Baking My Way Into Your Heart

2 - Reprise

Derek wasn't excited to go to the coffee shop that morning, not at all. He didn't wake up early, wondering what kind of goods were going to be baked and he certainly wasn't thinking about the deliciousness that his coffee promised while he was shampooing his hair. And because Derek wasn't any of this, then it's completely and entirely improbable that he- a man that could practically schedule his bathroom breaks to the second- showed up at the coffee shop a full minute early.

Except that he was.

Derek frowned at his watch. He needed to get that fixed. He frowned at the clock on his phone. That was probably broken too.

"Good morning," came the cheery voice as he walked through the door. Derek glanced up, Stiles smiling jovially at him. "The same as yesterday?" he asked as Derek walked up to the register. Derek gave a curt nod. "Did you want me to call up Clara? You didn't exactly tell me yesterda-"

"That won't be necessary." He ignored the way the boy practically preened at this.

"Okay. One large coffee, extra hot, two pumps of hazelnut syrup, a shot of low-fat milk and no heart drawing in the foam."

"And no flowers either," Derek added, a bit surprised that he had remembered the order. It had taken Clara a little over a week to get it down without a pen in hand.

Stiles chuckled and nodded. "Right. No flowers either." He turned around to start the order.

"And um..."

"Hm?" Stiles' eyebrows went up in question as he turned back around.

Derek didn't say any more. He just darted his eyes over to the empty display case. "Nothing. Nevermind." He adjusted the strap of his satchel before making his way to his usual spot, not bothering to watch the barista for any mistakes like he normally did, even with Clara. He pushed aside the ball of disappointment he felt welling in his throat at the lack of pastries. 'They're probably not any good today anyway,' he tried to convince himself.

He looked up when a cup was placed gently down on the table. "Enjoy," Stiles smiled softly, turning back and disappearing into the kitchen.

Derek glanced at the coffee, cautious of it. 'It won't taste as good today. Yesterday was just surprisingly good. Today, it will just taste... good.' He pulled the cup forward, scoffing when he saw it. Instead of a heart or a flower, there was a drawing of a sun in the foam. Despite himself, he found the corners of his lips tugging upward. He pushed that aside too, before taking a sip of his coffee.

He was wrong again. It wasn't just good. It was as if this kid studied Derek's taste buds to create the perfect blend of coffee/hazelnut/milky goodness. He had to put the cup down, calming himself before he downed the hot beverage in one go. Besides, he had some reading to do.

About ten minutes into his reading, another plate was placed in front of him.

Stiles grinned at him sheepishly. "I was hoping they'd finish before you got here," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "And I know yesterday, you said you weren't a muffin man," he chuckled at his own joke, "So here's a strudel instead. It's apple."

Derek glanced down at the pastry, fighting the urge to just dig right in. Instead, he just turned back to his laptop and feinted reading.