I do not own the Darkest Powers - but I sure like reading them!

The door adjoining our room to the boys' for the last couple of nights was slightly ajar. We all looked up when there was a quick courtesy knock on it. Kit poked in his head. "I don't mean to interrupt anything, but if you all have a minute we need to have a quick meeting."

Tori, Aunt Lauren and I got up slowly and shuffled into the joining room. It had been a very long couple of weeks. Simon was sitting on one bed, and Derek was sitting in the chair in the corner. He didn't look up when we came in, and I could tell by the set of his shoulders he was upset about something. Kit gestured for us to sit down. Aunt Lauren and Tori sat on the other bed and I sat next to Simon.

Kit cleared his throat and seemed a bit stalled on where to start. "Have any of you ever been around puppies?"

Derek grumbled and slid lower in his seat, ducking his head even further. Tori and Aunt Lauren both looked at Kit blankly, and I'm sure my expression mirrored theirs. Where in the world was he going with this?

"There is this thing called a "puppy pile." It's an instinctual thing, all dogs huddle close together when they're sleeping for warmth and comfort. Er, wolves do it too."

Okay, so I figured out who he was talking about, but I still couldn't really see where it was going. I risked a quick glance at Derek, whose ears had begun to turn red.

"Um, apparently, changing completely for the first time has brought out some more of Derek's underling instincts.

"At the first hotel, Derek and Simon shared a bed. They'd done it a lot growing up, since we were moving so often, it was easier to rent furnished houses than try to move our own. Sometimes they only had two bedrooms with one bed each. When the boys were small it really wasn't a big deal. I guess it was just habit to split up the same way."

Simon let out a disgruntled noise. "I don't care if it's on purpose or not, the dude radiates heat, and I cannot have him pressed up against me."

Tori had a very evil looking grin on her face, and Aunt Lauren was had started to look a little pissed off.

"Yes, well" Kit continued "the next obvious choice was for Derek to sleep by himself and Simon would bunk with me. However, this solution hasn't worked so well either. The first two days he was fine, but on the third day he tried to crawl in between Simon and me in his sleep."

By now Tori was sniggering under her breath. Aunt Lauren was looking daggers at Kit. Simon had started to grin also, and Derek was turning more and more red.

"Dad" Derek said sharply "I told you I'll handle it, just drop it."

"Derek, that's not going to work. The less sleep you get the crankier you are, and with your temper, it's an accident waiting to happen."

Kit continued "After that incident, he's been trying to control his urges, but in doing so he's basically keeping himself awake all night so he doesn't disturb us. If you haven't noticed it's making us all miserable."

"Kit," Aunt Lauren jumped in, "I think I have an idea where you are going with this, and I'm not going to allow it. If he needs something to cuddle with, get him a teddy bear."

"He did." Simon had started laughing, and was having a hard time getting the words out, "It didn't work."

Kit jumped in before Tori could say anything, "It wasn't a teddy bear. It was one of those big fuzzy body pillows. Regardless, it didn't fool him - even in his sleep. He knew it wasn't another person, and it didn't fit the bill."

Tori was howling with laughter "We had a puppy once" she gasped for breath "that had problems when we brought him home. My Dad got an old fashioned alarm clock to simulate a heart beat in and wrapped it in a heated blanket to fool him."

"Yes, well I don't think that's going to do it either. I think Chlo-"

"Kit" Aunt Lauren interrupted "that is not an option. Get him a separate room or some sleeping pills. I'm not going to let you do that to her."

"Lauren" Kit had a disgruntled look on his face "it's not my first choice either, but it doesn't make sense to spend the money to get a separate room everywhere we go, and it doesn't guarantee he won't just wander out in the hall looking for us. As for sleeping pills, I don't want him running at half capacity if we have to get away in a hurry. Besides, his metabolism will process them too quickly and he'd have to take them throughout the night."

"I don't care, I'm still not going to allow it" Aunt Lauren huffed.

"It's not just Derek I'm worried about," Kit said gently. "I can tell things aren't going much better in your room. I can see the dark rings around her eyes. I wake up to her screams too."

It's true; I'd been plagued with nightmares. With Derek, I wasn't afraid there would be an undiscovered body in the next room, or a poor animal stuck in a roof; he would smell those. But since I first discovered it, my power had been building. When I saw what I had done to that cemetery, I knew my range had grown tenfold from the crawlspace. What if there was something Derek couldn't smell because it was too far away. What if I didn't just summon a body, what if I summoned another demi-demon?

Kit continued, "The most I've seen either of them sleep is when they're right next to each other. Like when they fell asleep on the couch watching a movie or when they're sitting next to each other in the van. I know you know it's true, Lauren. You were the one who made us crack the windows in the van and leave them there for two hours in that parking lot. You knew that was the first real sleep Chloe had had in a week."

"I'm with Kit on this one" Tori's laughter had subsided and she looked serious. "I don't like seeing Chloe like this. She's withdrawn and she's going to make herself sick if she runs herself down anymore." Before I could feel flattered by her concern she added "Besides, she's keeping me up too."

"And we certainly don't need you to be any bitchier" Simon snarked "though it would be really hard to tell."

Tori held up one long middle finger right in front of her face. Simon made the same gesture right back. Tori hit him with a really small knock back spell that made his hand hit his nose. How she'd learned to do that was beyond me. She had been studying sorcerer's spells with Kit since we didn't have a witch handy, but I didn't even know you could focus it that small.

"Stop hitting yourself" She taunted.

"Dad" Simon whined.

"Stop it, both of you. Do I need to separate you again?"

I finally spoke. "I just want to make sure I'm understanding this. Are you asking me to sleep with Derek?"

Derek's head shot up and his startled eyes met mine.

Aunt Lauren yelled "No!" at the same time Kit said "Yes"

Kit cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes, I want you to, but there are connotations with the phrase "sleep with" that don't come into play here. It needs to be completely plutonic"

"I see" I said. My face was now as red as Derek's.

"Kit" Aunt Lauren started, "I am responsible for Chloe. I just can't let her sleep in the same bed with some hormone fueled teenager. I know things aren't ideal right now, but I don't see how they could possibly be any better if she ended up pregnant."

"Aunt Lauren" I gasped, blushing even harder.

"Lauren, be reasonable. It's not like they're going to be by themselves. They'll be sharing a room with Simon and me. How is it any different then when they snuggle up together on the couch or in the van? In fact, it will probably be less harmless because they'll both be asleep."

"It will be different because they'll be lying down"

"Lauren, we both know that that isn't a prerequisite for having –"

"And before they were fully clothed" Aunt Lauren whipped her head around to glare at Derek "If given the choice I'm guessing you don't sleep with your jeans on. What do you normally sleep in? You don't strike me as a pajama kind of guy."

Derek just gaped at her with a startled look on his face. "I . . . um . . ."

"This was your idea wasn't it? Just some clever way to get in my niece's pants."

"Now just a minute -" Kit started.

By now Derek had gotten himself worked up into a state "No, this was not my idea. I think it's a terrible idea. I told my Dad I would take care of it myself. I don't want Chloe to have to do this. It's my problem not yours. I'll deal with it. Forget this conversation ever happened." Then Derek stormed out of the room.

I gave Aunt Lauren a disappointed look, and then ran after him.

This motel was set off the main highway. Each room door opened up to the parking lot. We were in the back and on the other side of the lot was a large wood. I caught a glimpse of Derek's white t-shirt at the far end and I called his name once. I knew I would never catch up to him, but I was hoping that he thought I would try. He wouldn't risk me getting hurt trying to find him. I was right; he was pacing in a small clearing about twenty feet in.

"Did you mean that," I asked.

"Yes, I can take care of myself."

"No, not that part, the part where you said you don't want me there"

"That's not what I said."

"What did you say then?"

"I said I didn't want you to have to be there"

"I'll be honest. I'm really really tired. I want to have a good night sleep, one where I don't stay up worrying about what will happen, and once I do fall asleep, have terrible nightmares. That two hour nap in the van is really the best sleep I've had since that night we fell asleep in the forest after your change. Do you get that? Sleeping in a hot van and a cold forest were the best sleep I've had" I gave him a pointed look "because I was with you.

"So instead of me doing it for you, can you please do it for me?"

"What about your aunt?"

"What about her? She cares about me and doesn't want to see me hurt. I'm hurting a lot right now. I can't think straight and my stomach is upset all the time. I know she's still nervous about you, but it was you she talked to about getting me out of the Edison Group while she ran the distraction. She knows you're a good person, even if you are moody..."

He gave a half grunt of a laugh and rolled his eyes.

"She needs sleep too. I think she just doesn't like feeling out of control. I'm not her little girl, but I'm the closest thing she has to one. She's having a hard time with me growing up. And I think she's having a harder time dealing with the fact she help the people who have put me in danger. I'll talk to her when we get back. I think if she doesn't feel its being sprung on her, it will go better."

I took a deep breath "But I need to know you're ok with trying this out. I know you pretty well now, and if you don't want to do it, I don't think it will work. You're looking for comfort, and if you're not comfortable . . ."

"No, it's not that. I would like to sleep with you" he blushed "er, you know what I mean. I just know you too, and you'll do something you don't like if it will make a friend feel better. I don't want this to be a pity cuddle"

"Nope, this time I'm being selfish."

"Well alright then" he grinned "let's go get some shut eye"

I'll be honest, it started out pretty awkward. There were details to be hammered out. I wouldn't be staying in the boys' room, just sleeping there. My showering and changing and just hanging out would all be done in the girls' room.

Aunt Lauren wasn't happy with it but she said she knew it was worth giving it a shot. She had lots of suggestions on what she thought I should wear to bed, and what she thought Derek should wear to bed. I hate it wearing flannel pajamas, I always feel like my legs are Velcrod together. Wearing a sweat suit when your normal body temperature exceeded 105 degrees didn't sound so appealing to Derek either. She pursed her lips together and didn't suggest anything else after Tori volunteer to run to Walmart to see if they had any chastity belts.

No one had been sleeping well for the last two weeks, and when Kit claimed it was time for bed at 9:00 there weren't any complaints.

I got changed into a very chaste t-shirt and sleep shorts combo, washed my face and brushed my teeth.

Aunt Lauren whispered in my ear as she gave me a hug "If he tries something or you feel the slightest bit funny about anything, you come back into our room right away. We'll figure something else out."

I told her I would be fine and headed into the boys' room. Kit and Simon were already in bed - Simon sketching and Kit reviewing documents of some kind or another. I crawled into the other bed and scooched over to the far side. Derek came out of the bathroom in his shorts and a t-shirt and stopped at the end of the bed. He gave me one of his inscrutable looks, glanced at his dad and Simon, and then got in.

Kit and Simon both put their work down. And then Kit said "everyone comfortable?" Without waiting for an answer he clicked off the light and said "sleep well" as if saying it would make it happen.

Derek and I lay stiffly next to each other not moving, not touching and not sleeping. After about fifteen minutes both Kit and Simon were snoring. Since I could whisper super quiet and still have him hear me, I could have a conversation with Derek and not worry about waking them up.

"You can take your shirt off."

A grunt for a response

"I know you don't usually sleep with one and we're having a hard enough time getting comfortable as it is."

A very long pause, a sigh, and then he sat up and took it off. It dropped on the floor next to the bed. He lay along the other side of the bed, as far away from me as he could get. The foot between us seemed like miles.

I scooched back to the middle of the bed until my shoulder pressed up against his. He tensed even more.

"Derek, isn't contact the whole point of this?"

A grunt

I turned towards him and laid one hand on his stomach. "Is this ok?"

Another grunt.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm going to go to sleep now. I'm exhausted."

I knew he wouldn't relax until he was sure I was fine with the whole thing, so I did the trick I learned when I was little. Starting with my toes I told myself that they were really heavy, couldn't move, and had fallen asleep. Then the balls of my feet. And then my ankles. I don't remember anything after my thighs. I fell asleep pretty quickly.

I'm not sure how long Derek lay awake. I only woke up once in the middle of the night. At some point, I must have rolled away from him, but he'd followed. He was spooned against me – one arm wrapped around my waist. I figured he must have been asleep when he did it. His arm was under my shirt, and I don't think he consciously would have tried anything like that without my express permission first. I didn't mind. In fact, I liked it. It felt warm and safe. I smiled to myself and fell right back asleep.