The flames from the candles dance and sway in the dimly lit room, smiling faces surrounding the table. The cake that the candles decorate is sitting in from of him, blue icing lining the edges. He looks up at his family—his uncle, sisters, brothers, cousins, and parents—who are grinning expectantly at him.
"Make a wish," His mother says. Her voice is soft and soothing.
He thinks for a moment. What could he wish for? He already has everything. He has a loving family, a nice house, a dog, friends…he has everything he could ever wish for. He has to wish for something, though. Decisions, decisions.
'I wish that nothing changes.'
That sounds about right. He smiles at the cake and inhales deeply, blowing out the candles. People are cheering and laughing, and finds no reason not to join in. Birthdays are always such a happy occasion. The smiling faces smile wider, so wide that the skin around their eyes crinkles in some places.
"Happy birthday, Derek. We love you so much."
We love you
We love you
Love you
So much
"Derek! Hey, what're you looking at, silly?"
Derek jerks from his thoughts to look over at the beautiful blonde sitting next to him on the shore of the lake. God, she's beautiful. She means the world to him. He smiles and shakes his head, feeling for her hand and lacing their fingers together when he finds it.
"Nothing. I was just…thinking." He replies.
She scoots closer to him and leans her head on his shoulder. "You seem to think a lot then. A lot of times, when I look at you, you're always spacing out."
"Yeah," Derek smiles softly, watching as the fly-away hair flutters against her cheeks in the wind. She has such pretty hair; like gold. "I guess I do that a lot, don't I?"
"Mhmm. What're you thinking about?"
Derek leans towards her. "You."
"Me?"
"I'm always thinking about you."
"You and your flattery, Mr. Hale," She laughs, and the sound makes his heart flutter in his chest.
"I aim to please," He grins back.
"That so?"
"Mhmm."
When their lips touch, it's everything he's ever wanted. It's always that way when they kiss.
"I love you, Derek," She breathes against his mouth.
"I love you, too, Kate."
When he wakes up, it's hot. Too hot. His skin is slicked with sweat. He hears screaming, and he bursts out of his bedroom door.
Flames.
Fire.
It's all he sees.
He's acting completely out of instinct, and how his manages to get outside is completely beyond him. He sprints out of the house, glancing wildly around. No one else is outside but Laura.
"Where is everyone?" He says in a panic.
"I don't know. I haven't seen them," She whispers, eyes wide. "Derek, I'm scared."
"Me too. We have to find them."
"I know."
He runs up to the front door, but hisses when he tries to step through. He looks down. Mountain ash. Someone knew how to keep them from getting away. This wasn't an accident. Someone is trying to murder them. Every last one of them. His heart hammers against his ribcage, raw fear welling up his chest, making it hard to breathe.
"MOM!" He screams. "Mom, where are you?!"
"DEREK!"
He makes a complete one-eighty and sprints in the direction of the sound until he reaches the basement window. Hands reach through the bars, grasping desperately at the air.
"Mom? Mom, is that you?"
He crouches in front of the windows, twining his fingers with hers.
"Derek, help us. Please."
He tries. God, he tries, but he can't. He tries until his hands are raw and bloody, but they heal themselves, and he tries again, and again, and again.
Nothing works.
"Help me," His mother wails.
Help us, Derek
Please
Help us
Help me
Derek's eyes snap open, the start of a scream lodged in his throat. He breath is coming in gasps and his heart races wildly in his chest. Their screams replay in his head over, and over. He can't make it stop. It won't stop. They haunt him. He has so many skeletons in his closet that he lost count years ago. His room (subway car to be exact) reeks of fear and panic and everything he doesn't want to feel. It reeks of everything he refuses to talk about, of everything he lets sit, and fester, everything he wants to forget; to block out. He looks down at his hands to realize that their trembling. He covers his face with them, shaky fingers gripping his raven-black hair as he tries to calm himself down.
I love you, Derek.
Lies. They're all always lies. All anyone ever does is lie to him.
He hates lies.
Whoa, so that's pretty depressing. Sorry, guys. I've just always wanted to do something like this; something that looks a little further into Derek's past. I mean, you all know how much I love tragic things. Come on, people. Alright. I'm still working on typing my NaLu monster-oneshot, so if you'e interested, you can keep your eyes peeled for that. Please please PLEASE review this :) I love you all, and I take every review to heart. If you have any requests, I'll be happy to ablige :) I can write fics for:
-Warm Bodies
-Fairy Tail
-Darker Than Black
-Eden of the East
-Soul Eater
-Teen Wolf
-Shiver Trilogy
Cool beans. Thanks you guys! Read and Review! I love you! Critique is welcome as long as it's helpful. Go me, though. I didn't really edit this... (and I'm beginning to think that was a bad idea)
