Derek woke up to loud pounding on his door, which meant that it was someone he knew, because otherwise they would have tried to sneak in and the alarm would be blaring.
But that also meant there was some kind of trouble. Bracing himself, Derek stood up from the couch he had dozed off on, into a pretty fitful sleep, to open the door because the pounding didn't stop for 1 second.
Once he opened the door, he was almost tackled to the floor by no one else but Scott. He had to hold out his arms and put his hands on his shoulders to steady him.
The first emotion Derek felt was panic, because he thought Scott was hurt, by the way he just fell forward when Derek opened up the door and the way he was shaking; Derek really thought the boy was seriously hurt. Pushing him a little further from himself to examine him, he didn't see any wounds; which was a relief. But maybe they were wounds you couldn't see from the outside⦠Derek tried to catch Scott's eyes. What he saw in them was such a mix of emotions that made Derek getting even more worried.
"Scott," he asked urgently, still searching Scott's eyes. "What happened?"
Derek could see when Scott's eyes came more into focus and he looked at him; really looked at Derek.
"You're here."
Derek frowned, "Where else would I be?"
"You're here."
"Scott?" Now Derek was past worried, he was getting into a panic again. "What's wrong with you?"
"You were dead."
Derek let out a small sigh of relief. It had been just a nightmare, apparently.
"I'm right here, Scott. Hey," Derek tightened his hold on Scott's shoulders, shaking him a little when his eyes seemed to unfocus again . "Look at me."
Scott shook his head a little and blinked a few times. "Derek?"
"Yeah. It's me."
"B-but... That's not possible. You were dead! I saw you die!"
"It was a nightmare. It wasn't real. Here, give me your hand." Scott held out a shaking hand, Derek took it in both of his and placed it on his chest, right above his heart. "You feel that? That's real, Scott. I'm still here. Still alive."
Scott stared at his, and Derek's, hands on the older wolf's chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart under his palm. It was finally coming together in his head.
"You're alive."
Derek felt relief wash over him. Scott was getting back to his senses.
"It seemed so real." Scott said softly, almost in awe. "I saw you die before my eyes. You were looking at me as you fell. I tried to catch you, pull you back, but I was too late."
"Shhh," Derek pulled Scott against him when he saw tears start to fall from his eyes. "It's alright. I'm here. It was just a nightmare."
Derek held Scott tight against him, rocking him back and forth a little bit, to sooth hi mand calm him down because he still seemed pretty wound up.
When Derek tried to pull back a little, after Scott seemed to have calmed down a bit, Scott tightened his hold around Derek's waist and whined softly.
"You don't want to stand here in the doorway all night, do you?" Derek asked softly, teasingly, then pulled Scott along with him inside the place he called his new home. He was still holding his hand with one of his own anyway.
"Don't leave me," Scott whispered, so soft that if Derek didn't have his werewolf hearing he wouldn't have heard him.
"I'm not going anywhere," Derek whispered back. "Come on. Let's get you back to bed."
"I don't think I could sleep again, " Scott complained, but still let Derek lead him to his bed.
"I'll be right next to you, Scott." Derek told him, starting to undress himself, then helping Scott with his clothes because his hands were still a little shaky. "You won't be alone."
"You're not gonna leave me?" Scott asked hopefully.
"No," Derek said reassuringly, pulling Scott against him as he lay himself and Scott down on the bed. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere."
"Ok," Scott whispered, nuzzling into Derek's chest, breathing in his scent. "Ok."
Derek stayed awake, stroking Scott's back soothingly, until the younger boy fell asleep. If he got another nightmare, Derek would be there.
The protective wolf finally fell asleep again as well, holding his most favorite person in the world in his arms.
Both slept with a peaceful smile on their face. No more nightmares terrorising either of them when they were together.
