A Question Of Roomates

Ch. 17

Nick reclined on the sofa, no shame in unbuttoning his jeans after his two plates of pecan pie. Mom had been perched on the arm of the chair beside him rubbing at his back. The rest of the night seemed to have drifted by with a welcomed calmness. I enjoyed it of course, it was a much needed switch from the craziness of a college campus. Even though the source of most of my craziness was tucked beside me on the sofa. It was all still so nice.

"Soooo Mr.Cutie how did you two meet?" I opened my mouth to answer when Laura was cutting me off to speak again. Her piercing green eyes rolling in the process "Not you idiot, the actual hot one"

Stiles, who had surprisingly been staring at the mantel in a daze turned in response, proof he was actually listening. A fond smile had broken out onto his face, one that really made me want to just kiss him. As he spoke his gaze stayed fixated into space, almost like he was imagining it all over again.

"Well, if you haven't noticed already I've got a tiny case of ADHD" there was a small chorus of chuckles throughout the room. It had shocked me only because he had seemed so inclined not to bring it up, but as he spoke on it was clear he didn't mind anymore "I was Derek's roommate and  if you all know this guy he noticed my quirks right away" I tightened the grip I had around his shoulder, subconsciously hoping he'd protect me once they heard all the bad I had done "But he was still so kind to me. He stayed up with me when I couldn't sleep, he was patient when I was up playing my music at 2am, even when I was sick and had been the biggest nuisance as a roommate-dirtying the kitchen, always running in and out, leaving my things everywhere- Derek still helped nurse me back to heath, and got sick in the process. In the end it wasn't even that fact that he put up with me that made me love him, it was the fact that for the first time, probably ever in my life, I actually felt wanted. He makes me feel like my crazy is normal"

The members of the Hale family had hung on to his every word, some of them looking as though they had promising tears in their eyes. I could say I had been one of them, I was hearing this all for the first time. Stiles seemingly saw this, and tried to crack a joke "I mean don't let that sway you he can still very much be an asshole" and finally the teary eyes turned bright as everyone laughed.

It wasn't until later that night, when it was slowly approaching midnight when I finally decided to ask "Why didn't you tell them about me moving out and everything?"

Shrugging, he strode from the adjoining bathroom, toothbrush and suds lingering around the ring of his mouth, as he thought about it "It didn't seem important. And I don't like remembering that, the good parts are the best parts"

"Still, I don't think I deserve to be perceived as a prince in our story. A goblin, or some evil troll maybe" I didn't intend to be so hard on myself but it was true. I almost missed my shot at something great because of my shallowness, and Stiles was making it look different. As graceful as a Stiles could he bounced into the spot beside me. Clad in nothing but his boxers his porcelain skin emitted a cherry smell. Proof that he had lathered himself in the bottle of lotion he just had to buy in the airport. And for a moment he just stared at me, a fond smile on his face as he tried to decipher something somewhere on mine "What?"

"Okay maybe you did start out as a troll o-or whatever, but now you are the prince so get over it" There was a playful smile on his face before he came down to plant his lips firmly against mine. There was a deep inhale as he pressed gently against me before pulling away "Go shower, I'll wait up for you"

He was snoring into his pillow by the time I stepped from the bathroom. All I could do was chuckle and kiss his head goodnight.

When I woke the next morning  his side of the bed was empty and it was well past 8 o'clock. It seemed that even in a different time zone his internal alarm was still persistent.

To Babe<3- 8:25am
Hey where'd you run off too?

I was able to brush my teeth, and get dressed before noticing his phone was still plugged up on his bed side. Pretty quickly I found my way downstairs only running into my parents. Dad who was at the table, already with the morning paper in his hands and mom who was at the stove working on a second batch of breakfast "Morning son"

"Morning dad- Hey have either of you seen Stiles"

"This morning I did" mom answered with a hum "Poor kid was up at the crack of dawn"

"Yeah, it's a habit he has. Do you know where he went?"

"Yes, he wanted to go for a walk and he took his camera with him. I told him there were some nice spots a few minutes from here. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's just that that was about two hours ago and he left his phone upstairs"

"Oh no. Well I'm sure he'll be fine honey, give it some time then we'll go look for him. Sit, have some breakfast" though the plate of food slid before me looked appetizing my worry for Stiles would never let me enjoy it.

"I will. J-Just let me go search for him really quick"

I knew it would be a long shot for me to find him, perhaps sheer luck would strike down on me. My problems began at the driveway. The fork in the road led me to step into the mind of Stiles.

On the left the row of homes continued for a ways down the road, but to the right there were walls of trees all different colors and sizes, surely Stiles was curious about what was behind them. I had learned the ins and outs of that patch of woods when I was a teenager so if I was right so far I just might have a chance at finding him. There was a portion taped off due to a fallen tree, and though I'm sure the thought crossed Stiles' mind to sneak right passed the caution tape, I was hoping he thought better of it. So I continued on.

There was a lake I knew I'd cross if I walked a few minutes more, a real tourist attraction, but Stiles wouldn't like the crowd. The only option left was a small patch just meters away, there was a pathway that took you to an opening where you'd be lucky to catch an animal or two. On the other side of that would be another way into town.

My only hope, other than finding Stiles, was that perhaps he had made it back home already.  The rising sun was shining down through the leaves of the tress, bits and pieces slicing down accenting the fluttering bugs in the air. It was a beautiful sight, like heaven was providing a glimmer of light to the small patch. I was glad I was there to witness it.

I made it half way down the path when I heard a shutter, something resembling and "ooooo" then a shutter again. And if I strayed only feet from the path I could see a shape on the floor. It was Stiles, on his back taking picture of the sky above, that same glow-like strip of sunshine was landing on him like a halo. His smile shimmered and beamed as he continued to take photo after photo. My heart did a flip just happy he was safe.

As calmly as I could found my way over to him, but apparently the crunching leaves under my feet had another plan and gave me away. Stiles was finally out of his trans and up in a hurry, the back of his black long sleeve covered in dead leaves and dirt "Derek" he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey"

"You're here"

I chuckled at his surprise as I got closer to his side "Of course I am, I woke up and you were gone. And why didn't you take your phone?"

"I'm sorry it was a spur of the moment decision" I grabbed his camera as we worked together to free himself of debris "How did you find me?"

"I just thought like my guy" Stiles kissed me quickly before intertwining our hands "C'mon, lets go get some breakfast and I can actually be there to show you around before you go on and do it yourself"

A playful "sorry" escaped his lips before he was finally letting me lead him home.