Baking My Way Into Your Heart

4 - Hung Up

Laura Hale was disgruntled. And that meant Derek had to listen to his sister's grumbling into the wee morning hours. He had tried in vain to hang up the phone, but Laura was the one person he couldn't do that to. She and their uncle were all he had and despite almost falling asleep on her, he had forced himself awake for his sister's sake.

Laura was the co-chair of the Hale Group, a family business she ran with their Uncle Peter, and there was just thing after thing that she was stressing over and a list of other things that Derek didn't really understand why he had to listen to considering how terrible he was at this company stuff. But he let her rant, being a good supportive brother and knowing that Laura just really needed to vent before she exploded on some poor assistant or secretary just trying to do their job.

She also nagged him about coming back to Beacon Hills to meet her fiancé. But by this time, Derek was already snoring.

So it was without much surprise that Derek found himself waking up at 7 in the morning, his cell still clutched in his hand, though the call had long since ended. Derek's head snapped back at his phone, staring at the clock.

'Shit!'

Derek leapt out of bed, running to his closet for a clean set of clothes. He slipped on his sneakers, not bothering to tie them, grabbed his satchel and ran out the door hoping he would make it to class on time.

He did. Just barely.

Unfortunately, he found it might've been better to just skip this class. He was groggy and he was pretty sure he looked like a damn mess. His notes would likely need translating later on and worst of all, he didn't get his caffeine fix. His stop to the coffee shop was the thing that set his day off right. He considered whether or not to stop by between classes so he could at least continue the day on a better note.

'Plus, I miss Stil...es' baking! I miss his baking!' Derek shook his head, convincing himself that his thoughts were lagging due to caffeine withdrawal. That's no good. It was decided then. He was going to the coffee shop after class to get some Stiles... Erm. Some of Stiles' baking.

When Derek entered the shop, he was actually quite surprised to see how busy it was. There were students everywhere, occupying nearly every seat in the house. He was used the quiet mornings, not the hustle and bustle he was seeing now.

"Ah! Mr. Hale!" Derek's eyes raked over the crowd, finding Stiles in an instant. The boy was smiling eagerly at him waving him over to the counter. "I missed you this morning, Darren," he smirked.

Derek fought the urge to blush. "I-um. I woke up late." What he wanted to say was 'I missed you, too.'

"I'll make your coffee. Isaac here can ring you up," he nodded to the other boy behind the counter, currently helping another customer.

"I'm gonna have to take it to go, Stiles. I got class in about fifteen minutes."

He saw the boy's head bob up and down in acknowledgement, his back turned to him as he worked the machine. Derek recognized the other barista behind the register as Isaac Lahey. They had had a class together the previous semester. He waited for the curly blond to finish up.

"Hey just the coffee, then?" Isaac nodded a greeting.

"Um," Derek glanced over to the display case. It was void of tasty treats.

"Oh yeah," Isaac frowned following Derek's line of sight. "Sorry, man. We usually run out of stuff by this time."

"It's fine," Derek said, ignoring the disappointment in his voice.

Isaac gave him an understanding half-smile before ringing up the coffee.

Stiles finally turned around, handing the paper cup to Derek. He kept the lid off, looking down at it. "Eh? What do you think? I'm getting good, aren't I?"