Work Text:
Stiles were drunk. Pretty damn drunk, if he was being honest. The plan for the night had been to hang out with Scott in the preserve, drink some whiskey, and have a bro-night. Scott had cancelled on him, as was the new usual. Apparently dating the ‘oh so perfect Alison’ was more important than their bro-ship. Apparently, it didn’t matter that they lived on separate coasts either, now that Stiles spent most of his time in Boston. He was only home for a few weeks this summer since his boss was on vacation as well. Stiles had hoped that Scott would spend some time with him, but that was apparently a no-go - which was why he’d ended up walking around somewhat aimlessly in the forest. He was heading towards town, ish, but he wasn’t really in the mood to go home. He missed Boston, and he missed having someone to drink with, and, most of all, to talk with.
He stumbled upon a yard, with a big house and a smaller one next to it. The smaller one called out to him. It looked like a playhouse and as a kid he had always wanted one. Stiles walked closer and suddenly there was a huge ass dog right in front of him. It didn’t look like it was gonna jump up and tear his throat out.
“Hi there puppy,” Stiles said quietly while slowly walking closer. The dog only seemed happy to have someone close and it didn’t bark even once. It just wagged its tail and panted happily. Stiles couldn’t be blamed for his actions really. The true culprit was honestly the whiskey. He was kind of cold and the dog was warm. He also wanted a nap. Right there and then, it seemed perfectly reasonable to take one right there in the dog house with a very happy and cuddly dog.
“So fluffy,” Stiles mumbled into the fur of his new best friend and then he fell asleep.
~
Stiles was still cuddling the huge dog when someone interrupted his dream. It had been a good dream. Something about clouds.
“What the hell?”
Stiles turned towards the voice and saw the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen and that was counting Peter, his boss.
“You’re very pretty. And your dog is soft,” he murmured. He was still drunk. That wasn’t good. Either he had only slept a short time or had way more to drink than he thought.
“Oh great, Bruno, you are the worst guard dog!”
“Nooo! He’s a good boy. The bestest boy!” Stiles was going to defend his new best friend.
“I don’t want to deal with a drunk kid,” the gorgeous man said. “I’m going to call the police.”
“I’m 24!” Stiles said, feeling slightly insulted before he realized the second part of what the handsome man had said. “Oh god! Please don’t call the cops. Dad will get pissed.”
Suddenly the back door opened again and a man came out. Stiles knew that swagger from somewhere.
“Derek, what’s taking you so long?”
Stiles totally knew that voice.
“Peter?”
“Stiles?”
“You know each other?” The gorgeous man, who apparently was called Derek, asked.
“Yes!” Stiles said happily. This might end with his dad not being called after all.
“Unfortunately.” Peter sighed. “I did tell you about hiring a new assistant.”
~
It took Stiles some explaining to get out of having the cops called on him, but somehow the combination of Bruno loving him, Peter vouching for him and Talia Hale remembering him from when he was a kid made Derek accept that Stiles wasn’t just a drunk. He was simply a mess, a sort of lonely mess.
Stiles should have known that as soon as Peter realized that they were in the same time zone, let alone the same town, vacation was basically over. It wasn’t something that made him upset honestly, because he still had time to hang with his dad and Scott hadn’t even replied to the last texts stiles had sent to him. Most days,he was actually to happy to have something to do. The one thing he hadn’t expected was that Derek and Bruno would be joining them. At least Bruno had decided that Stiles was his new best friend the same way Stiles had done with him.
Two days before Peter and Stiles were leaving for Boston again the four of them were in the Hales’ living room. Finishing up the latest project was a blessing. Derek had helped a lot and Peter was the best of the best in his field. But it was nice to go home without having it hanging over them.
Stiles grabbed a hold of Bruno, who was resting his head next to Stiles. “You are my best friend and I’m gonna miss you the most!” He hugged Bruno closer. This had become a more and more common theme the closer they got to their final day in Beacon Hills.
“Derek, put the puppies out of their misery, please. I can’t stand the love-fest that is happening,” Peter said and quickly left the room.
“Fuck you Peter,” Stiles muttered before turning to Derek. “So, are you going to murder me and feed me to Bruno? That’s rude.”
“Why would I - No, you know what. No.” Derek’s eyebrows was doing the ‘confused and annoyed’-dance. Stiles loved it. Then Derek continued, “I’m joining uncle Peter at the firm, so I’ll be moving to Boston.”
“Are you for real? Are you joking?”
“Why would I joke about this?”
“I mean, Peter would totally ask you to just so I’ll go without whining on Wednesday.” After a year as Peter’s assistant, he knew way more about his boss than he actually wanted. Them being from the same small town had still come as a surprise, though. Life was weird.
“He probably would,” Derek agreed with a nod. “But I wouldn’t do that.”
Stiles smiled at Derek, realizing how sincere he was. “I’m very happy that the two of you will be joining us.”
~
Living in the same apartment building as Derek was an adventure. It was one thing being close to Derek during vacation, mainly because then there was an expiration date on anything that could be between them. Now, there was just all these possibilities. Derek had somehow missed how much he was pining. It was sad, if he was being honest. Every time Stiles flirted, or well, tried to flirt, Derek didn’t react at all. But Peter knew. Peter kept teasing Stiles about his obvious crush.
Even Bruno seemed to know what was up. Either that or Bruno was just very excited when his favorite humans was together. Stiles admitted that it was hard to guess what a dog was thinking.
One evening they were all at Peter’s place working on their latest project. Stiles just didn’t know how to deal with his feelings anymore. He kept glancing over at Derek, opening his mouth to say something, but couldn’t.
“Oh my god! Just take the poor guy out on a date,” Peter groaned from his place on the couch, making both men blush.
“How about some coffee from that place near the park?” Derek asked.
“I’d like that!” Stiles said.
The sad part was that Bruno had heard the word ‘park’, which he automatically connected to taking a walk with his favorites. Neither Derek or Stiles wanted to leave him, but at the same time, they couldn’t bring Bruno to the coffee shop.
Peter glared at them. “You guys are lucky I can’t stand this anymore. I’ll take Bruno. You get coffee.”
And off they went. Derek and Stiles took the coffee to go and walked around the park. It was just easy. No effort, just a nice moment. They talked, laughed and Stiles loved every moment of it. This was what he wanted. For the rest of his life.
Stiles stopped suddenly, making Derek turn to him, looking all concerned.
“I like you,” Stiles said. “Like, like-like you.”
“I like you too,” Derek mumbled, his ear tips all red.
“But do you like-like me or just like me?”
Derek looked confused, like he didn’t know what the word ‘like’ meant any more. “I want to date you. I want to be your… boyfriend,” Derek said.
“Oh.” Stiles shone up. “That’s what I want as well.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
“Just kiss for fuck’s sake. I can’t deal with this!” Peter yelled from a bench close to them.
And who were they to argue with the boss.
They kissed and it was like coming home. Just perfect.
~
Stiles was happy. Very happy. He had an amazing boyfriend in Derek, a wonderful adopted son-slash-BFF in Bruno and somehow another best friend in Peter. Life was good.