[Sterek] Cupboard Love (boyxboy) (complete)

Chapter 24

Stiles crashes as soon as he's at his dad's house and wakes up to early afternoon sunshine and feeling about three hundred percent better. After a shower and some grocery shopping he feels ready to tackle almost anything (except more Canadian history) and decides to start on the cookies.

Being a poor student, the best gift Stiles can realistically give people is baked goods, which is why he has a mountain of wax paper, dollar store seasonal tins, and ribbon.

Stiles spends the day making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies with royal icing in bright colours, oatmeal cookies, chili chocolate biscuits, oreo cheesecake cookies, coconut macaroons, hazelnut shortbread, and caramel stuffed apple cider cookies to cover his bases. It's dark out by the time he's done, and every surface in the kitchen is covered in cooling racks stacked two-high.

He hears his dad pull into the driveway just as he finishes the last of the dishes, and calls out, "Sorry, I've got the kitchen kind of occupied," Stiles calls out, "Maybe we can order-"

"-Healthyish take out, yeah, I figured," his dad finishes for him, shouldering his way into the kitchen and carrying bags from the vegetarian place in town.

"They grow up so fast," Stiles sniffs dramatically.

His dad snorts and starts unpacking the food. "Speaking of, when did you make friends with Laura Hale and why is my best deputy now checking that I'm eating rabbit food?"

"Oh, I don't know if I can give you the details. There was a very strongly worded non-disclosure agreement about the whole thing," Stiles says biting into his veggie burrito with relish. Stiles takes after his mother, which unfortunately means he did not inherit the Explain In Real Terms Please look that always works for his dad. "She came out to visit Derek on one of the days I was dropping his food off; seems really friendly. I mean, are all of the Hales huggers except Derek? Anyway, she said she'd look after you if I looked after her brother, so..."

There's an awkward pause, his dad holding his own food absently as he stares intently at Stiles. "And you're sure there's nothing you need to tell me? No big news?"

Stiles isn't sure what his dad is pushing at, but something clicks in his mind. "Oh yeah! There is! I forgot to tell you last time, and then, you know, finals. Lydia's taking the test for College Jeopardy in January, but you can't tell anyone. I mean, we know she'll get in, but she's not sure and her parents are... her parents, so-"

For some reason his dad looks almost disappointed and a little bit relieved but he returns to eating his food and nods agreeably. "She's going to hate wearing an MIT sweatshirt on tv," he says, grinning, and Stiles can't help but laugh. She really, really will.