Chapter Text
Derek grimaced as he adjusted the grey tie around his neck in the mirror. The wool of his navy blue suit was itching his neck, and his dress pants were a tad bit too tight in the no no zone. This was going to be a fun night.
“Derek! Mom said you better be ready in five minutes or she’s disowning you,” Laura’s loud voice came from the other side of his bedroom door.
The man just rolled his eyes. “I’m already disowned from this family,” he called back and pulled on his black loafers to complete the look. Derek took one last look in the mirror before leaving. He was already sweating, a problem he knew would get worse throughout the evening. It was nearly 85 degrees outside, despite it being nighttime in California. The last thing he wanted to do was attend yet another hotel gala, plastering on a faux smile to shake hands with people whose names he never remembered, trying to be the golden boy for his mom’s sake.
Derek opened his door right as Laura’s hand was positioned to knock again. He scoffed at her and pushed her aside, just muttering “Let’s go” as they made their way to the front door of the penthouse. Laura stumbled behind him as she held up her long red dress to avoid stepping on it.
“Geez,” his sister said. “At least try and act like you’re looking forward to tonight. Free food, dancing, hey, maybe even some hot girls or guys?” She nudged his arm with her elbow and waggled her eyebrows.
Derek felt like his eyes might fall out of his head by the end of the night with how much rolling they were doing. “I’m not looking for anyone,” he responded as they hopped on the elevator. His other sister, Cora, their mom, and their Uncle Peter were already at the gala in the hotel ballroom. Laura was always the message man to come fetch a disgruntled Derek from the darkness of his ‘cave’, as his mom calls his room. “Aren’t you sick of these?”
Laura shrugged and stepped off first when the elevator got to the lobby. “Like I said, free food.”
It didn’t take long for hands to be outstretched and fake smiles to be flashed at the Hale siblings. It was all “Oh, Derek, you’ve grown up into such a handsome fella!”, and “Aren’t you excited to one day be the heir of this beautiful hotel?”. Smile and nod was all the 24 year-old bachelor did as he walked through the crowd in the ballroom. Smooth, classical music was heard from a band over the loud chatter of the hundreds of guests. Waiters walked around with platters held high of champagne flutes and hors d'oeuvres. Laura made sure to pop every single one in her mouth as they walked by.
“Derek! Laura! There you two are,” Talia Hale came over and put her hands on the backs of her children to lead them over to a small group of people. “You remember Mr. and Mrs. Davenport, right? Of Davenport Wealth Management, our top investors?” She sent them a pointed look to behave.
“Oh, yes!” Laura flipped her switch of socialite and shook the couples hands. Derek followed in suit with a tight-lipped smile. “I am so happy you made it tonight.”
Derek tuned out the conversation as he looked around the room. Being the son and nephew of the two richest hotel owners in Malibu gives you a reputation. Derek’s life has been set out for him of galas, charity events, constantly looking the part of hotel heir, and basically only being able to socialize with the “wealthy elite” of California. He was born into it, as his grandfather had built the Lunar Coast Hotel and Spa from the ground up, then left it to Talia and Peter. Everytime Derek stepped out into the real world around him, he didn’t miss the whispers of “rich boy” and “stuck up prick” muttered around him. He wished people knew the real him.
“Derek? Derek!” Talia snapped him out of his mind. He quickly apologized for zoning out. “As I was saying, the Davenports are here with their daughter Rebecca. You should go get to know her!”
“Oh, that’d be so wonderful!” Mrs. Davenport chimed in with her bubbly voice. “She was very nervous to come tonight because she doesn’t know a lot of people. She’s over there in the green dress!”
Derek knew he didn’t have a choice with the look his mother was giving him, so he smiled and nodded, then walked over in the direction of Mrs. Davenport’s pointing. Rebecca was a girl his age, maybe a few years younger, with beautiful golden hair down to her waist. The sparkling green dress hugged her body perfectly. Derek could appreciate a beautiful person, but he already knew he wasn’t going to like this conversation very much.
He cleared his throat, making the girl nearly spill her glass of champagne. “I’m sorry to surprise you,” he said genuinely. “My name is Derek Hale. Our parents are chatting over there together, so I thought I’d make your acquaintance.”
Rebecca blushed and allowed Derek to kiss her hand in greeting. “Oh, well the pleasure’s all mine. Rebecca Davenport, but you already knew that.” Her voice held an air of arrogance that made Derek’s blood boil, but he kept up the facade. “I’ve heard much about you Derek.”
“All good things, I hope?” he laughed to lighten the mood. If there was one thing Derek was good at, it was acting.
“For the most part,” she giggled back. “Malibu’s most eligible bachelor. Mommy wants you to settle down soon in your social circle to be ready to take over the Lunar Coast. They definitely got the part about you being incredibly hot right, though.” Rebecca rested her free hand on Derek’s chest and batted her eyes. He knows exactly how this goes, because he’s done it before. He has to play the interested popular guy to the mean girl, or else she’ll go running to her daddy about how he was awful and they’ll threaten to pull out of business with his mom. So Derek patted her hand and flashed her his award winning smile.
“Guess the media really knows me, huh?” he gritted through his teeth.
Rebecca laughed like he was the funniest person on the planet and stepped closer into his personal space. Her movement caused her to trip a passing waiter, though, who went flying and spilled a tray of food. The man groaned as his body hit the floor, but his cheeks turned red right away. All eyes around him were staring at the scene, the silence growing.
Derek stepped back and dropped to his knees to help the guy. “Watch it help!” Rebecca hissed and stomped away. Derek ignored her brattiness and instead focused on the waiter covered in food. He could tell how embarrassed the guy was.
“Are you okay?” Derek said and helped the guy to his feet.
The man nodded but wasn’t meeting Derek’s eyes, instead only staring at the floor. Some nearby waiters came over to start cleaning up the mess, while the socialites just shook their heads at the clumsiness of “the help”. Derek hated this life.
“Hey,” Derek said and started to guide the waiter towards the bathrooms. “Let’s get you out of here.”
The guy didn’t say anything else until they made it into the safety of the men’s restroom. Luckily it was vacant to save him from more embarrassment, but Derek tried to make him feel as safe as possible. “I’m very sorry, sir,” was what he said to break the silence. “You don’t have to help me-”
“Oh shush,” Derek interrupted and gave him damp paper towels to start cleaning himself off. “Don’t apologize. It was her fault, and I want to help.”
The waiter looked up at Derek for the first time, his eyes wide with shock. The man couldn’t help but stare back, stunned by the big brown eyes that held so much emotion. He cleared his throat and decided to help with the process, taking his own paper towel to the guy's shaggy brown hair to clean out a chunk of caviar. The guy laughed, and Derek decided it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
“You’re different from, well, everyone out there,” the employee said. “Most of them look at me as some pest buzzing around that they want to squish with a flyswatter. Not a great feeling.”
Derek shrugged. “No one is less than anyone else because of social status. I’ve seen every evil side of people growing up in this life. You were in need, so I wanted to help.”
“You…” the stranger treaded lightly. “You’re Derek Hale, like the Derek Hale, dude. I mean Mr. Hale, sir! Your mom’s in charge of my paycheck, so you too kind of. Please don’t get me in trouble du-sir I didn’t mean to cause a scene I will pay for any damage and I...” He faded off. “I’ll shut up now.”
Derek laughed genuinely for the first time that night as they finished up. The guy’s dress shirt was stained with water spots, but clean at least. “Dude’s fine, if you want. But I prefer just Derek, and yeah, I’m him, but that’s nothing special. I’m just a regular guy.”
The waiter beamed. “Just a regular guy who wears a thousand dollar suit to a sparkly hotel gala with his rich and famous family?”
Derek sighed and looked down at his attire. “I didn’t choose the suit, or the life.”
He looked back up to lock eyes with the man again. They just sat in silence until the bathroom door swung open, causing both men to jump. “Derek, there you are!” Peter said. The man took one look at the waiter and scoffed in disgust at his appearance. “Clean yourself up and get back to work. We don’t pay you to hide out in the guest bathrooms.”
“Peter,” Derek started to defend the guy, but was stopped by him holding up his hand.
“Your uncle is right,” the waiter said and fixed his bowtie. “My apologies Mr. Hale, it won’t happen again.” Without another word, he left the bathroom with his head hanging low. Derek watched the man leave, craving more time with him.
Then he turned to glare at his uncle. Peter had always been around and had been a father figure to Derek when his dad passed away. Overtime, though, the man had shown his true colors. He was just another toxic businessman in the world of the rich. “You didn’t have to be so rude. I know it’s hard to believe, but people like him actually have feelings.” Derek pushed past his uncle to exit the bathroom.
He couldn’t take this party anymore, instead just going back up to their penthouse. First, though, Derek couldn’t help but look around for the waiter. He hadn’t even gotten a name. After five minutes, though, there was no luck. He had disappeared into the party to get lost amongst cocktails and corruption.
“Derek! Where are you going?” Cora caught him right as he pushed the elevator button. Derek pinched his nose, not feeling like dealing with his little sister right now.
“Upstairs, to be alone,” Derek sneered and hopped on the elevator. He tried to not let Cora’s hurt look affect him as the doors closed on her, then soon he was all alone again, just how he liked it.
Derek spent the night drowning in movies and junk food while happily avoiding the dozens of calls and texts from his family and the horny DMs from Rebecca. She wanted him to meet her at her hotel room a floor down, as if he was that easy. Instead, Derek was perfectly content locking his bedroom door and turning on the flat screen. His balcony doors were slightly cracked, and the loud chatter of the gala guests on the outside patio made him purposefully slam them shut.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was halfway done when Laura nearly broke down his door with how hard she was trying to get in. Derek yelled at her, but opened it anyways. His big sister came skipping in and sat on his bed. Her gown was long gone, now replaced with a pair of jean shorts and a tank top. Her hair and makeup still looked perfect, though.
“What,” Derek deadpanned.
“We’re going to get ice cream.” Laura stood up, threw Derek his wallet resting on his bedside table, and grabbed his hand.
“And why? Is the party over?”
Laura shook her head. “Nearly, but it’s that time of the night where all the young adult children of Malibu’s finest sneak off to hook up and do drugs throughout our hotel while the adults are too hammered to notice. I’m pretty sure I saw Cora sneak into Penelope Harrington’s room with some pot.”
“Penelope Harrington as in the senator’s daughter?”
“Yep,” Laura said. “But I just let her do what she wants, oh well. I’d rather take my super lame little brother to just go get some dessert that isn’t a $200 slice of cake the size of my thumb.”
Derek gladly followed his sister downstairs. Him and Laura had always been super close. She was the only one in his family who really understood his feelings about their lifestyle. Laura was always there for him when Talia basically locked Derek away to avoid ruining their reputation with his “crazy talk” of how toxic their social circle was. Don’t get him wrong, Derek loved his mom, but Peter had gotten to her in roping them into doing whatever it takes to become the rich Malibu hotel owners who hang out with the elite. Laura was the other normal Hale family member next to Derek, but the difference between them was she was more than happy to put on the clothes and makeup to please their mother.
“We’re not just going to the snack shack near the pool?” Derek asked as they passed the outdoor pool entrance. Laura just shook her head and led them outside the front doors of the hotel. Many guests and employees stopped to say hello and suck up to the Hale siblings, and Laura of course smiled back. She was on a mission, though, and didn’t spill where they were going until they were across the street onto the boardwalk and headed down the main drag.
Malibu’s nightlife was electric. It was probably 11 p.m., but no one cared. It was a saturday night in july, and everyone was out. Nearly every store and restaurant was open with bright flashing lights. Colorful kiosks lined the boardwalk with their employers trying to sell anything they could to some gullible tourists. Live music was almost every 100 feet, from just a man and his guitar, to a whole mariachi band, all trying to make a buck. Derek stepped out of the way just in time to avoid a gaggle of local skateboarders cruising down the wooden walkway. The ocean was dark in the distance, but he could hear the loud waves crashing and the dozens of night swimmers laughing. This was the life he loved.
“Ricky’s?” he asked as they stopped in front of a small, lone, circular building resting on the sand right off the boardwalk. Derek couldn’t help the smile that came over his face. It was their favorite ice cream shop since they were kids. Their dad would always take them to the cute little cabana on the beach to spoil them with the dessert while their mom worked late in her office. Derek hadn’t been to Ricky’s in a while with how busy his family had been and how strict his mom was getting on him avoiding the events.
“Well if it isn’t the Hale siblings! Do my eyes deceive me?”
Derek and Laura couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces as they stepped up to the counter. ‘Old Man Rick’ as everyone called him was leaning over with an outstretched hand to shake theirs. He had run this ice cream stand for as long as Derek could remember, and it was still going strong with the long line growing behind them.
“Rick!” Derek greeted him back.
Rick was probably in his 60s and clearly an old surfing local. His wrinkly skin was still tanned from the sun, and there were a few wisps of blonde hair left on his head. Him and their father had been close friends with Matthew Hale giving Rick a loan long ago to get the ice cream stand started. Rick always said he meant to pay it off before Matthew died, and still insists he’ll give money to Talia. The Hales always refuse to accept though, more than happy for Rick to hold on to the cash as he needs it more than they do.
“It’s been a while kids. The usual?” Laura and Derek nodded at Rick who got the ice cream started with his employees. “Where’s the youngest one, Cora innit?”
Laura rolled her eyes while she handed a debit card to Rick. “The hotel still, doing who knows what.”
“Ah,” Rick laughed and handed her a sugar cone with strawberry cheesecake and Derek a waffle cone with mint and double chocolate. Derek didn’t wait a second before diving in to eat his favorite treat. “She was always a wild one. The gala was tonight though, wasn’t it? Why aren’t you kids still getting your fancy on with the family?”
“You know us Rick,” Derek replied as Laura took back her card.
Rick gave them a big smile with his couple of missing teeth, but it was the most genuine smile in Malibu. “I sure do. Give your mother my best.”
“Will do,” Derek said as the Hale siblings thanked him and walked over to a nearby bench. They sat in silence, just eating their ice cream. The warm breeze tickled Derek’s skin. He licked up the drop of mint running down his cone and was soon popping the last bit of it into his mouth. Derek took in the lively environment around him, just loving the feeling of freedom he got from being outside of the hotel not in a suit or dress shirt. He was in shorts and a green t-shirt, and finally his body could breathe from being stuck inside of the ballroom.
“Thank you for forcing me out of there,” Derek said to Laura, who just finished her ice cream as well.
The eldest Hale sibling patted her brother on his leg with a sappy look. “Of course.” She took a deep breath as she threw away their napkins into the trashcan next to them. “Look D, I know you hate this all, but mom’s been working nonstop with Peter to run the hotel, and it’s taking a toll on her. With the Lunar Coast growing more popular, they’re working on expansions that have her asleep at 3 a.m. and awake at 6.”
Derek looked at his sister, narrowing his eyebrows in confusion. She was leading up to something. “What are you trying to tell me Laura?”
Laura faced forward and crossed her hands in her lap, clearly avoiding eye contact. “She wanted me to be the one to talk you through this, but...mom’s retiring soon.”
Derek’s eyes went wide in shock. “And…?” he asked nervously.
“And...well...you know I’m headed to Harvard in the fall for law school, and how reckless Cora is, being only 19…”
“Laura, spill,” Derek said, but couldn’t stop the shakiness in his voice.
His sister sighed and took one of Derek’s hands. “She’s fast forwarded the process of giving the hotel to you to work with Peter. You’ll run the place alongside him.”
Derek shot up to his feet, brushing Laura’s hand away. He turned to her with an angry look in his eyes. “So that’s what this was all about?! Mom made you take me to my favorite ice cream shop, make me think everything’s perfect, only to do her dirty work of telling me ‘hey Derek, you know how much you hate living the life as a hotel heir? Well too bad! You’re going to be stuck in it forever!’”
“Derek calm down!” Laura said and stood up. She glared at the few pedestrians that stopped to stare at her brother’s outburst.
She stepped forward towards Derek, but he only moved back with her movement. “Don’t tell me to calm down. She’s stripping away my freedom. I don’t want to run the stupid hotel, I never have and she knows that! I hate this life. She can’t control what I do, none of you can.” He turned around and headed down the boardwalk in the opposite direction of the hotel to get lost in the crowd. Derek ignored Laura calling his name, instead only focusing on getting as far away from her as possible.
Derek made it maybe half a mile down when he stopped in the middle of the foot traffic. His head was spinning, the voices around him were muffled, and the only thing he wanted to do was scream. Instead, the man took a left and walked onto the sand and towards the ocean.
When he was little, Derek’s father took him surfing almost every day. It was their time, no mom, no sisters, no hotel. Derek remembers the first time he stood up on his own. He was nine years old with his beginner board, and the pure bliss that consumed his body was so overwhelming. There was nothing but the spray of saltwater in his face, the ocean breeze, and the sound of his dad cheering him on. Derek hadn’t surfed since his dad died. That was eight years ago.
Now, the cool water lapping around his toes as he stood on the shore reminded him of those days. Derek closed his eyes and took in the sound of the waves crashing. Sometimes he wished the ocean would just swallow him up. Derek wasn’t supposed to take over the hotel for at least ten more years, if he even did. By then, Cora would be ready and she loved their lifestyle way more than he did. Everything was put on fast forward, though, and now Derek had to plan the rest of his life in the same four walls of the penthouse he had grown up in.
He stood on the beach for what felt like hours. The nightlife started to die down as it neared the early hours of the morning. He started the trek back to the hotel, ignoring the dozens of missed calls and texts on his phone.
Derek entered through the hotel’s revolving doors into the familiar teal, gold, and white lobby. It was still fairly busy with guests checking in and hotel staff cleaning up. A few gala attendees were scattered here and there, too drunk to properly work the elevators.
“Hey pretty boy! Where are you coming in from at this ungodly hour?” Erica Reyes, one of Derek’s best friends and the hotel bartender, called from the bar. He walked over and sat at a barstool to keep her company while she dried off glasses.
“Hey Erica,” he sighed and leaned on one arm. “It’s just been a shitty night.”
The blonde pouted at her friend then dropped a clean shot glass in front of him, filling it with Lord knows what liquid. Erica poured one for herself too, then they clinked their glasses together before downing them. Derek grimaced as the liquid hit his throat, but it was exactly what he needed to end the night. “Thanks,” he croaked out.
“Of course sweetie,” Erica said and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “Luckily for me, the hotel hired another bartender to work the gala tonight. I was stuck out here with the tourists, but I would probably slam my head in the door before serving drinks to nothing but a bunch of ostentatious pricks who have their money shoved too far up their asses to give a damn about the rest of us. Not including your mother of course.”
Derek laughed, having missed his friend. He met Erica when she first started working for the hotel a couple years ago, and he could always count on her to keep it real. “Tell me about it,” he groaned and accepted another shot from her. “The only highlight of my night was running off from Laura to wallow in my self-pity of having to run this money pit. Am I a bad son for thinking that?”
With Erica giving him more alcohol, Derek unwinded and spilled his problems to her. “I mean, do I have the right to complain? I’m taking over a hotel that has made my family rich, but I hate it! Erica I feel like a shitty person.”
“You’re not a shitty person,” she said. “Everyone knows the world of the rich is toxic and corrupt. You’re a realistic person who has his own desires, and one is to get away from this life.”
Derek pouted and let his head drop to the bar, ignoring the dull ache from the thud it made on contact. “I wish I could’ve just hid out in the bathroom with that hot waiter,” he slurred.
“Woah woah, what?!” Erica exclaimed and leaned over the bar to lift Derek’s head back up. He was too drunk to care. “Spill it moneybags.”
Derek giggled, something he never did when sober. “He was really cute E, like super cute. I helped him ‘cause he was dirty ha, not in the way I like it. He needed to be clean so I cleaned him and he had these pretty eyes but I don’t even know his name! How did I not get the name of him like where is he I want to see him.”
“You’re cute,” Erica said. “But wow, is Derek Hale actually showing interest in someone? And you said he was a waiter, meaning he works here, or at least for the catering company. He’ll show up again if it’s meant to be.” She wiggled her eyebrows and snatched the bottle of tequila on the bar before Derek’s grabby hands could get to it. “Now I’m cutting you off. Let me finish up here and I’ll get you upstairs.”
She kept her promise, and ten minutes later Derek was being set down on his living room couch by Erica, a very angry Talia standing to the side with her arms crossed.
“Thank you Erica, I’ll take care of him from here,” his mother said. Erica nodded and gave Derek a look of good luck then exited the penthouse. “You can’t just go off and disappear Derek without answering your phone! And now I have you being carried upstairs because you’re too drunk? God! What if someone saw you and took pictures!”
Derek couldn’t help the loud laugh that escaped his lips. “Of courseeee,” he drew out. “Not ‘wow I’m so happy you made it home safe’, but instead ‘how dare you threaten our reputation my delinquent son’. Good to see you too mom.”
“Oh stop,” Talia said and got her son a glass of water. He downed it in seconds, already dreading the pounding headache he was going to have in the morning. “You know I was worried for you and I’m very happy you’re home safe. Laura told me about your conversation, and we can discuss it in the morning. Just know that I’m not the enemy Derek.”
Derek stumbled to his feet, catching himself as he almost fell over. He headed down the hallway towards his room. “Really mom?” he yelled back at her. “Last time I checked you’re the one stripping away my freedom and telling me how to live my life!” He didn’t let her finish, instead just slamming his bedroom door, not caring who he woke up. Derek took four steps before flinging his body onto the big mattress, falling asleep in seconds.