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Derek didn’t know what to expect when he signed up to room blind in the dorms. He knew he couldn’t live with Isaac; he had recurrent nightmares about the boy’s scarves coming to life and killing him in his sleep. Boyd and Erica eloped just so they could get into married housing, so that was a big no. He’d considered living alone, but his mother encouraged him to have a roommate to get the full college experience.
Derek should have known he was in trouble when he walked into the room to find his roommate sipping on the largest milkshake he’d ever seen and studying a poster on his side of the room with the words “Every Day a Celebration!”
“Hello?” Derek said.
Big eyes turned to stare at him as he slurped his milkshake, and Derek tried to ignore the way his cheeks hollowed out. “Dude, you don’t have a milkshake. You need a milkshake!”
“Why?” slipped out of Derek’s mouth before he could stop himself.
“It’s Milkshake Day!” he shouted, tapping the poster. “C’mon, let’s rectify the situation, and then I’ll help you unpack.” Derek was so stunned he let his roommate drag him from the room, realizing he’d never asked him to pronounce his name or even properly introduce himself.
The first morning in his dorm, he woke to Stiles scrolling through something on his computer, muttering to himself about sweet and sour something. “Morning?” Derek grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face before glancing at the clock. “Isn’t nine a little early for Chinese food?”
“Not in China,” Stiles countered.
“Pretty sure it’s just called food there,” Derek groaned, pushing himself up and scratching his chest. “Why are you ordering now?”
“It’s Fortune Cookie Day,” Stiles responded.
Derek fell back on the pillows with a groan. His roommate was cute and funny, but he wondered if celebrating everything would be a daily occurrence. His eyes landed on the poster Stiles had hung over his bed and thought that would be the case.
As the days passed, Derek and Stiles got to know each other. Stiles tried to include Derek in every celebration, and Derek had a new hat thanks to “Make a Hat Day.” Most of the days were entertaining or at least tasty; he groaned in pleasure at the cheeseburgers they’d gotten on National Cheeseburger Day. There were days when he thought he might kill Stiles, especially International Talk Like a Pirate Day before the day was over.
When Derek woke up on October 18th to a wrapped gift from Stiles on his desk, he wondered what the day was as he opened the present. The box contained shaving cream and a razor, and Derek narrowed his eyes while one hand ran over his beard, which had gotten admittedly long while he’d been working on a project the last couple of weeks, but he kind of liked it. He didn’t know why Stiles would object to it, though.
An idea occurred to him, and he glanced at the daily celebration poster. Stiles entered the room as he read out loud, “No Beard Day.”
“What is with this?” Derek asked, tapping the poster. “I mean, I’ve seen similar things in other rooms, but I’ve never seen anyone take it as literally as you do. You even celebrated Information Overload Day even though you had a paper due the next day.” He laughed when he remembered Stiles turning in a paper on the history of male circumcision to his economics class.
“Why should a person ever miss out on a chance to celebrate?” Stiles asked, his eyes shifting to the side before coming back to look at Derek. “So, you going to shave or not?”
Derek sighed. “There’s more to this than you’re telling me,” he said. “What will happen if I don’t shave?”
Stiles’ fingers fidgeted at his side before he gave a shrug that looked like it caused him great pain. “Nothing.”
Derek studied Stiles, waiting for more before sighing. He would eventually get an answer out of Stiles, but that wouldn’t be the day. Grabbing the gift off the table, Derek headed into the bathroom to shave. He smirked when he noticed Stiles doing a happy dance when he thought he was out of Derek’s eyesight.
The school year went on, and Derek became more enchanted by Stiles and his celebration poster. The day before leaving for Christmas break, he snapped a photo of the sign before Stiles could pack it to take home. He managed to surprise Stiles on December 20th by calling him and singing a song to him before he’d even gotten out of bed. The smile on Stiles’ face made the embarrassment of his sister catching him in the act worth it.
Far too early on New Year’s Day, Derek woke to a facetime call from Stiles, but it was his father’s face on the other end. “Everything alright with Stiles?” Derek asked, a moment of panic running through him as he thought about all the accidents they’d seen while coming home from his Uncle’s house the previous night.
“Nothing except that my son is an idiot,” John Stilinski said, flipping the camera to show Stiles wrapped in a blanket with bare legs and jumping from foot to foot on another blanket on the ground. Suddenly a siren blares, and Stiles drops the blanket and takes off running toward the ocean.
“What is he doing?” Derek asked, wondering why he wasn’t even surprised by the phone call.
“Polar Bear Plunge Day,” John responded. “He wanted to be sure you saw it.” Stiles was already running back out of the water, soaking wet. A woman with dark curly hair wrapped him in a large towel while a kid with a crooked jaw knelt and started drying his feet.
“Tell him he’s crazy,” Derek said before saying goodbye to John, who promised to pass on the message.
Derek arrived back at the dorm on January sixth to find Stiles sitting on what appeared to be a giant dog bed in the middle of the room. He grinned widely when Derek walked in and began making grabby hands. “What?”
“It’s Cuddle Up Day!” Stiles said, making grabby hands again.
Shaking his head, Derek toed off his boots and settled into the dog bed next to Stiles. Before the slightly smaller man could pull Derek into a hug, Derek manhandled him to snuggle up into his side. Stiles sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned into Derek’s chest. Derek wanted to press a kiss to the top of his head but held back, thinking that might be crossing the roommate line.
A couple of weeks later, Derek found Stiles while walking home from class. He’d been thinking so much about him that, at first, he thought he imagined him, but no, his roommate was halfway up a tree calling out, “Let me love you!” For a second, Derek wondered if Stiles was chasing a crush who was creatively trying to get away, and his heart lurched.
Before Derek said anything, a squirrel jumped off the branch Stiles was trying to inch out on, chattering noisily when it hit the branch of another tree. “Why are you chasing squirrels?”
“Squirrel appreciation day!” Stiles called back.
“I don’t think the squirrel feels very appreciated,” Derek commented. “Come down, and we’ll buy some raw almonds and feed them instead.”
Stiles pouted, but he climbed down the tree, taking Derek's hand to steady himself once he hit the ground. Derek didn’t object when Stiles didn’t let go until they’d made it to the campus grocery.
As the days went on, Derek watched Stiles celebrate every day. Some days he joined in, but most, he just watched, appreciating the smile on Stiles’ face. Derek checked the poster a few times and beat Stiles to the punch, loving the smile that brought to Stiles’ face. After he’d woken Stiles up with a bowl of his mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup on Homemade Soup Day, he realized making Stiles happy was quickly becoming a need more than a want for Derek.
He was in love with his roommate and didn’t know what to do about it.
A few days later, Derek opened their mailbox and pulled out a stack of envelopes. The one on top was red and addressed to him. Derek immediately recognized Stiles' handwriting and wondered why Stiles would send him a card. Slipping the rest of the mail under his arm, Derek leaned against the wall and tore open the envelope.
The card was simple. White with black writing that said, “The world is a mess, but I’m glad you’re in it.” Laughing, Derek opened the card to find it filled with Stiles’ handwriting.
Derek,
It’s Send a Card to a Friend Day. I sent one to Scott, but he’s technically my brother now, so I’m sending one to you, too.
When I moved into the dorms, I didn’t expect to meet someone who put up with me as much as Scott does. I know the Celebration thing can’t be easy to deal with, but I do it because it was important to my mom.
Derek stopped reading. Stiles didn’t talk much about his mom, but he knew she passed when Stiles was young. His heart twisted, knowing he’d once considered talking Stiles into stopping the celebrations. He swallowed the lump and kept reading.
Thank you for always being supportive. You are really one of the most important people in my life now.
Love,
Stiles
Derek’s heart stopped for a second. He read over the signature lines again and again. He wondered if Stiles meant love for Derek in the same way he meant it about Stiles. He knew it would be a risk to their friendship, but he knew he had to talk to Stiles about how he felt.
Once Derek made up his mind, he woke up every day determined that would be the day he would tell Stiles he was in love with him. Every day, he let that day’s celebration distract him and just enjoyed the smile on Stiles’ face that his participation brought.
He almost told him on Valentine’s Day but decided it would be too cliché. He came close when he picked up a large heart that said, “Be Mine” on Discount Chocolate Day, but Stiles didn’t seem to get the hint.
Derek’s disappointment in himself grew as time passed until he found himself avoiding Stiles. He even snapped at him on Dentist Day when Stiles tried to talk him into going with him to get their teeth cleaned at the Dental School on campus. The sad look on Stiles’ face nearly broke Derek, and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to make it up to him.
Stiles still celebrated but gave Derek a wide berth for a couple of weeks. Then on March 26th, Derek woke up to find a banner hanging over their door that read, “National Derek Day!” and Stiles setting off party poppers around him.
“What the hell?” Derek asked as he struggled to sit up, nearly falling over when Stiles shoved a wrapped present at him.
“It’s Make Up Your Own Holiday Day,” Stiles explained, smiling. “Since I couldn’t be with you for your birthday, I decided today would be Derek Day! Now open your present.”
His voice grew hesitant as Derek stared at him. When Stiles started to take the present back, Derek pulled it to his chest and grinned at Stiles. “Thank you,” he said, carefully unwrapping the gift to reveal a first edition of a book he’d seen at an antique store near campus. “Stiles, this is awesome.” Stiles’ grin nearly blinded him, and Derek returned it, fighting the urge to lean forward to kiss him.
After Derek Day, Derek knew he had to tell Stiles how he felt. No more procrastinating, but he had to do it in a way that would be unique. That way, if it didn’t go how he went, maybe Derek could still recover their friendship somehow. After Stiles left to celebrate Take a Walk in the Park Day, alone because Derek had to study for an exam, Derek studied the celebration poster. His eyes fell on the next couple of days, and he came up with a solution.
A couple of nights later, Derek sat on his bed. Stiles slept sprawled across his own bed, snoring softly. Derek knew it was creepy to watch Stiles, so he kept staring at his phone's clock. He held his breath as the clock switched from 11:59 to 12:00. Letting out a breath and taking a big one, he leaned over and shook Stiles awake.
“Wha?” Stiles said, blinking and looking at Derek through half-closed eyes. “Derek, are you alright?”
“I love you,” he said. He’d planned to say much more than that, but those were the only words he could get out.
Stiles sat up. “Not nice to fuck with me at….” He looked at the clock. “Why are you waking me up at just after midnight to say you love me?”
“It’s Tell Someone You Love Them Day,” Derek explained, surprised Stiles didn’t know that.
“Oh yeah,” Stiles said. “Love you, too, dude.” He started to lie back down.
“No, Stiles. I’m in love with you,” Derek said. “You and your celebrations. I want to keep celebrating with you.”
“Really?” Stiles asked, looking more awake.
“Yeah,” Derek said, giving a tentative smile, which faded as Stiles frowned. “What?”
“It’s not July 6th,” Stiles said, his lips twisting.
Derek couldn’t hold back a snort. “What’s July 6th?”
“International Kissing Day,” Stiles responded, his lips twitching before breaking into a large smile.
“Then, I guess we’ll just have to consider this practice,” Derek said, grabbing Stiles by the front of his shirt and pulling him into a kiss.
“Each and every day,” Stiles agreed when the kiss broke.