#damaged!derek

For the @sterekdrabbles challenge. The words were "Flour", "Wash" and "Beard" and the theme was "Children".

Stiles knocks over the entire bag of flour. Because of course he fucking does.

Derek lunges, stealthily catching it; not much mess and only a small dust cloud.

“Shit, thanks Der-bear. You know, that brings back… baking, with mom. Dad coming home, foolin’ around; flour in his beard…” and if that ain’t a bittersweet punch to the gut.

But Derek is ashen.

“Der?”

Then, eventually, “The fire. They used—flour explosives...” and Stiles is wrapped around Derek in a heartbeat.

“Babe, I’m so sorry.”

“Stiles, can we…”

“Just gotta wash up.”

Because of course we fucking can.

Stiles was broken, by design. Born screwy, with a melon wired for brain-storming and puzzle solving but little of the normal shit necessary to get by in life, often being branded a freak... but also broken by what happened to him as a kid; Stiles was only eight when Mom died and he started taking care of Dad.

Scott understood. But Stiles wished for more than understanding--needed more.

When he and Derek surpassed rivalry and connected, each found new comfort in old wounds. Derek was broken too.

Together they were... messy.

But sometimes, messy broken creatures are perfect for each other.

For Friday's @sterekdrabbles challenge. There words were "kid", "broken" and "design".

Author: lizzstomania Pairing: Derek/Stiles Words: 6,683 Summary: College AU "It's just math, Derek. It's me and you; it’s not rocket science and it's not Shakespeare. It's basic arithmetic and you, for some ungodly reason, never bothered to learn to add."