Chapter Text
He moves in on a Wednesday. Seattle is a big city, one Stiles has always enjoyed visiting, and it’s far enough from Beacon Hills that he doesn’t feel suffocated anymore.
There’s a lot of white in his new home: walls, appliances, tile floors in the bathroom and kitchen. It’s a clean slate, bright and shiny.
Before he came, he found a job as a waiter in a restaurant downtown and is taking classes at the local community college. Stiles is nineteen years old and has only just decided to start college. It’s not entirely his fault that he missed out on his full ride to MIT; he’s had a rough couple of years. Luckily he didn’t waste his time at MIT, though, because a year later Stiles is fairly certain he is not meant to pursue a degree in bioengineering. His interest has since tampered out.
Since avoiding school for a year and now, running away from Beacon Hills, Stiles has found a bit of solace in taking pictures. He’s pretty good, and it’s a cathartic sort of activity for him. Which is why, as soon as he carries his last box up to his apartment, he walks out onto his balcony with his camera to snap a few shots.
The city lights are beautiful and after a few pictures, he turns the camera off, content just to look.
“Are you new?”
“Shit!” Stiles scrambles, trying not to drop his camera over the edge of his balcony when he looks to the right and sees a man, illuminated by the lights of the skyscrapers around them, staring at him from the neighboring balcony. Stiles can’t see him perfectly, uneven shadows scattered across his face, but he can tell he’s strongly built. Has some facial hair and a pair of glasses perched on his nose. He’s wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“Oh, uh, me?” Stiles asks, feeling stupid. Of course he’s talking to him, there’s no one else on his balcony. Well, Stiles assures himself of that fact after fervently glancing behind him.
“Yes, you.”
“Yeah. New to the city, new to the building.”
“Oh. Well, I’m Derek.”
“Stiles.” The look on Derek’s face is enough to tell Stiles exactly what he’s thinking. “It’s a nickname. My real name is polish and hard to pronounce, so.”
‘Ah.”
“How long have you lived here?” Derek looks at Stiles like he’d rather not have a conversation, but it’s really not his fault. Most balconies nowadays have a cement border between them, so you can’t see your neighbor. This place must not value privacy.
“A while. Six years, maybe.”
“Do you work?”
“Uhuh.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a kindergarten teacher.”
“Was that a joke?”
“No. Why is it so hard to believe?”
“It’s just… you’re this big, macho, handsome dude and my kindergarten teacher was a frail old lady with two hearing aids and a cane.”
“You called me handsome.”
Stiles frowns. “I’m going inside, now,” he says, and Derek nods, like that’s the only logical course of action after their exchange. Once Stiles slides the glass door shut behind him, safe inside his apartment, he sighs and decides to call it a night.
Xxx
A few days later, Stiles realizes that he doesn’t have good reception inside his apartment and that the only place he can effectively take a call is out on the balcony. It doesn’t make sense, really, seeing as how he’s in the middle of a big city with cell towers all around, but that’s just how it is.
“Dad?”
“Hey, kid. You settled in?”
“Pretty much. Still have a lot of unpacking to do, but I’ve got my bed set up, so I’m good.
“You know I don’t like you living up there all alone. I wish you’d at least stay in California.”
“And you know I had to get out of California, dad.”
“I know why you think you had to leave. I still don’t understand. But I also don’t blame you. I just hope you don’t forget about your old man.”
“You’re being overdramatic. You know that, right?”
“You had to get it from somewhere.” Stiles laughs and then the line is quiet for a while. “I don’t like that I can’t be there in a split second if you need me.”
“Dad, seriously, I’m okay. I’m a grown-ass adult now. And besides, I have a job here. I’m going to help you pay the Eichen House bills. It’ll be good for both of us, I swear.”
“I trust you, Stiles.”
“Good.”
“Alright, well I gotta get to work, but I’ll talk to you again soon. Call me if you need me.”
“I will. Talk to you later, pops.” Stiles hands up the phone and flips it around in his hands.
“What’s Eichen House?” Stiles jumps and drops his phone onto the concrete floor.
“What the hell? Were you eavesdropping?” Stiles turns to his neighbor to see Derek sitting on one of the chairs on his furnished balcony, legs propped up on a table with a laptop resting on his thighs.
“No. I was out here when you came out and I certainly wasn’t going to go inside just so you could have some privacy.”
“Well you could have said something.”
“And disrupt your phone call with your dad? I’m not that much of a dick. Besides, I’m just trying to get some work done.”
“What kind of work?”
“I’m emailing one of my kids’ parents. He’s very advanced for his age, I want his parents to know about a program at the school for gifted kids.”
“I see. Well, can’t you work from inside?”
“Can’t you?”
“I didn’t have any service inside.”
“Yeah, the service in this building sucks. And I live with my sister so when she gets on my nerves, I come out here to be alone.”
“Sorry for ruining that for you.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. It’s not like you’re doing anything wrong, you’re on your own balcony.” Stiles hums in agreement and leans his elbows on the railing of his balcony.
“So where do you work?”
“Poe’s Diner.”
“I’ve been there before. My friends and I get dinner there every so often.”
“You have friends?” The look Derek gives Stiles is one of annoyance and yes, this one is definitely deserved. “Sorry, I just meant… It seems like you enjoy being alone.”
“I do. But I also enjoy spending time with my friends. Do you have any friends?”
“Not around here. My best friend is going to school at U.C. Davis.”
“Good school. Are you a student?”
“Yeah, at the community college a few miles away. I don’t know what to do with my life, so....”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve known my whole life that I wanted to teach, but my sister still hasn’t figured it out and she’s thirty. And she’s one of the best people I know.”
The side of Stiles’s mouth quirks up in a smile. After a while, he tells Derek goodnight and heads inside.