Chapter Text
Derek hated busses, hated them with a passion; but since his car broke down that morning and he didn’t have enough money for a taxi, he didn’t have much of a choice.
The bus it was.
Grumbling to himself about all the people in his way to get to a free seat, he finally found one in the back, his favorite place in the bus, next to a boy with a cane and sunglasses on his nose.
A blind kid. Not that Derek minded. He felt sympathy for the kid.
The boy was slightly surprised when someone sat down next to him, probably used to being completely ignored.
Of course he took the chance to start talking. That wasn’t something Derek liked too much.
“Could you tell me when we’re at the station?” the boy asked, “My friend will be there to pick me up.”
“Uh, sure.” Drek answered, “I have to get off there too, so…”
The boy smiled, “Great! Thank you.”
Derek shrugged, but then realized the boy couldn’t see him. “No problem,” he murmured, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Of course it wasn’t.
The boy, so happy that someone had taken a seat next to him and had actually answered when he asked a question, started rambling on about everything and nothing.
About his friends; Stiles and Isaac, his ex-girlfriend Allison and her best friend Lydia.
By the time they arrived at the station, Derek felt like he knew all about the boy’s friends but nothing about the boy himself.
And Derek? Derek had said nothing. Just hummed and ‘aah’-ed a few times so the boy would know he was still listening.
He didn’t even know the boy’s name!
Once the bus stopped at the station, Derek finally spoke up.
“We’re here.”
“Oh.” Did he sound…disappointed? “Ok. Thank you for telling me.”
Derek got out of his seat and looked back at the boy, who seemed to fumble with his cane a little.
“Do you need some help?” Derek heard himself ask before he even knew he was talking.
“No,” the boy gave a wry smile, “I’m completely…” the bus suddenly jerked, not having stopped completely, and the kid almost fell into the hallway. Luckily for him, Derek was there to steady him. The boy lifted his head a little, as if looking up at him. “Thanks.”
“No worries,” Derek replied, letting the boy walk in front of him. He scowled at the people who glimpsed at the boy and then quickly got away as fast as they could while they normally would still be standing in the way of other people. Normal people.
Well, Derek wasn’t normal. Far from it. You only couldn’t see it from the outside.
Seeing the boy also limped a little, probably a temporary limp –or at least Derek hoped so-, he helped him step off the bus and got a little smile in return.
Instead of moving away like he was supposed to, Derek kept standing next to the boy a little awkwardly. The boy seemed to notice his uneasiness.
“I’ll be fine now,” he said, “Thanks again. For, um…for everything I guess.”
Before Derek could answer, he heard someone call out, “Scott!” and the boy’s head turned towards the sound, waving with his hand in that direction.
“That’s my friend, Stiles.” The boy –no, Scott- told Derek when he turned back to him. “Well,” he hesitated slightly. “I guess this is goodbye, then.”
“Yeah,” Derek let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I guess I’ll be seeing…Fuck.” Derek cursed himself fort hat slip up, but, to Derek’s surprise, Scott let out a laugh.
“Yeah, you’ll probably be seeing me, but I won’t be seeing you.”
Derek ducked his head. He knew Scott couldn’t see the blush that had formed on his cheeks, but he still liked to hide his emotions.
Any emotion. Except for anger and annoyance.
A horn of a car sounded and soon Stiles’ voice followed with, “Scott! Hurry up, dude. I can’t stay parked here!”
Scott sighed, still standing next to Derek. He didn’t know how to say goodbye to this guy.
A hug, like he usually did with his friends, might be a little too much. Maybe a handshake would do…
“Want me to walk you to your friend’s car?” And why the hell did his mouth keep on doing that? It was working faster than his brains. He hated it.
“Um, yeah,” Scott replied, obviously surprised. “If you want to.”
Derek just grunted, then walked next to Scott towards the car, ignoring the curious look Stiles gave him.
Derek, almost automatically, opened the door for Scott. Cursing himself inwardly when Stiles let out an amused snort.
Scott, on the other hand, just grinned at him and sat down in the passenger’s seat.
“I didn’t catch your name.” Scott said, his legs still hanging out of the door so Derek couldn’t close it yet.
“Derek.” Derek answered curtly, drumming his fingers on the door. Scott just kept on smiling as he turned so he was facing the front window of the car and his legs were inside.
“Nice to meet you, Derek.”
Derek didn’t answer, just closed the door and waited on the side until the car drove off.
-----------------………….------------------
Inside the car, Stiles was biting his tongue, trying not to ask Scott about the stranger guy who had followed him to his car.
Scott knew his friend, though.
“I met him on the bus.”
“Ah.” Stiles answered, his hands tightening on the wheel a little. “And you just thought; ‘hey, I’m just gonna keep standing with this guy and then let him follow me to my best friend’s car. Maybe we can even offer him a ride’. ”
Scott rolled his eyes, which were hidden behind the tainted glass.
“He asked if he could walk me to your car. He noticed my limp when I got off the bus. He helped me as well.”
“Well, that’s nice.” Stiles remarked snappily. “We don’t know anything about this guy, Scott.”
“We know that his name’s Derek.”
“Yeah, and we know a lot with that.” Stiles scoffed. “He could be a serial killer for all we know.”
“Don’t be so over-dramatic.”
“Don’t be so trusting!” Stilles snapped back, then regretted it as soon as he saw his friend’s lips turn downwards and his eyebrows knitted together. He sighed softly. “Ok, so, maybe I’m over reacting a little bit.” Stiles couldn’t help but smile when Scott snorted. “But I’m just saying…You should be more careful. Before you know it you’ll end up somewhere in a dead end street with some people beating the crap out of you, leaving you for dead.”
“There you go again…”
“I’m just…” Stiles let out an annoyed huff of breath. “I’m worried about you. Can’t a guy be worried about his best friend?”
Scott smiled, albeit a little sadly, and reached out to where he knew his friend’s leg was and put his hand on his knee.
“No need to worry about me,” he said softly. “I’ll be ok.”
Stiles just hummed and patted his friend’s hand twice before concentrating back on the road.
He couldn’t help but think to himself;
‘Yeah. That’s what you always say.’