A Question Of Roomates

Ch. 21

"Baby please. Just please come sit down and eat some food and we can both work on it after" Stiles had been pacing from the moment he woke up that morning. It shouldn't have been seen as erratic behavior since he was naturally skittish, but given the circumstances I figured his nervousness had actually been called for at the moment.

"Derek I am going to blink and the next three weeks are going to fly by. I have to do this now or it will never get done" There were papers laid askew before him and he hadn't been focusing on any one in particular. His mind wouldn't stop racing long enough for him to do so. It was almost as if he were picking up the nearest available document and hoped it would suddenly have all of the answers he needed.

"You aren't any closer than you were this morning, or even yesterday for that matter" I managed to get him to slow down long enough for me to knead my hands in the quickly growing knots in his shoulders. I could physically see the weights on his shoulders slowly let up as he relaxed into my touch "Just a few bites... Please"

He was quick to admit defeat, throwing everything aside then sulking to the sofa. He'd been more stressed than ever, dark circles were stained around his eyes, his eyes which were bloodshot and glossy "I'm sorry. Really Derek, I really really am. I'm sorry I don't have any other words to offer other than that. I'm just...sorry" he sat up the second he'd felt me fall into place beside him.

"What do you mean?" he held both of my hands in his, and the seriousness on his face was almost frightening.

"I've probably been the worst boyfriend ever"

"Don't say tha-"

"No seriously, I've always got shit going on. From the second we met I've been nothing but problems. I mean Matt, I'm the reason you lost your friends, the pills, and now this"

"Matt is a dick, my 'friends' just showed me their true colors, the pills... were just a small lapse in judgment. Those things weren't your fault just like this is not your fault"

And in his own Stiles way, he just couldn't let it be "Agree to disagree. But if you want to make me feel better maybe try a little harder not to be perfect, maybe revert back to the dick you were when we first met just a little bit"

"And you can make me feel better by eating" I shoved a plate into his chest giving him no choice but to take it.

He'd shoveled a spoon full of chicken tortilla soup into his mouth before speaking "How was your day?"

"Good, good. I uh...I met with some investors about my fathers company" Stiles' head snapped to me and he was on the verge of spilling his entire bowl on his lap.

"Derek! Oh my shit, why didn't you tell me? Were you ever going to tell me?"

"You've had a lot going on this week I'm sure my good news wasn't something you wanted to hear"

"Right, my boyfriend succeeding in the goal he's been working towards for the last six years is definitely the last thing I want to hear"

"I didn't say I succeeded. I just said I had a meeting, just one. I feel like I fucked it up anyways"

"Why? Did you show them the new six point plan you had? With all those pie charts and statistic and what not" he tried, not really knowing what he was talking about.

"Six point plan? How'd you know about that? I never told you"

"You left your laptop open one day. There were a shit ton of colorful pie charts. I stared reading and couldn't stop it was really good stuff. I know you get shy about sharing those things with me so I just pretended I didn't see it"

Shyly, afraid to me his eye, I pushed the food around my bowl cautious to ask "You really think it's good?"

"I really think it's good. I never doubt your skills. You're a smart man Derek, and from now on I am going to make sure I always let you know it"

Unsurprisingly when I stepped from the shower that night Stiles had still been on the sofa. The stack of papers that had previously been in a disarray on the small dining table were now across the coffee table with the exception of the few littered across Stiles' skinny lap. He wasn't going to give this up anytime soon, not that I expected him too.

I joined him, grabbing the first sheet my eyes fell on "What are these?"

He seemed almost startled not realizing that enough time had passed for me to put dinner up, brush my teeth, and shower "Dude, I'm not getting anything done if you don't go put a shirt on" I waved him off, easily ignoring him and waiting for my answer "They're statements from the bank. My dad had set up periodic payments for the same amount then a week ago it was wiped"

"What about this number here? It should be the account it was deposited into"

He responded with a chuckle, one that told me he'd already thought of that "Yeah, I asked the bank about that too and supposedly that isn't an account of theirs they couldn't trace it back to anything"

"Maybe it was an online hack job"

"Well in that case we really aren't finding out where it all went" He rubbed at his eyes, falling into the cushions with an exasperated sigh "This is the one and only time in my life I wish I had Matt around"

"Wha-What? Why? Why would you say that?"

"He's an IT Tech major. Insanely good with computers, like scary good. That's how we met, Scott spilled a protein smoothie on my lap top and Matt restored it, you'd never guess there was anything wrong with it"

There was a pang as I tried to tell myself it was okay that Stiles ask someone else for help. I guess I just wasn't fond of the fact that the someone else was someone who'd seen Stiles naked. He must of thought nothing of it. Instead, he surprisingly stood to shower with a promise to return.