so here u go, a one-shot. if u read my other story u know that i havent updated in forever but u should know that i have like three works-in-progress

i am working on. one is a Maximum Ride fanfic, one is where its five years later and since i started writing it b4 the reckoning came out

it will have nothing to do with wut actually happened, its only post-awakening. the other is again post-awakening and its where chloe was turned into

a werewolf and derek doesnt know it yet. for all of these i am going to write the whole story first then update a chapter each day beacuase u all

know how bad i am at updateing so i figured it would be easier for everyone if i wrote the whole thing first. hope u like this one-shot!

p.s. i own nada.

-syd


I woke up bright and early. And I really mean it, BRIGHT and EARLY! My room was facing the sunrise, and the window was wide open.

"Ugh!"

I rolled over and looked at the clock. 5:00. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I screamed into my pillow. Why did I have to get the room that had a window facing the sunrise? But then I realized something: I was sleeping in a bed. I shouldn't care that I woke up early because I got to have a good night's sleep in a bed! Without nightmares!

But just then Derek burst through my door. I scrambled to get to my feet.

"Derek! What's wrong?!" I asked him.

"I heard you scream. I thought you might be in trouble so I came up! What happened?!" he demanded franticly.

"Oh," I laughed, "that was nothing. I was just upset that the sun woke me this early, so I screamed out my frustration into the pillow."

He just grunted and walked away.

"Wait!" I called.

"What?" he asked, poking his head back into the room.

"Thanks, Derek. I mean, for coming up when you thought I was in trouble. It's nice. I feel safe when you're around."

A blush crept up his face.

"Don't worry 'bout it. It's my job to protect you guys."

"But you see, Derek," I said, plopping back down onto my bed, "it's not your job. You don't have to protect us, you just do. It's not your job to make sure that everyone is okay, you don't have to. But I sure am glad you do."

He came and sat next to me.

"It is my job. If I didn't take care of my family, who would?"

"So, does that mean that you only yelled at me because you wanted to protect me?" I asked.

"Chloe, I'm sorry about that. You're right, I only yelled because I wanted you to be more careful. I don't want to see you get hurt," he told me, with a strange look in his eyes.

I knew that Derek and I had been getting closer over the past few days, and I knew that I'd fallen in love with him in those days, but what if he felt the same way? From the way he was looking at me, I could almost hope.

"Uh, Derek? There's been something I have been meaning to tell you," I managed to say (without stuttering!).

He gave me a hopeful expression.

"I think that I-I-I-I l-l-love you," I murmured in such a small (and stuttery! Ugh!) voice that I doubted he could even hear.

But of course he did. He looked like he couldn't believe what I just said. He was in total shock and at that moment I knew that he didn't like me back. I got up and ran out of the room. I went downstairs, into the kitchen, and out the sliding back door. I ran to the woods, trying to run away from my life. Trying to pretend that I didn't just confess my love to someone that didn't love me back. Trying to pretend I was normal again.

I ended up not that far into the woods. I simply sat down, closed my eyes, and thought of a world where necromancers, werewolves, witches, wizards, shamans, and half-demons didn't exist. It didn't last long because the sounds of Derek approaching tugged me out of my daydream rather painfully, much like me calling a ghost. I made a mental note to try to be more gentle with that tugging.

"Chloe! You can't just run out like that! There could have been some Edison Group members in the woods!" He yelled at me, but I just sat there with my eyes shut, still trying to pretend.

"I thought we were past the yelling, or am I mistaken?" I asked once Professor Derek's lecture was up.

"Fine," he muttered and walked away.

"So, I finally tell him I love him, but then I run away. I should've seen this coming: I confess my feelings, he doesn't return them, he yells at me," I mumbled to myself. Wait. Mumbled?! Oh, crap, I just said that out-

Suddenly Derek ran back to me, picked me up and kissed me. It was such a sweet kiss, yet so full of passion. I realized... He really did love me!

When he broke the kiss he rested his forehead on mine.

"You just didn't give me time to respond."