Summary: He is a bad boy with a tainted heart. And even I know this isn't smart. Basically, Derek is a bad boy with killer reputation and Allison finds that even that can't stop her from loving him.

Britney Spears has invaded my mindset and wouldn't leave me alone so this came from it. It's really meh and it's the first AU that I have written ever. All human. Allison's 19 and Derek's 25.

I wrote this with Criminal by Britney Spears and Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bitkiz playing (again and again and again) so yeah. :P

Love Isn't Rational

Her breath came out shallow, the concrete wall hard and unforgiving against her back. Allison's eyes darted to Derek just in time to see him get punched across the face.

"Sorry you had to get involved in this mess, Cutie." Aaron said lowering his eyes to the gun he had pointed in her direction as the smirk on his lips grew. "Blame your boyfriend though. He shouldn't have messed with Issac."

And oh, Allison wished that she could say that Derek wasn't to blame for this mess, but he was. She had known that something like this would eventually happen from the moment she had met him in the club.

People had warned her. Told her that getting involved with him was a bad thing. He was a criminal in every sense of the word. Hell, Allison had witnessed his crimes, the ones he never got caught for, first hand. She had even seen him kill people and he never once flinched. He hustled people, conned them and played them like instruments. He had ruined more people's lives than Allison could count. He wasn't a good person. He had no conscience. Derek had even hit her before, threatened to kill her the first time she witnessed him committing murder.

But, God forgive her, she loved him. Oh, she loved him so much. It had started physical, a purely sexual relationship but then…things started to change. He opened up to her when they lay in bed, enjoying the afterglow of their encounters. She had discovered that Derek had lost all his family when he was sixteen. A house fire took them away while he was in school with his sister, Laura. After that, he fell off the edge. The bright future he had going for him crumbled and died. He turned to the streets and got involved with gang members but never actually joined a gang. Adrian, his mentor of sorts, became the closest thing he had to a family aside from Laura. Adrian was killed two years after meeting Derek. Another loss of a loved one darkened his soul even more.

"Issac shouldn't have tried to outsmart Derek!" Allison snapped, screaming when Aaron wrapped a hand in her hair and slammed her head back against the wall. Her vision blurred as the cold barrel of the sliver gun was pressed against the side of her head.

"Listen bitch, you better watch that attitude of yours." Aaron turned his head back to look at the other guy Allison didn't know as he slammed Derek to the floor. That slip of attention was all Allison needed. She knocked the gun from his hand, hearing it clatter on the floor, and kicked it away from them. She elbowed the shell-shocked Aaron in the face. When he bent down, clutching his nose, Allison grabbed his head and slammed it against the concrete wall, breathing heavily as she watched him fall to ground unconscious.

"Good girl." Derek's deep voice came from her left. It seemed her fight with Aaron had distracted the other guy enough for Derek to knock him out as well. "Now kill him." A silver gun was held out to her.

After Adrian died, Derek became further involved in the life of crime. He experimented with drugs and decided that he didn't like it but would help sell it to other people. He became famous in the streets, grew to have connections. By the age of twenty, Derek had connections with the leaders of the biggest gangs in northern California. And it didn't stop there. He did people's dirty jobs. He would go collect debts druggies owed suppliers and when they refused to pay, killed them with a clean shot from the gun that once belonged to his father. The once beautiful piece of engraved metal made for the protection of Adam's family, was now tainted with the blood of countless people. If anyone threatened to turn him in, Derek would kill them on the spot. But, Allison was the only one who knew of nearly every crime, every murder he committed.

Derek was a player. One of the best known in Beacon Hills. He was infamous for occupying Club Electra every night. That's where all of this began. A year ago, Allison had gone to the club with Briana and sat at the bar. It was the sheer coincidence that she caught his gaze that night. She had been mesmerized by his mysterious green eyes and cocky smirk almost instantly. Wanna dance? He had murmured to her. An hour later she had found herself in his sleek black Camaro getting fucked like she never had before. She hadn't expected to see him again after that romp but he sought her out and their arrangement continued. When he wanted her for a fuck, she came. Things slowly changed after that. Gradually, people noticed that she hung out with him. They were seen together at the movies, the park, a restaurant, or people would see him dropping her off at her house. That's when the trouble began. People didn't approve. Her parents thought she was crazy. Her friends were worried.

They all said the same thing.

He wasn't good for her. He was trouble. If only they knew exactly how much trouble he was. She deserved better. They were only a fling and it was better if she got over him quickly. He wasn't worth her time. All he did was break laws. If only they knew how many laws and what laws he did break. They insisted she leave him. Allison never did and never would. He was everything she needed.

The loud crackle broke the silence that encompassed the cold night. It ruptured the peace that surrounded the town. Allison shook as she stood in the middle of the alleyway. The gun weighed heavy in her hand, her breath coming out in rough pants. Willows of smoke rose from the tip of the gun and blood poured out of the bullet hole now in Aaron's chest. She would have shot him in the head but it need to look like it wasn't intentional.

"Shhh." She hadn't even noticed she was crying, her whole body quivering, until Derek's strong arms wrapped around her frame. After that, Allison didn't remember much. She remembered Jackson finding them and talking to Derek about what they were going to do. When Scott and Stiles showed up, Derek ordered all of them to take Erick's, she learned that was the name of the other guy, unconscious body somewhere far away from there. The gun Allison had used to commit her first murder was now with one of the boys and Allison had never been more grateful.

But for once, Derek didn't get away with his crime. When the sounds of shrill sirens reached them, Allison leaned up and pressed her lips against Derek's. "I love you." She whispered and Derek tightened his arms around her small waist.

"Forever." That was the last thing he had said before the opening of the alley they were in was blocked by red and blue lights. Cops rushed in like a storm, taking Derek down and handcuffing him. They took Allison away, reassuring her that everything would be alright. And, well, Allison knew they would be. There was no proof against Derek for this crime or any of the others he had committed. To the public, everything was simply speculation.

Despite living the life Derek did, he always made sure to never bring the trouble and problems home. He always made sure that Laura didn't know what he was up to and that she was safe. Laura was the most important person to him and despite her being older Derek protected her with everything he had. His sole fear was that some day she would be taken away from him just like the rest of his family had. He had attended college for a couple of years to please her but dropped out when he was twenty two. Derek thought that he could continue living his life the way he was and never have a problem. He liked his life. But his fear eventually became a reality. Three days after his twenty-third birthday, Laura was killed. Derek had pissed off the wrong person and it resulted in the death of his sister. Coming home to her lifeless body, blood slowly oozing from the three bullets embedded in her chest, was a sight that Derek never forgot. That scene haunted his dreams nearly every night to this day. Allison would often have to calm him down when he jolted from a deep slumber, sweat coating every inch of his body and his heart racing.

The death of his last surviving family member left Derek with a cold heart. It killed the human part of him that contained the warmth he had shown before the fire. Time passed slowly for him. Eventually, he befriended Jackson. Jackson was only seventeen when he got involved with the same things Derek did. Derek took him under his wing and taught him everything he knew. Jackson grew to be his little brother, Derek's right hand man. Soon after Jackson came Stiles with his girlfriend Lydia. They had run away from their homes and had nowhere to go. Derek ran into them on a rainy night and offered them shelter. A home. He hadn't expected to grow to care for them as much as he did. Stiles was the jokester of the group. He added a light of happiness that had been missing in Derek's life but it wasn't enough. Scott soon became another addition. The group had been out celebrating Derek's twenty-fourth birthday at Club Electra when they ran into Scott. He fit in with them naturally. Together, the five of them, were a deadly group. On the streets, they became known as the Hales, named after Derek's last name. Derek went from helping others with their deals to being in charge of his own operation. The group soon had their own business in the drug and gun market. Within a year's time, the little gang rose from the ashes and surpassed gangs that had been around for years. Despite the small number of people in Derek's group, they were a formidable group and had the respect of everyone in northern California. Their specialty was their secrecy. No one could ever trace anything back to any of them. Derek liked that.

"I've been questioned thoroughly." Allison voice floated through the phone, her eyes locked with Derek's soft green ones. She never thought she would see the day Derek would be behind bars. It had been nearly a month since the incident. "They know they have nothing on you."

Derek smirked on the other side of the glass. "I know." He shifted in his seat. "How's everything?" Vague was the only way they could communicate or risk letting people in on their little operations.

"Everything is going good. Jackson's has managed to get that deal he has been waiting forever for and Scott was able to go visit Uncle Henry. He's doing well." Allison knew Derek understood. Uncle Henry was the head man for a rival gang. There had been miscommunications and Scott had been sent to smooth the issues out.

"Good." Derek's smooth voice rang in her ear. Allison pressed the phone closer to her ear, her eyes watering.

"I miss you." Derek didn't say anything but his eyes spoke volumes. Derek never really returned sentiments. He let his eyes speak for him. Allison understood. He thought that if he spoke it out loud, let himself show his feelings, then she and everyone else in his life would be taken away too. It left him too vulnerable. His actions spoke the words that his lips could never utter. One example of that was the tattoo on his right arm.

Derek placed his palm against the glass separating them and nodded just as an officer grabbed him by the arm. "Time's up." The cold voice spoke but Derek and Allison's eyes stayed locked as he was dragged away from her.

Allison had been a good girl. A daddy's girl. She did what she was told, did well in school, and never got in trouble. She lived a sheltered life in which her dad protected her from everything he could. And Allison hated that. She wanted to live. To experiment with life. She was bored and rightfully so. When Allison turned eighteen, her friend Briana had decided to take her to Club Electra to have a free night. Chris, her father, didn't approve but let his daughter go. He would forever regret that decision.

After her passionate night with Derek, Allison was sure that she would never see the man again. Three days later when he showed up at her school, leaning coolly against the hood of his shiny black Camaro, Allison had been shocked but she hadn't hesitated to get inside the car with him. Derek was blunt. He didn't fool around with his words. He had told her that she was a good lay and if she was willing, they could work something out. Allison, being naïve, agreed instantly. And that was that. Derek called her at a nearly daily basis. He would pick her up at the local McDonald's and they would go to his lavish house on the other side of town. After the fire destroyed his childhood home and his sister died, Derek rebuilt the house from the ground up. When Derek started to open up to her and their relationship began to change from a sexual one to an emotional one, Allison was finally allowed to meet the group. She fit in right from the start. Everyone loved her. The guys became her brothers and Lydia her sister. Once Derek trusted that Allison wasn't leaving and she could be trusted, he let her in on the stuff he did. He told her about all the murders that he was never caught for, the robberies, the drug deals, the illegal gun selling, the cons, the lies. He told her about their operations. Everything. Allison ran. Derek was disappointed.

Four days after that, Allison came back and Derek took her back in with open arms. He never told her the mess he had become without her around. And a week after she came back, she witnessed him murdering someone for the first time. They had been walking to his apartment from the movie theater not too far away when someone had come and attacked them. Derek took him down easily enough. Shot him right in the heart. Allison had stood there motionless, her hand covering her mouth in shock. It was one thing being told of something and another to actually see it. Derek had back her up against the brick wall of a building and pressed the gun under her chin. "You tell anyone and I'll kill you myself." Allison never told anyone. She had grabbed his hand and pushed it away from her face before kissing him in an attempt to reassure him. There was no way she would ever turn him in. She had already been too in love.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?" A bead of sweat slowly trailed down Allison's forehead.

"I swear." Her voice sounded too loud in the crowded court room.

"Tell us what happened, Miss Argent."

And Allison lied through her teeth. Twisted the story around to make them seem like the victims. No one in the court room could say that she was lying. They had no proof. "We were the ones attacked. That man whom you all call the bad guy saved my life." And Derek had saved her just not in that manner. But he saved her from the life she used to live. She was his saving grace and Derek was hers.

Allison couldn't hold the eyes of anyone in the audience for long. Her mother sat in the last row, crying. Her father wore a mask of utter disappointment. They knew she was lying but they would never say it out loud. Their disappointment cut her deep but Allison had no other choice. Her eyes flitted to Scott, Jackson, Stiles and Lydia in the first row. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Stiles gave her two thumbs up and a geeky smile. Always the joker; he made her feel a little better. The others looked on proudly at her for the simple fact that she was willing to do whatever to protect one of their own. Derek meant a lot to all of them. Finally, Allison's eyes met Derek's. He was dressed in a suit, a big contrast to the hand cuffs attached to his wrists. A proud smirk decorated his lips and love shone in his eyes.

The more serious things got between them, the more people in Allison's life became concerned. Briana begged her to stop what she was doing. Allison told her that Derek wasn't a bad guy and that she shouldn't let rumors taint her perspective of people. "He isn't good for you." Briana had told her. "No, he's not." Allison had responded because he wasn't good for her but he was what she needed. Her parents were the biggest issue. It took them a little longer to catch on that she was seeing Derek. One night, her dad caught them at the mall together. Derek had been giving her a piggy back ride, both of them laughing and giggling as Derek took them to the food court. When Allison came home that night, her dad was beyond furious. He knew the rumors surrounding the Hale boy. It was said that he was involved with gangs and did drugs. He was not what he wanted for his baby girl. In Chris's eyes, Derek was ruining his daughter's life. He was scum. Victoria, Allison's mom, shared the same thoughts. For a while, they kept Allison grounded. She wasn't allowed to leave the house until she agreed to never see Derek again. They thought this would stop their daughter from seeing the man they hated but they were wrong. The separation made Derek and Allison more determined to see each other. Chris and Victoria realized that when they saw Derek sneak out their daughter's window at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. Things got so bad between her and parents that one day, things exploded. Words were yelled between them and Allison left the house with a suitcase tightly clutched in her hand. Derek's car had already been in the front of the house. That was the last time Allison ever actually talked to her parents.

No one ever spoke of it. It was something that was noticed but never talked about it. With Allison around…Derek had changed. His hard demeanor softened ever so slightly. He cracked a smile here and there. He started to part take in things they did together. One night, the whole group had gotten drunk and between drunken babble, Derek had told them that they were his family. "You guys are everything to me." He had admitted before promptly knocking out with no recollection the next morning. Instead of always brooding and spending the majority of his time out on the streets cracking deals, Derek began to spend more time with his friends. He sometimes played video games with the guys and watched TV with Lydia. When they went out to conduct deals and interacted with other gangs, Derek was more protective of all of them, especially Allison. Allison had been the light that was missing in Derek's darkness. She had filled the void in his heart created after so much loss. She wiped the pain away and brought out the real Derek Hale. But no one said anything to Derek. The change was never mentioned and everyone simply hid their fond smiles whenever they caught Derek laughing and playing around with Allison.

After days of trails, Derek was finally released; clear of all charges, much to the frustration of the police. The moment they uncuffed him, Allison was in his arms. He lifted her up, spinning her around as their lips finally met again. Her hands cupped his stubble-covered cheeks and she grinned at him. Derek's lips quirked into a small smile and he brought her in for another kiss. When Allison's feet hit the floor, she and Derek were instantly surrounded by Jackson, Stiles, Scott and Lydia. Lydia pulled Allison into a hug while the boys clapped Derek on the back.

"So Derek, did you drop the soap?" Stiles questioned with a grin, earning himself a slap to the back of the head by both Scott and Jackson. Stiles whined in protest of the abuse and slumped over to Allison, picking her up in a hug.

"Good to have you back, man." Jackson told Derek, pulling him into a hug. Derek chuckled but nodded in agreement, throwing an arm over him and Scott.

"It's good to be back." His eyes met Allison as soon as Stiles put her down from another twirling session. "And it's all thanks to my beautiful girl."

With Allison now living with the group in Derek's house, she was trained in their ways. She changed, completely. The innocent girl vanished, replaced with a tougher, more adventurous girl. Even her appearance changed. The normal pastel, flowery, chic outfits were replaced by leather jackets and darker colors. School became an option. Outside friends became a nuisance. It was too much of a hassle to try and mesh her two worlds together. Allison became more involved with Derek's business, at times even conducting deal transactions herself. Word quickly spread that Derek had a partner. As a result, Derek introduced her to everyone he had connections with. Allison's charming personality did wonders and had all of the powerful men in the palm of her hand. His partners complimented him on finding such a good catch. She charmed her way into deals that would have never happened if Derek was the one doing them. It was as if she was made for this life. Derek couldn't have been prouder. At home, Allison was as kind as ever but she also took her role as head female well. She fooled around with the Stiles, part-taking in pranks. She went to the shooting range with Jackson and volunteered at the hospital with Scott on Saturdays. On Wednesdays, Allison and Lydia had their girl night which usually ended up being family night around eleven when the boys joined them. That's exactly what they were. Family. Allison had never fit in so well with anyone before in her life. She finally had found the one place she truly belonged.

On Allison's nineteenth birthday, the group took her to a tattoo parlor. She was going to get the same symbol all five of them wore. The triskelion. Jackson had it on his right shoulder, Scott on his left shoulder blade, Lydia on her wrist, Stiles on the back of his neck and Derek in between his shoulder blades. As soon as they told her what they were doing, Allison had nearly cried. Getting the tattoo, the symbol that untied all of them, was also a symbol of full acceptance of her. It meant that she was now officially one of them. She was part of their family. And while the symbol was etched on the back of her neck, Derek had held her hand. He had bent down and rubbed his nose against hers, a soothing, intimate action that always managed to make them both feel better. "I love you." She had told him once the tattoo artist was done. Derek sent Scott and Lydia to pay and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Forever."

"I know it was hard for you to lie for me under oath." Derek whispered as they lay on his bed that very same day. Allison turned and placed her head on his naked chest.

"No…it was hard for me to see locked up." A kiss was placed over his heart. "I've been a mess without you."

Derek tightened his arms around her body and Allison smiled at the closeness felt between them. "I know." There was a pause and Allison waited for him to collect his thoughts. "It's good to be back." And Allison knew that meant he had been a mess too, he had missed her just as much as she had missed him.

"I love you."

Derek smiled, "I love you too." Allison sighed contently, her heart soaring at the rare words, and turned her wrist over. She smiled at the sight of her second tattoo, Always ~ Derek ~ forever. She could remember the day her and Derek had gotten them clear as day. Her eyes trailed down his left arm, the one closest to his heart, to the only other tattoo besides the triskelion that marked Derek's skin. Always ~ Allison ~ forever.

The beautifully cursive written tattoo was etched on his lightly tanned skin a year after they met. Allison had gotten one too. It was a token of their commitment to each other after a year of being together. The tattoo was on their skin forever just like their love for each was in their hearts forever. And Allison guessed it was okay that she was with him even if no one else thought so. Their love wasn't normal or even rational but it was real. If no one else could see the commitment he made to her…that they made to each other…through the tattoos…well that wasn't her problem.