Deafening Silence

Ch. 27

One thing Stiles hadn't prepared himself for was the anticipation. When would Derek be home? Why wasn't he home yet? Shouldn't he have been off hours ago? When the condo was in the picture Stiles could always assume if Derek wasn't in his bed he'd be in his own. But now that they shared one Stiles seemed to not be able to sleep until the man was right next to him, or walking throughout their home. In the end, he knew it would be crazy of him to wait up all night just for Derek to walk in and catch him bug eyed and perched on the couch. So he drug himself to bed, hoping his boyfriend would show up at some point. He fell into his bed, willing his thoughts to fall asleep right along with him.

The sun shone down on his face signaling the start of a new day. His alarm clock clued him in to the fact that he had slept well past morning and was lucky he hadn't slept right through his lunch date with Lydia and Isaac. It was something he had grown too accustom to while he waited for his shop to open back up. He slept a lot, and when he wasn't doing that he was doing just about anything else. Shopping, bugging his friends, cleaning, arranging and rearranging his furniture, anything to keep him from crawling out of his skin.

He didn't have to roll over to know Derek was there, the dip in the bed and lack of covers on his body told him all he needed to know. The blanket hog was sleeping soundly beside him. Stiles could smell the faint scent of soap so he had time to shower before plopping into bed. He tried not to wonder where he was, or why he hadn't texted him that he'd be home late. Stiles tried not to be Stiles and blow things out of proportion. So he stepped from the bed, quietly walking to the kitchen to make a late breakfast.

Luckily his ability to worry did nothing to his appetite. Scrambled eggs, four sausage links, and a slice of crisp toast lay before him as he enjoyed the silence and scrolled through his emails. His bakery would reopen in two weeks and he was already flooded with orders. He was thankful, perhaps it was why he had been so off lately, he just needed to get back to work and finally have something else to occupy his time.

Stiles didn't miss the sound of shuffling feet as Derek finally emerged from their room. His first stop was to Stiles, sleepily kissing his cheek before dropping his weight down in the chair beside him "None for me?"

"I assumed you'd sleep in late" his voice was monotone despite his best efforts.

A apologetic sigh escaped the half naked mans mouth before he seemed to sink further down in the dining chair "I'm sorry"

"What are you talking about?" there was an internal wince, Stiles wasn't good at playing dumb.

Derek could only give him a look that clearly told Stiles he wasn't fooling anyone. Derek was, in fact, his soul mate so understandably after almost a year together he could read him like a book "I stayed late at the office, I had a ton of work and I figured it would be better to finish it there than bring it home. I was going to text you but I forgot and by the time I remembered again it was late and I didn't wanna wake you"

"Yeah, well a late text is better than none at all" pushing from the table Stiles went to dump his dish, with Derek suddenly on his trail.

"Okay. Are you upset because I was out late? Or because you didn't know who I was out with?"

The question seemed like it had come out of the blue, but perhaps Derek had known Stiles' problem all along. Not wanting to admit Derek had caught him Stiles just huffed "I was just worried alright. You could have called if you were just at work" For a second Stiles hadn't recognized himself. Had he always been this insecure and it just took being in a relationship to realize it?

"Do you really not trust me? Whe-When have I ever given you doubt?"

"All I'm saying is that you can't really expect me not to worry when you don't come home on time"