Sterek Library (a03 Edition)

I Want Sugar In My Tea

By: lielabell

Dedicated to 19vinnie95 thanks for the votes and views.

Summary; Derek doesn't like coffee and he doesn't like coffee shops. They are loud and brash and full of people who think too much of themselves. He prefers tea and independently owned bookshops, where people sit in companionable silence and read. But here he is, sitting in a loud, obnoxious coffee shop, trying his damnedest to focus while people drone on mindlessly on all sides of him, drinking cup after cup of low quality tea. And why is he doing this again? Oh right. Because of him.

Work Text;

Derek doesn't like coffee and he doesn't like coffee shops. They are loud and brash and full of people who think too much of themselves. He prefers tea, thank you, and independently owned bookshops, where people sit in companionable silence and read. But here he is, sitting in a loud, obnoxious coffee shop, trying his damnedest to focus while people drone on mindlessly on all sides of him, drinking cup after cup of low quality tea. And why is he doing this again? Oh right. Because of him.

Him has a name, or at least a nickname. Derek's heard it before, though they've never been introduced. Stiles. Stiles is his name. And Stiles seems to fit him better than any other name could.

Stiles is outgoing and talkative, quick with a smile and a laugh, but not fake about it. The guy seems genuinely interested in everyone he sees.

Everyone but Derek, that is.

*

Derek has been called a creeper before, and he's sure if his sister got wind of why he had changed up his writing routine, he would be called it again. But Derek just can't help it.

It's not like he's doing anything wrong. Hell, he's not even breaking any social rules, let alone laws. There is nothing at all that says that he can't patronize this particular coffee shop. He’s perfectly free to spend his money there just like everyone else. Never mind the fact that he only set foot in the place because Stiles was there.

Derek hadn't even been stalking him, the way some people might claim he had. Derek just happened to be walking past when Stiles just happened to be sitting outside and Derek just happened to make a mental note of it and made a point of walking past at the same time the next day and, sure enough, there Stiles was, though he was at a table inside this time. The next day Derek came back with his laptop and there he was again, laughing at the counter as he placed his order. The sound of it had shot down Derek's back like a caress and that had been that. So, yes, a perfectly normal chain of events with no stalking involved whatsoever. The same sort of thing could have happened to anyone.

And if maybe Derek had made a point of being there every day that Stiles happened to be there, so what? Lots of other people happened to be there too.

*

The thing is, Derek is slightly socially awkward. Always has been, always will be. He's just... not a people person. He is friends with who he is friends with and has zero desire to befriend anyone else. Derek likes to consider himself a fairly decent guy, just a little standoffish and unavailable. Still, he's nice enough once you get to know him.

And people always want to know him.

It's annoying, sometimes, but then Derek really can't complain. Being good looking has its downfalls, sure, but it also helps to smooth out a lot of the rough edges caused by his less than stellar personality. And it's not really that hard to get rid of the unwanted attention. Just frown a little or shake his head and they are off like a shot. Besides, it’s not a bad thing, getting noticed. It gets his foot in the door, so to speak, which has come in handy many a time in his life.