Sterek Library (a03 Edition)

The Man He Didn't Have To Be

By: DereksGirl24

Stiles walks over to the young man to take his order. “Hi sir, my name is Stiles; I will be your waiter this evening.”
The young man looks up from the menu that his eyes had been glued to, “Hello Stiles, I’ll have the roast beef sandwich.”
Stiles quickly wrote down the order and turned to walk away, but being a werewolf the young man, was able to smell the stress and tension on Stiles and stopped him. “Stiles, would you like to talk?”
Stiles looks at him utterly surprised but shakes himself out of his stupor. “Um…I’m sorry sir; we’re not allowed to fraternize with customers while on the clock.”
Stiles turns to walk away again but the young man, annoyed with the rejection, tries again, “What about after you get off? I’m Derek.”
Stiles turns back around, wondering why this guy even cares, it’s not like they have ever met before.
”Derek…” he pauses not wanting to be rude, “Derek, may I ask why you’re asking?”
Derek looks thoughtful for a second, “I can sense that you’re stressed and need someone to talk to. I’m a good listener and you’re cute.” Derek gives Stiles a lopsided grin.
Stiles laughs and decides that even though Derek is obviously gay, he seems like a nice enough guy and Stiles really could use someone to talk to. “Ok Derek, I get off in 10 minutes.”
Derek smiles at his victory, he doesn’t know why but he feels a connection to this guy. A few minutes later, Stiles brings Derek his roast beef sandwich and asks him, “Would you like anything to drink, Sir?”
Derek frowns that he is still calling him sir; he figured it had to be a job requirement. “A coke would be great.” Derek smiles a sweet smile and Stiles can’t help but smile back as he takes off to get Derek his coke.
While Stiles is gone, Derek realizes the reason why he might have a connection to this guy. He fishes out his cell phone, hoping he can confirm his theory. The phone line rings three times before a woman answers, “Hello, Hale residence.” It was Derek’s mother.
“Mom, its Derek. Is dad busy?”
“Derek dear! How nice to hear from you! No, your father isn’t busy. Would you like me to get him?” his mother asks.
Derek replies as Stiles walks over with the coke, “Would you please?”
“Of course Derek honey, give me just a moment.” There is some shuffling heard, “Jeffrey! It’s Derek; he needs to talk to with you!” Sarah says loudly.
Derek chuckles at his mother as his father gets a hold of the phone. “How can I help you son?”
Derek smiles, he loves talking to his father. He has always been his favorite child. “Dad, I think I found my mate. I feel this connection to a guy I just met.”
“A guy you say? Well, what does this connection feel like?” Derek frowns for a moment, thinking his position as the favorite child might be gone. His dad had not been very happy when Laura’s mate was a woman, he accepted her into the family anyway, but Derek was worried about his reaction.
“Yes dad, he’s a guy. I sense he’s stressed and I have this feeling, almost as if I want to comfort him, make him happy.”
“Hmm, I do believe you found your mate, Derek.” Derek faintly heard his dad trail off saying something about all his kids being gay.
“I heard that!” Derek growls into the phone.
“Oh sorry son, it’s just annoying. I hope Amy’s mate is a male because at this rate, I’ll never have grandkids!” Derek relaxes, his father seemed okay with the concept of his mate being another guy, and he was just worried about not becoming a grandfather.
“Dad trust me, you’re getting grandkids. You know there’s a rare chance that I could impregnate him. Even if I don’t, we will use a surrogate. I want kids just as much as you want grandkids.”
“Thanks Derek, you were always my favorite.” Jeffrey laughed.
“Thanks dad and you didn’t hear it from me, you heard it from Kyle, but Laura is pregnant.” Jeffrey laughs again.
“You know Laura is going to kill Kyle for ‘telling me’.”
“I know that’s why Kyle told you and not me.” Derek smiles into the phone.
Jeffrey shakes his head at his son, “Kyle’s going to kill you for framing him.”
Derek growls a little “He had it coming besides I would like to see him try. Well dad, I have to go. Tell everyone I love them.”
“Alright son, you take care.” Derek hangs up the phone, placing it on table, and starts eating his half cold sandwich.
He looks at the clock and noticing he has three minutes until Stiles gets off, but Derek doesn’t see him anywhere. He frowns, quickly finishing the sandwich and downing his coke. Derek raises his arm to call the attention of a nice looking waitress.
“Hello sir, I’m Angie. Stiles had to leave; he said to give you this.” Angie hands Derek a piece of paper folded in half. Derek looks at it curiously before opening it.
Hey Derek I’m sorry I had to leave. The school called and my son is sick. I had to go get him. If you still want to talk, call me. 568-893-8524
Derek frowns, stuffing the note in his pocket. “Check please.” He said looking up at Angie.
She handed him a black folder, and he handed her his MasterCard. She walked away to ring him up, while Derek grabs his phone and follows her.
‘My mate has a son. I wonder what he looks like...’ Derek thinks to himself.
Angie brings him out of his thoughts by speaking, “Here you go sir, and you have a nice day.” She looks around before lowering her voice to a whisper, “I don’t know what your intentions are with Stiles but if you hurt him or James I will kill you!” She smiled and said, “Come back and see us again.” Derek blinked and numbly nodded his head but he wasn’t angry at the threat, instead he was glad Stiles had people who obviously cared about him.
Later that day after Derek got done with work, he gave Stiles a call.
Stiles is surprised when he picked up the phone and heard Derek’s voice on the other line. He had not been expecting him to call him, figuring Derek was just a nice guy trying to help out and when Stiles had to go, he figured Derek would just forget about him, but Stiles had to admit that something in him told him to leave a note with his number. He was happy he did.
“Derek, I got to be honest I’m surprised you called. I suppose you want to talk.” Derek feels saddened that Stiles had thought he wouldn’t call. Maybe he was wrong earlier about Stiles having people that care for him. Or maybe the mother of James did this to him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, I had to go into work and I just got off.” Derek hears Stiles sigh.
“It’s ok Derek, like I said I didn’t expect you to call, so don’t worry about calling late, really its ok.” Stiles laughs but it sounded off and tired.
“I don’t mean to sound like a creeper, but could we meet up somewhere? Maybe you could bring James.” Derek smiles at the thought of meeting the little guy.
“Derek I don’t know, I just met you. It’s weird because I feel like I can trust you, but that’s bullshit seeing as how I just met you. How about we hold off on you meeting James, but we can meet somewhere.”
“Ok Stiles, he’s your son. I can meet him when you’re ready. We can meet for coffee later than. At Joes? Around 7?” Derek hopes he says yes.
“I’m sorry Derek. I can’t leave James tonight, he has a fever. Maybe when he’s feeling better.” Derek sighs at not being able to talk with him.
“It’s ok Stiles. You have my number now just give me a call when James is feeling better. I look forward to our talk and the day I get to meet James. But, uh…if it’s serious you should take the little guy to the hospital.”
“Yeah Derek I probably should but I don’t have the money; if you haven’t noticed I’m a single father working at a diner.” Stiles says a little snippy; he knows he needs to take James to the hospital but he doesn’t have the money.
“Stiles listen to me, I know we just met but I will pay the hospital bill. I have money and I don’t like to flaunt it but if your kid is sick and needs a doctor then by all means I will flash however much I need to. Meet me at the hospital?” Derek says worriedly, hoping Stiles won’t be offended.
“Derek….thank you I will meet you at the hospital. But after this no more money flashing ok?” Stiles laughs weakly, getting James ready for the ride.
Derek laughs a little, “Agreed. No more money flashing after this. Meet you at the hospital.”
“Meet you at the hospital and Derek?”
“Yeah Stiles?”
“Thank you.”
“Any time.”
Later at the hospital. Derek is standing up, holding Stiles to keep him from pacing, well that was the excuse Derek used. He really just wanted to hold him. “Stiles he’s going to be fine. I won’t tell you to calm down because no good parent would be calm but try to breathe at least. It helps I promise.”
Stiles laughs, takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Thanks Derek; I just wish the doctor would let us know something.” Stiles sighs and notices that Derek has his arms around him; it was nice…comforting and warm. Stiles debates on moving for a moment but decides against it. Derek smiles internally as he notices that Stiles said ‘us’.
“I’m sure when the doctor can he will come and tell you everything is fine.” Derek says while rubbing Stiles’ arm soothingly.
“Yeah, Derek but what if he has bad news? What if my baby is dying?” Stiles starts crying.
“Hey, Stiles look at me.” Stiles looks up at Derek, tears running down his face. “Stiles, if he is sick or dying, which I doubt he is, we will get through this. I will be here for you. But I have a good feeling that James will be fine.” Derek said all this without realizing he said ‘we’ but Stiles didn’t miss it. Stiles looks surprised and comforted.
“Thank you Derek but I’m not…gay, so I hope you meant as a friend.” Stiles told him, doubting the truth in his words. With Derek standing next to him, wrapped in his arms, Stiles wasn’t sure he wasn’t gay. Derek looked at Stiles surprised.
“Stiles what are you talking about?”
“You said ‘we’, Derek, you said ‘we will get through this’.” Derek looks shocked then he frowns realizing what Stiles was saying.
“Stiles I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Derek said, realizing that Stiles has not moved away from his arms, maybe Stiles words weren’t as true as he thought them to be, “I’m sorry.” To further prove his point, Derek moved his arms away from Stiles. Stiles frowns at the movement and immediately misses the warmth and safety Derek gave him.
“It’s not that Derek its…it’s these feelings I’m having now. I felt so safe and warm with your arms around me now I feel cold and like I’m going to fall apart. It’s all very confusing. Until I met you today, I was positive that I’m a straight guy, but now I’m not so sure. I would ask you what you did to me, but you didn’t do anything aside from asking me if I wanted to talk and pay for my son’s hospital bill.” Derek smiles at Stiles and wraps his arms around him again, smiling even wider at the barely audible sigh Stiles let out.
“I don’t know what to tell you Stiles. I mean until I met you I wasn’t gay, I actually had a girlfriend two weeks ago but she dumped me, and that’s a whole other story. Hey, there’s the doctor.” Stiles turns around in Derek’s arms so he’s facing the doctor. .
“Please tell us James is ok, Doctor Hamilton.” Stiles, like Derek earlier, doesn’t realize what he said but Derek notices. Doctor Hamilton eyes the way Derek is holding Stiles and how Stiles is leaning into Derek.
“Well Stiles, James has a really bad cold. We will keep him over night to see if he gets worse, if he doesn’t you can take him home tomorrow and I will prescribe some medication. You can see him if you like, but Stiles I would like to talk to you when you have a minute.” Stiles nods at the doctor and turns to face Derek.
“You wanna go see him?”
“You sure? I can wait out here for you guys.” Derek said, hoping Stiles would still want him to come.
“No, it’s fine. I would like you to be there… unless you want to stay out here?” stiles says completely forgetting that doctor Hamilton is there watching them.
“No Stiles, I want to go with you. Let’s go see James.” Stiles smiles and turns back around to see a really confused doctor.
“You two ready?” asks Doctor Hamilton.
Derek answers “Yes doctor, we’re ready. Lead the way.”
Stiles smiles and nods, moving out of Derek’s arms to hug the doctor. “Thank you, for looking out for James.”
“You’re welcome Stiles but you really must stop hugging me each time I save the day.” The doctor laughs and starts walking away. Derek follows them, walking next to Stiles, he’s surprised when Stiles grabs his hand and interlocks their fingers. A large grin spreads across Derek’s face.
The doctor clears his throat before speaking, “So Stiles…I’m curious about two things. First, since when are you gay? And second, who’s your boyfriend?” Stiles blushes and loosens his hold on Derek’s hand but doesn’t let go.
“Um…first I don’t know if I had to pick a time -and I’m not saying I’m gay but if I was- it would be when I met Derek this morning. And second he’s not my boyfriend were just friends….for now” Stiles blushes and Derek smiles even bigger.
“I see. Stiles, you go from being straight for 20 years to being gay after meeting this guy, you seemed pretty comfortable back there, snuggling into him.” Derek growls faintly at the tone this guy is using with Stiles but he stays quiet, letting Stiles talk to the guy.
“Well Jeff, I said I’m not gay. Even if I was, what is the big issue? People have been known to realize they are gay while they are married. What’s so weird about me realizing it when I met Derek? There is nothing wrong with me acting like a couple with him back there; he makes me feel safe and warm. It’s a hell of a lot more then Veronica ever made me feel.” Stiles finishes, feeling strong yet annoyed.
The doctor stiffens at the words that were spoken. Derek wonders who Veronica is but whoever she is the doctor obviously cares for her because he can smell anger and hurt coming from the guy. “Your right Stiles, sorry I asked. I do wish I got to see James more though, he is my grandson after all.” Derek stops walking at the doctor’s words and Stiles smiles sheepishly.
Stiles whispers “I’ll explain later.” Derek nods.
Stiles sighs and says, “Jeff I’m not keeping you from James, it’s you who doesn’t come by and see him. You know why I don’t let him even go near your house, she lives there and as long as she lives there James isn’t going near the place!” Stiles told him, giving the man a pointed look.
“I know, I know. Put the dogs away, geez. I know why and I’m sorry I don’t come by to see him but Veronica takes up all my time, you should know what’s that’s like or have you forgotten already?” Stiles growled, he actually freaking growled and what Stiles spoke next made Derek love him more than he was already beginning to.
“How dare you? You asshole! Don’t you dare talk to me about Veronica taking up time and don’t you dare accuse me of forgetting or not caring! I loved her, I did but I couldn’t deal with it anymore I couldn’t deal with her! If you were smart you would do what I tried to do GET HER HELP!” Stiles practically yelled at the doctor, squeezing Derek’s hand with more strength than it looked like he possessed.
The doctor turns around, eyes livid. “No Stiles, it’s your fault she’s like this because of you and your help. All she needed was love and care…”
“And a dealer” Stiles finished for him. The doctor moved to hit Stiles but Derek stepped in and he pushed the doctor against the wall.
“NEVER raise your fist at Stiles again or I will make you wish you were never born! I don’t care what happened, but from what I have heard Veronica is your daughter and also James’ mother and apparently she has a drug problem! If that’s the case, then Stiles is right, quit being an idiot. She needs help because eventually whatever she is taking will never be enough she will O.D trying to get her next high. When she does it will be your fault for not getting her help!” Derek moved away from the doctor to lean against the opposite wall.
Stiles just watched, feeling oddly excited that Derek had come to his rescue…not that he needed rescuing...he was a man after all. “See Jeff, Derek doesn’t even know Veronica or anything really. He doesn’t even know my last name but he was able to put all of that together just by listening to us. This will be my final warning and offer. Get Veronica help or I will call the cops and get her help again! Also if you want to see James come by anytime BUT if you do decide to be a part of his life I don’t want you dropping out of it one day!”
Doctor Hamilton sighs and turns back around to keep walking and arrives at James’ room. “I promise not to show up Stiles.” He gives Derek a wary glance before leaving the room. Stiles walks over to the bed they have James in and Derek stays by the door, feeling he should stay back until Stiles invites him over.
“Hey buddy, daddy’s here the doctor says you will be ok; you just have a cold. I want you to meet someone.” Stiles waves Derek over. “Buddy, this is Derek, Derek this is James.”
“Hey James, it’s nice to meet you buddy.” Derek says, smiling at the little boy.
James lifts his little hand and Derek chuckles. “Good man.” Derek winks and shakes James’ hand.