A/N: For those that don't know, 'spotting' is a term used for when a person is benching weights and another person stands at the head of the bench making sure they don't drop the weights on themselves.
Derek
It was around six and the sun was slowly setting outside Derek's window when he heard a deafening crack coming from his living room. He leapt up from his bed, not bothering to put anything on over his briefs as he rushed in the direction of the sound. Upon arriving in the room, he was greeted with a gaping hole in his wall.
"What the hell?!" He yelled. A guilty looking Stiles peeked through the hole, wincing visibly at Derek's anger.
"I was trying to hang a picture." He explained, raising a hammer and waving it. "But if you just stand there like that I won't need the picture anymore." He added boldly, then flushing scarlet.
Derek hadn't seen Stiles in almost a week after their heated exchange in his apartment, he'd put it down to Stiles realising he didn't actually like Derek at all.
"If you can't fix a slot-in shelf how on earth did you think you could hang a god damn picture?" Derek hissed furiously. Stiles shrugged in an immature manner. He looked like a child that had just been caught after breaking a precious vase.
"I'm so so sorry Derek, I- I'll pay to fix it. I didn't actually think I could hang the picture but I... I didn't wanna ask you for help because you probably hate me for the other night and you probably think I'm some really tall immature kid but I just got nervous and you're so attractive and nice and funny and I just didn't want you to use-"
"Stiles." Derek sighed.
The younger man halted his verbal vomit and stared at Derek.
"I'll fix it when I have time. Don't try and do anything that requires more than glue." He instructed and walked off to his kitchen and tugged his robe on, leaving Stiles standing open mouthed on the other side of the hole.
Derek drank his coffee and thought about what he'd gotten himself into; more work, more Stiles and a hole in his box of privacy. At least he was being relatively quiet, Derek had a lot of work to do that evening and would have to make a trip to the hardware store for plaster and such materials to fix the wall.
As he mulled this over in his head, an atrocious tune blared through his residence, along with Stiles' singing.
"Adventure time! Come on grab your friends, we'll go to very distant lands. With Jake the Dog and Finn the-"
"Stiles turn it down." Derek growled loudly.
"OK so you don't like Adventure Time." He heard Stiles mutter from his own living room.
"I've never watched Adventure Time, whatever the hell that is, I just don't like the sound of your TV coming into my apartment."
"Well there is a hole in the wall-"
"Stiles. Who put the God forsaken hole there in the first place? "
Silence.
*
Stiles
Stiles desperately wanted to believe that peering through the hole discreetly while Derek worked out in his living room wasn't creepy but his conscience kept telling him otherwise. His day at work had been less than enjoyable and he'd decided that he deserved it. Since he made the hole three days ago he'd been seeing a lot of Derek, generally when he was working out or fell asleep on the couch.
He watched intently as Derek grunted and huffed his way through an impressive amount of press ups, his arms bulging each time he lowered and raised his body. Stiles was utterly mesmerised, it made him a little self conscious of his own slender physique but the feeling of attraction overrode anything else.
Derek finished his last set then jumped to his feet, taking Stiles by surprise. He dropped to the floor to hide, wincing at the loud thump when he hit the wood. He heard footsteps approaching the wall.
"I didn't know you were a voyeur."
"I'm not! I was uh, spotting you! Yeah I was spotting!" His feeble attempt at defending himself was not accepted.
"You don't need a spotter for press ups." Derek countered.
"Whatever." Stiles mumbled and rolled away from the wall to lay on his rug, eyes closed.
"What are you doing?" Derek asked, his voice suddenly sounded as if he were in the room. Stiles' eyes snapped open to see Derek was now looking through the hole directly at him.
"Lying down. Obviously. I guess beauty and brains really don't go hand in hand." Stiles chuckled, knowing it'd rile Derek.
"Screw you." Derek muttered, disappearing from the hole.
"Please." Stiles whispered, only half hoping Derek heard.
*
Later that evening, Stiles decided he'd watch a movie. He tossed a bag of popcorn into the microwave and browsed through his collection while he waited for his snack. Deciding on The Hulk, he slotted it into his DVD player and hurried back to the kitchen to the sound of the microwave beeping obnoxiously and put the popcorn in a large bowl.
Once he was settled on the couch and ready to become immersed in the world of Bruce Banner, he began scarfing down popcorn at an alarming speed.
"That smells really strong and you're chewing too loudly." Came the grumpy voice from the other side of the wall.
"Well I'm sorry Derek, but I can't mute smells or my own chewing."
An exasperated sigh floated through the hole and Stiles ignored it. He was going to enjoy his movie whether Derek liked it or not. Footfalls resounded from the flat next door and Stiles smiled smugly to himself, he'd annoyed Derek so much he'd gone to another room. 'Mission accomplished.' He thought.
At least he thought he had, until there was a irate knock at the door. He rolled his eyes, pausing the movie and stamping to the front door. He flung it open and eyeballed Derek.
"Since you want to be difficult." Derek snapped, barging past Stiles and into the living area.
"W-what are you doing?" Stiles asked, thrown by Derek's unexpected decision to intrude.
Derek glanced up at him from his seat on the couch.
"If I'm going to have to hear the entire movie I might as well watch it." He replied, as if it were the most obvious thing ever. Stiles stood where he was for a moment, shifting from one foot to the other, unsure what to do. Derek said nothing, simply pointing at the empty end of the couch.
"Pretty sure I'm the one who should be telling you to sit down." Stiles mumbled.
It was strange sitting on the couch with Derek, even slightly awkward. They sat in silence which was unusual for Stiles, only moving to grab more popcorn.
"I didn't think you'd like movies like The Hulk." Stiles said experimentally, not particularly expecting Derek to respond.
On the contrary, Derek turned his head and eyed him strangely.
"The Hulk? Everyone likes The Hulk." He replied, shaking his head as though he was disappointed Stiles didn't know this 'fact'.
"I had you pegged as more of a Fast and Furious guy, maybe murder mystery."
"Are you calling me a murderer who likes fast cars?" Derek retorted, his lips quirking up fractionally.
Part of Stiles' brain was telling him to babble some form of apology and explanation, but another part told him Derek was messing with him.
"It wouldn't surprise me that much if you were, but no I'm not." He finally answered. Derek let out a breathy laugh,
"I guess you better hope not."
Derek
They continued to watch, only swapping witty comments from time to time and Stiles constantly pointing out the similarities between Derek and the Hulk.
"You know, you and the Hulk are probably related, Derek."
"Probably."
"I bet that's what happens when you get really angry, Derek."
"Mhm."
"Hey Derek, are you mixed with any animal DNA?"
"I'll show you if you don't shut your mouth and watch the film."
"Hey Derek?"
"What."
"Do you think I could calm you down if you bulked out? Like Betty?" Derek paused before replying, unsure of what Stiles was getting at by asking the question.
"Maybe." He said quietly, not taking his eyes from the screen. He was almost relieved when Stiles didn't say anything, and concentrated on the movie.
As the movie reached the section when the Hulk was forced to avoid the army helicopters on his tail, Derek felt a heavy weight slump onto his shoulder. He looked over to see that Stiles had fallen asleep on him. He scowled reflexively, but made no move to wake him up or move him and resumed watching the movie until Stiles' even breaths lulled him into unconsciousness.
*
When Derek woke up, Stiles was no longer leaning against his shoulder. Derek's back was pressed to the back of the couch and he lay on his side with Stiles cradled to his body. He panicked internally, but quickly realised that the feeling Stiles in his arms and the slow rising and falling of his chest was actually... Nice. He lay still, closing his eyes again and decided he'd stay like this until Stiles woke up and pretend to be shocked and horrified by their position. He was fairly certain Stiles wouldn't mind.
With that, he sighed, allowing himself to slip back into a dream.