you or if I’ve weirded you out beyond repair,” he said.
“No, it’s cool, I guess,” Derek said and Stiles just smiled up at him. “Do you come in here a lot?”
“Whenever I can, yeah. I like getting out of the house to draw sometimes and it’s the only place that I can draw your pretty barista without him making a fuss,” he shook his head with a laugh and Derek felt his heart sink a little and it must have shown on his face. “Let me clarify, uh, he’s dating my roommate and every time Scott catches me trying to draw him when he’s over he just growls at me because he thinks it’s weird. Which I guess it kind of is, but Isaac doesn’t really mind.”
“Oh so you know Isaac then?” Derek asked turning around with a glare to see Isaac grinning over before catching his stare and disappearing behind the counter.
“Yeah, his hair is a nightmare to sketch. I mean you can’t really see it under that little cap but it is ridiculously curly and maddening.”
Derek nodded a little and their exchange fell into silence.
Stiles coughed a little and shrugged. “Well, thanks for not punching me when you found out that I was drawing you, believe me, that’s happened.”
“No problem,” Derek said.
“So uh, it was nice to meet you,” Stiles said and Derek nodded again, something he did far too much of.
“Yeah you too,” he said and turned to walk back to his seat, slumping into the stool and groaning as he grabbed his book.
“Are you going to buy him a drink?” Isaac asked as he appeared from the other side of the coffee machine, his arms folded.
“No,” Derek grumbled.
“Did you make plans to do so on another occasion?”
“No.”
“Please tell me you at least got his number, his name at the bare minimum?” he asked, shrouded from Stiles’ view.
“Yes I got his name, and thank you for throwing me into that by the way,” Derek said.
“Oh it didn’t work nearly as well as it was supposed to,” Isaac said.
“He was just sketching me,” Derek shrugged, still pretending to read.
“Yeah, because he finds you attractive.”
“He sketches you as well,” Derek said, looking up with just his eyes.
“Yeah but my face was carved out of marble during the sixteenth century,” he said with a shrug. “You, now you’ve got the tall dark and handsome thing going. Besides, I know he told you that I’m dating his best friend.”
“I’m just not good at this sort of thing,” Derek said. “I don’t know…” he sighed and Isaac leant on the counter with a sympathetic look.
“I know, okay? I get it, but you could both use some company, you’re always in here alone, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to sit with for once?” he fluttered his long eyelashes and Derek sighed.
“Maybe…” he said. “It’s been a while though.”
Isaac scoffed a little. “I’ve been dating Scott for nearly two months, I’ve never seen him go on a date,” he tilted his head towards Stiles who was staring down at his page. “Hell, I have barely seen him leave the apartment.”
“Maybe you should have your ‘dates’ at your apartment,” Derek said.
Isaac shook his head, “No, my roommates are a nightmare, they want to sit down and watch the movie with us.”
Derek shook his head. “I just don’t know how I’d go about it,” he said.
“You go up to him and ask him if he wants a drink,” Isaac said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Buck up.”
Derek sighed and took one last look over at Stiles. “Fuck it,” he said, getting up and walking over to him.
“Listen, uh, do you want a coffee or something? Cake maybe? On me, I mean, I’m buying,” he said, blushing again and he could almost hear Isaac snickering as he brewed someone’s latte.
Stiles smiled a little, “Well, actually I was about to head off.”
“Oh, okay, forget it then,” Derek said with a smile and a shrug.
“You could come and check out some of my other stuff if you want,” he said quickly. “If you were interested that is.”
“At – at your place?” Derek said.
“Yeah, my roommate’s at work and I’ve sort of got my whole damn portfolio spread out in the living room so I have to pack it back into my room before he comes home and sees it. He hates when I leave it… everywhere,” he said, putting his sketchbook into his bag. “Oh, only if you’re okay with that. The coming over part, not the artwork everywhere part.”
Derek nodded before the words came to his mouth. “Yeah, sure.”
Stiles’ smile got even bigger, “Awesome, I’ll just pack my stuff.”
Derek turned to fetch his book and saw that Isaac was holding it out to him with a cocky smile.
“Shut up,” Derek said.
“Have fun,” Isaac sang back and Derek just gave him another glare before turning around to see Stiles right beside him.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, you have a car? I, I walked,” he said.
“Yeah, round the corner, though I probably could have walked too, I’m only a couple of blocks from here. Guess I’m just lazy,” he chuckled and Derek followed him out.
He wasn’t wrong. His place was only a five minute drive from the coffee place, and even then that was only because they got all the lights on the strip.
Derek was still a little unsure about it all but Stiles was talking with ease about the kind of art he did and trying to get little words out of Derek, but he had never been much good at expressing himself.
They pulled up outside a small apartment complex and Stiles parked in the space for unit twenty-three. They headed inside and used the stairs because apparently the elevator was broken.
When they finally reached the flat Stiles fumbled for his key and had quietened down a little.
“So, ignore the mess, probably the worst time to have someone over,” he said. “Not that I – uh, just ignore most of the things I say.”
“Starting now or?” Derek said and Stiles smirked.
“So he’s got a bit of sarcasm in there, nice,” he said and Derek’s cheeks were instantly red but Stiles seemed to like it.
As they walked in Derek would see what he meant about having his art everywhere. It was all over the couch and spread out on the bench and even some on the floor.
“Yeah so this is just me trying to uh, organise and stuff,” Stiles said, sidestepping a painting of a wolf in vibrant colour that was spread out onto four different papers as he made his way to the kitchen.
“Wow,” Derek said as he stared down at it.
Stiles turned to see what he was looking at. “Oh, that, yeah… I have about ten days to transfer that to canvas. It’s actually going to be in a gallery opening in a few weeks.”
“Well it’s amazing, do you use live inspiration?” Derek asked.
Stiles shrugged, reaching up into the cupboard for two glasses. “Sometimes, I spent a while watching the wolves down at this great national park. My dad still thinks I should have gone to Europe instead but I have plenty of time to do that. Anyway, I did some sketches when I was down there but this one was more of an impulse painting, hence the really rough colours and strokes. Do you want a drink? I think we have some beer, or there’s wine.”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he said.
“Awesome,” Stiles said, grabbing the wine off the counter.
Derek had another look around, checking out the different works. Some were of nature and others were of people. Derek saw some sketches of Isaac, even a little comic of Isaac with his arms around someone else – probably Stiles’ roommate Scott – who had a scowling face, while another person – definitely Stiles – lay on the floor with a pencil in his mouth and another scribbling on a piece of paper.
Derek laughed a little and Stiles came over with the two glasses.
“I see you’ve found my boredom sketches,” he chuckled and Derek took the glass from him. “Pretty sure I drive Scott crazy.”
“I like them, do you ever do anything other than art?” Derek asked as he took a sip.
Stiles shrugged, “What, you mean like dating?”
Derek choked a little and swallowed hard, trying not to lead into a coughing fit.
“Sorry,” Stiles said with a grin.
Derek shook his head, “No, no it’s just… I’m just a little… out of touch?”
Stiles nodded a little, eyeing him carefully and looking him over without trying to be obvious. Derek looked up and could see for the first time just how beautiful he was. His face was scattered with moles, just subtle little spots that gave his face character. His eyes were so rich and warm, and his lips were so pink, like he’d been chewing on them out of nerves or concentration.
“I think I’ve been talking way too much about my art, I sort of get into the mood and get a little… stuck there,” Stiles said quietly. “The drawing mood,” he added quickly.
The silence hung in the air between them and Derek was afraid that Stiles might be able to hear his heart beating. He had no idea what came over him but it was almost like his mouth was moving before he had a chance to think his words through.
“Are you… there now?” he asked and Stiles looked up from under his eyelashes.
Stiles nodded, “Yeah.”
“Well, maybe you wanted to draw me a little more?” he said and Stiles’ eyes got wider.
“Yeah, yes, I mean… do you want to come into…?” He pointed to the hall just by the kitchen with both hands and Derek nodded.
Stiles tripped over his own feet a little as he led Derek to the hall and to the door at the end, opening it to a small bedroom.
“I do most of my stuff in here,” he said and Derek soon realised that it was a makeshift studio.
There was a couch on one side and a desk with an easel beside it. Stiles held his hand out to offer Derek a seat on the couch.
“Get comfortable if you want,” he said and Derek just looked up at him as he stripped off his jacket and rested it on the arm of the couch.
Stiles’ eyes darted down to his chest for a second before he searched around the loose papers and pencils of various sizes to find a bare piece. Derek smiled a little, loosening up when he saw that Stiles was probably as nervous as he was himself.
“So how many people have been on this couch?” he asked with a little smile.
Stiles chuckled a little, finally having found a page and a piece of charcoal. “I’m going to say two, if you include Scott.”
“Are you counting yourself?” he asked as he sat down.
“No,” he smiled. “I was counting you though.”
Derek smiled and looked around at the tornado of a room. From what he could tell, it seemed like a very physical representation of the inside of Stiles’ head. He seemed quite the eclectic person.
“Seriously though you have an amazing face,” Stiles said, already scratching away on the paper. “Are they reading glasses or?”
Derek reached up to take them off. “No, no they’re actually for short-sightedness but I usually forget I’m even wearing them.”
He shoved them into the pocket of his jacket and Stiles was just staring at him, his hands still.
“What is it?” Derek said.
Stiles shook his head, dropping the piece of charcoal and walking slowly around the desk. “Just, getting a better angle,” he said.
Derek watched him carefully as he got closer. Stiles swallowed hard and bit down on his lip.
“You’re just… I mean, you’re gorgeous,” Stiles said with a loud exhale.
“So are you,” Derek said and Stiles scoffed a little.
Derek reached out to put his hand against Stiles’ hip, his fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt a little and pulled him closer. Stiles covered Derek’s wrist with his hand and slowly slid it upwards and over his bicep to his shoulder, not stopping until his fingers were running through Derek’s hair as he continued to pull him in closer.
His hands pushed up Stiles’ shirt to reveal his taut skin and Derek spread his knees apart so Stiles could fit between them. He leant in, his heart still racing, and pressed a gentle kiss just above his hip and Stiles breathed out loudly.
Derek took that as a good sign and left another, and then another, slipping out his tongue to leave a slow stripe on his skin.
“Okay, you have to stop…” Stiles said breathlessly and Derek looked up.
“Why?” he asked and before he had a chance to say anything else Stiles was leaning into him and his lips were then somewhat occupied.
Derek scoot to the side to make room for Stiles who was holding Derek’s face in his hands as he kissed him. In a second he was lying over him on the couch and Derek’s hands were firmly on his hips, pulling him down tighter against him.
Stiles parted his lips to let Derek’s tongue lick the underside of his lip before clashing with Stiles’ with a needy groan. Derek rocked his hips upwards and pulled Stiles’ down at the same time, making Stiles pull his mouth away to catch his breath.
One of Derek’s hands slid up to tangle in Stiles’ hair, tugging his head to the side so that he could graze his teeth against his neck. Stiles groaned and rolled his hips at the feel of Derek biting and sucking at the muscle.
“I’m such a terrible person… uhn… I didn’t even let you buy me a coffee first…” Stiles breathed and Derek laughed.
“You know I’m not really complaining…” he mumbled, catching his lips again for another kiss.
For a moment Stiles obliged but then he pulled back. “Yeah but… with the things I want to do with you… I think I should have at least taken you up on the offer.”
Derek pushed Stiles back and manoeuvred so that he had Stiles on his back under him. “How about you let me buy you a drink in like twenty minutes?”
“Or an hour?” Stiles said and Derek just grinned, finding the heat in Stiles’ jeans and lining it up with his own before pressing down. “Okay, maybe just twenty minutes,” Stiles said with a groan.
He pulled Derek down for a kiss and managed to wrap his legs around Derek’s waist to hold him closer.
They only got a few minutes further before they were greeted with the sound of the apartment door opening and the loud words of Scott coming from the living room.
“What the – Stiles what the hell?!” they heard and Stiles groaned – not in the good way.
“Shit, I thought I had more time than that,” he said, giving Derek a little shove as they disentangled themselves from one another. “I think I told you that he hates when the place is a mess, I can’t remember. My brain is sort of scrambled right now.”
Derek smiled, “Do you need to deal with that?” he asked and Stiles nodded with a roll of his eyes.
“Seriously, the one day he’s early…” he grumbled as he got up off the couch and put the buckle back on his jeans. “You want to maybe… meet him? He’s kind of like my brother… he sure as hell gets made like a brother would.”
“Uh… sure,” Derek said, “Just give me a second?” he said.
Stiles licked his bottom lip and gave Derek a smirk.
“Stiles!” Scott’s voice came booming through the small place again.
“Just a second!” he said, catching his breath. “All good?” he asked and Derek nodded.
They got up and walked out into the living room, Stiles first, to where Scott was just gaping at the mess.
“I thought you said there were only a few things left out!” he said and Stiles shrugged a little. “Isaac’s coming over and we sort of need a place to sit and eat.”
Derek cleared his throat a little as he walked around the corner. “Hi,” he said with a small wave and Scott looked taken aback.
“Oh, hi, sorry I didn’t know there was anyone else here,” he said.
“Yeah, uh, this is Derek,” Stiles said. “I was drawing him.”
Scott raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he said.
“Yeah… well I mean I started drawing him…” he said.
“Your neck is purple and he’s got charcoal streaked down the side of his face,” Scott said with a shake of his head, still maintaining eye contact.
Derek and Stiles both looked at one another and chuckled.
“Right… well, maybe we should get out of here and go for a drink, leave you and Isaac alone for the night,” Stiles said and Derek ducked back around the corner to grab his jacket.
“Is he the one that Isaac knows from―” Scott started.
“Well we better get going!” Stiles said as he grabbed Derek by the arm and ushered him quickly to the front door. “Enjoy your Chinese or whatever take-out you’re having tonight!”
He quickly opened the door and closed it, only to hear Scott yelling back at him.
“Wait, Stiles! What am I doing with all these papers?!” he yelled.
“Just keep going, he’ll work around them,” he said to Derek as they headed for the stairs.
“What he just said about Isaac…” Derek said with a flick of his eyebrow.
Stiles sighed with a little laugh. “Okay, so maybe I’d seen you around before and asked Isaac to give you a little nudge if we were ever in there at the same time.”
“So all of this was some big plan of yours?” Derek teased.
“Hey, when did you get so cocky? I thought you were all quiet and broody,” Stiles said with a grin and Derek shrugged.
“I’m just terrible at first impressions.”
“I don’t know, I think you’ve been pretty good so far,” he said and they started down the stairs so Derek could do the gentlemanly thing and buy him at the very least one drink before they end up tangled in each other’s arms again.