This was exactly why they avoided busy places. They simply drew too much attention.
Chloe threw an irritated glance, an uncharacteristic bubble of anger swelling in her stomach, along with another emotion she couldn't quite place. Tori, her amusement evident in her eyes, merely crossed her arms and watched the situation unfold with a sardonic smirk. Little, timid, quiet Chloe was actually showing the slightest signs of aggression, and while she knew the blonde gone black haired girl would never act out on the impulse, she was going to milk it for all it was worth. Entertainment was running short during their time on the road and here it was, the situation presenting itself on a silver platter. It was simply too rich to pass up.
"Why don't you just go over there?" Tori snapped for the tenth time in the past few minutes. Chloe's eyes flashed with uncertainty.
"And say what?" She questioned, not taking her eyes off the scene. "It's not like... I have any right to..."
Tori sighed heavily. "For Christ sake, Saunders, just go over there instead of standing here like some sort of kicked puppy. It's completely pathetic."
Chloe remained where she was, though, completely confused at what to do.
They had run low on supplies and come into a small town during their travels, so they had convinced Kit and Aunt Lauren to go and find a motel room while they went to the local market to gather necessary items. As it turned out, there was only one grocery store in the entire town and it branched off a number of small mom and pop shops, forming a mini mall that made an ideal hang out spot. To make the situation even better, the high school was a few minutes walk down the road and it seemed to be the end of the school day as every teenager in town now seemed to be milling around. While they took notice of the outsiders, travellers weren't uncommon here as it was one of the available stops on the way to popular tourist destinations.
That did not mean, however, that they were ignored as they had originally hoped.
Chloe and Tori had gone into the store to purchase food while they left it to the boys to gather other essentials in the other establishments in the area. Chloe looked down forlornly, the boxes of instant foods that they had grown so accustomed to on the road proving to be a momentary distraction. That was, until Tori dragged her attention back to the matter at hand.
"Look, if you don't do something, you are simply not doing your duty as a girlfriend."
Chloe's face coloured slightly as her attention went back to the two boys who were supposed to be browsing shelves, but had obviously hit a little snag.
A gaggle of girls their age stood before Derek and Simon, each more flirtatious then the next. Simon smiled good-naturedly, saying something that they could not hear but lead to a chorus of high-pitched, airy laughter that could be heard across the parking lot. Tori nearly gagged as one of the girls breathlessly exclaimed "You're so funny!", clutching her stomach and placing her hand lightly on Simon's shoulder, fluttering her eye lashes up at him.
Gross.
However, both Chloe and Tori knew well that Simon could handle himself. He had more then enough experience with the opposite sex to know how to handle a few lightweights like these. It was the hulking mass that happened to be Chloe's boyfriend that had managed to hold her attention.
Along with the girl who was rather unabashedly flirting with him.
She was pretty enough, a red-head with light, clear skin and bright, expressive brown eyes. Taller then Chloe, a more exaggerated waist then Chloe and definitely more developed in the chest then Chloe. She smiled charmingly, saying something to Derek that earned a grunt in response. She giggled.
Chloe glanced down at herself, suddenly feeling very inadequate. True, there was something there, just not... Much.
Tori caught this and rolled her eyes. "Please, Saunders, there is nothing to worry about. Don't go fishing for compliments out of me, but you aren't exactly hard on the eyes. Just go over and stake your claim already, this entire situation is turning my stomach as it is."
"But... Wouldn't that just draw more attention?" Chloe questioned, "We're supposed to be laying low and covering our tracks, I can't just... I can't just go over there because I'm..."
"Spit it out already." Tori snapped impatiently, placing her hand in the small of Chloe's back and shoving her forward, snagging her bag of groceries simultaneously. "You're jealous. So for once in your life, go over and do something about it!"
Chloe glanced back at her, unsure. She made shooing motions with her hands, mouthing the words 'stake your claim', before placing her hands on her hips and shooting her an expectant look.
Sighing, Chloe knew she wasn't getting out of this without going over there, so she woodenly walked over. This was silly, she could tell Derek wasn't interested, he hadn't so much as really spared this girl a glance. Derek wasn't the flirty type (Not even with her, and considering she was his girlfriend, that was saying a lot) and she definitely did not have any type of concern with anything happening behind her back. Derek simply was not like that and she refused to even consider the possibility that he would even be tempted by an offer. Not only would their situation never allow for such a thing to happen, but she trusted him completely.
That didn't stop her from feeling furious that this random girl was making eyes (Or at least trying to) with him.
"Hey!" She said, unsure of how to approach the situation. They all turned to look at her. Simon amused, the girls immediately sizing her up and Derek with a look she would almost call relief.
"We're done shopping, we're ready to go now." Chloe stated, pointing a little lamely to Tori who was now shaking her head in disappointment. Chloe flushed, glancing between Derek and Simon in desperation. "We should probably get back to the hotel..."
Chloe couldn't help but notice the way the red-head was sizing her up the same way she herself had been not minutes ago. Judging by the smirk, she wasn't impressed by what she saw.
Chloe flushed, much to Derek's confusion. His scowl deepened as he watched color rise to her cheeks, an eyebrow raising as if unsure of what was wrong with her.
At his side, Simon tried to restrain the laughs that desperately wanted to emerge. Nice to know he was so supportive.
The red-head moved forward, her hand reaching out to Derek's. "Hey, I know your sister here wants you back but we just wan-"
Everyone froze temporarily, Chloe's eyes widening with surprise when she realised what she had done. She had no idea exactly how she had wound up with Derek's hand in hers, her confused mind somehow working out that she had rather rudely jumped forward and grabbed it, her body obviously having a mind of it's own. One minute she was thinking that she would not allow this new girl to touch him, the next... She made sure of it. She looked up to see Derek's baffled expression and had it been another situation, she would have laughed. Never before had she seen such an overly shocked look on his face.
She looked up at the red head as bravely as she could. "I'm not his sister, I'm his g... Girlfriend."
Everyone was stunned into silence, except Simon who wearing an expression of pleased amusement. Chloe's mind continued to darken, her mind flying to all those movies that she had seen during sleepovers, the ones with the jealous girls who try to steal boys from the female lead, most of the time through distasteful methods, before the heroine finally won out in the end. She didn't know what to expect, she was completely new to all of this. Would they pounce on her? Scream? Pull her hair? Somehow starting nasty rumours just wouldn't fit the situation since they were travelling on the road but surely some other mode of revenge would be implemented to move the plot forward at a faster pace...
While all these scenarios were absolutely ridiculous to the situation, she couldn't fight the nervous toiling in her belly and her hands began to shake, Derek's hand still limp in her own, seemingly still trying to work out exactly what was happening. While Derek did have a magnificent mind and was one of the most intelligent individuals any of them had the pleasure of meeting, people skills, particularly when it came to Chloe, did not come quite as easily to him.
So imagine Chloe's surprise when all three of them began to giggle.
"Aren't you cute!" Squealed the blonde, laughing at the flushed look on her face.
"I know, right!" Shrieked the brunette, "You go girl, march over here and get your guy." She shot her red haired friend a pointed look. "Don't you feel bad now? All that time you thought she was just a jealous little sister."
"Hey, I never would have done it if I knew and you know it Amber." Snapped the red haired girl, shooting Chloe an apologetic look. "Sorry sweetheart, I didn't know you two were involved like that, I would never have even thought about it. I'm not a boyfriend stealer."
"O-Oh.." Chloe stammered, feeling more humiliated by the second. "Sorry, I j-just..."
"Ack, she's just so adorable!" The girl named Amber slapped her hands excitedly, glancing between her and the now poker faced Derek.
"Well, ladies, it's been a pleasure talking to you." Simon said with a gentlemanly flourish of his hand, "But we really must be leaving."
All three of their smiles fell in disappointment.
"Oh, alright." Muttered the red-head, giving Chloe one last sad look. "I really didn't mean anything by it."
"Oh, it's o-okay." Chloe explained, releasing Derek's hand to wave them in order to reassure her that there were no hard feeling.
She smiled. "Alright, maybe we'll see you around."
They said their goodbyes, heading back to Tori. Chloe kept her head bowed, glancing up at Tori who was wearing an exasperated yet somewhat amused expression.
"Well, that was definitely one way of handling it." She sighed, turning away. "C'mon, I'm starving."
She had definitely stepped over some sort of line. She didn't know what she had done, but she had definitely done something to upset him.
They had eaten their dinner without a single word exchanged between Chloe and Derek, although the rest of the group seemed to ignore the awkward atmosphere that hung over the two of them. He wasn't initiating conversation and considering she could hardly even look at him, she definitely wasn't going to be the one starting anything. She caught Tori shooting her looks from across the table but remained silent, most likely from Simon keeping her somewhat in check.
They each went to their own separate rooms, the boys sharing one and Tori, Aunt Lauren and Chloe sharing the other. Tori collapsed into the mattress and was asleep within minutes, completely dead to the world, Chloe laying still beside her. It took Aunt Lauren a while longer to drift off but it wasn't long before she heard her calm, even breaths as she drifted off into slumber.
Chloe glanced out the window, the moon illuminating the room with a soft glow. She tried to sleep but the nerves toiling around in her belly refused to subside. What exactly had Derek been thinking when she had grabbed his hand like that? He had seemed rather perplexed about the whole situation, as if jealousy wasn't something he would expect from her. Quite honestly, it wasn't something she would have expected from herself. It was an emotion she hadn't really felt before, let alone that strongly. He hadn't even been responding to the girl's advances, he had shown no form of response at all. Really, her jealousy was completely uncalled for.
Sighing heavily, she tossed her legs off the side of the bed, standing and grabbing her jacket before silently slipping out the door into the cool night air.
She shivered slightly from the bit of the cool breeze as it rustled her hair but she walked over purposefully to the door next to theirs. As lightly as she could, she tapped on the door three times. With his super wolf hearing, it wouldn't be long. She waited.
And waited.
Growing doubtful, she tapped the door again, a little bit louder this time.
"Derek?"
When no answer came, she began to wonder if perhaps he had drifted off to sleep. Somehow, she doubted it. He always heard her.
She fought to keep a lump from forming in her throat. Was he... Avoiding her?
Embarrassed by her actions, no doubt.
For anyone else, she would have merely gone back to bed, feeling a little upset but giving them their space. But Derek was different. He didn't pussyfoot around a problem, if he had an issue he was always right there to tell you exactly what you had done wrong, she was sure it was one of his greatest pleasures to point out her errors. So for him to be avoiding her, she must have really screwed up.
Timidly, she walked past the door, not know what exactly to do but knowing that she couldn't go back to her room. She blinked back tears, ones that she blamed on the cold wind burning her eyes, as she tiptoed down the path to go and sit on a bench that overlooked a surprisingly picturesque view of the woods below. She stepped on a rock, cursing the fact that she had completely forgotten to put on shoes, but she kept walking, rubbing her arms to warm them from the cold.
"-art, you can be such an idiot."
Chloe jumped an almost comical amount, Simon's slightly annoyed tones drifting through the air from in front of her. She tiptoed forward, peeking around the corner and she was shocked to find not only Simon but Derek sitting on the very bench she had been headed to. She jerked back, almost debating running back to her room and feeling rather surprised that Derek's superhuman senses hadn't picked up on her yet. However, she supposed her bare feet, the wind blowing the opposite direction from them and his assuming she was probably asleep by now made it easier for her to sneak up on them.
His grunt was unimpressed. "I don't exactly have your years of expertise to draw on, now do I? I don't know girls."
Simon chuckled. "That you don't, Bro. Dunno how Chloe handles it."
Another grunt.
"You really don't have any idea why she did it?"
His silent reaction lead to a light laugh from his brother.
"Alright Bro, let's put it this way. Just imagine Chloe was being chatted up by these guys who were obviously interested in her, you know, that way. What would you do?"
"They weren't interest in me."
"Are you blind? Little Miss red-head definitely was. She could hardly take her eyes off you."
"I didn't notice."
"Well, Chloe did."
There was a quiet moment of contemplation and Chloe had to remind herself to breathe.
"She was jealous, Bro. You didn't notice it but she was staring us down for quite a while before she came over."
There was a moment of silence. Then, slowly, an exhale. "Yeah?"
"Yeah, man. She was totally jealous. Gotta admit, I was just as surprised as you were, I never would have thought she would take hold of the reins like that, but she really put herself out there today. For being so timid, I was really impressed."
Derek remained silent. She could faintly make out the sound of Simon standing. "Well, I'm going to bed. 'Night."
Derek grunted an affirmative. Quickly then she thought, she heard Simon's steps heading her way and quickly she realised she had nowhere to hide. Panicking, she didn't have time to think before Simon rounded the corner, his eyes widening slightly in surprise when he saw her. His mouth quirked slightly, his hand patting her on the shoulder before moving past her back to his room.
She watched him go, her mind working a mile a minute. Part of her wanted to go back to bed, pull the sheets over her head and imagine she had dreamt the entire conversation between them. Admitting to him that she had been jealous? It would be humiliating. She could see his sneer in her minds eye even now.
The mere thought was mortifying.
Still, if he was confused about her behaviour, she knew he would not be the first to come forward. She had to take the initiative. Derek was smart and straight forward with a lot of things, but his relationships with people were one of the few things that perplexed him. Taking a deep, calming breath, she stepped around the corner and headed to the bench.
Much to her surprise, he didn't even notice her arrival until she had sat down on the seat, nearly close enough to lean against him. He turned towards her, his mouth open already to say something when he realised that it wasn't Simon coming back. His jaw clicked shut, his expression surprised before he smoothed his features once more, turning to look out at the moon. She couldn't help but notice the way he had tensed, but she took comfort in that while there was space to move away from her, he remained where he was. He didn't move closer, mind you, but he definitely did not move away.
It was progress. Not much, but progress.
The sat in an awkward silence for a moment before she finally worked up the courage to speak. "Hi."
Lame, she spat to herself. Totally lame.
"Hey."
She twiddled her hands, her cheeks coloring as she silently wondered why she had come here if she wasn't even going to be able to work up the courage to say anything. She was almost ready to stand up and retreat when his voice broke the silence.
"Were you jealous?"
She started slightly, ignoring him watching her from the corner of his eye as she turned her gaze down towards her hands, her muscles tightening as she considered the best way to answer. While his voice had startled her, the blunt nature of his inquiry had not. When it came to Derek, he always chose the fastest and most direct route to solving a problem. She supposed, with Derek, straightforward and honest was always the best way to go.
"Y-Yes." She stammered slightly, her heart fluttering in her chest. "I was."
A moment, then. "Why?"
"Why?" She burst out indignantly, not believing he had just asked that question. He ignored her outburst, meeting her gaze evenly as he searched her eyes for an answer. "What do you mean why?"
"Why would you be jealous?" He repeated, saying the question slowly as if she wouldn't understand it if he spoke too quickly.
"Well." She sputtered, her hands clenching in frustration. "You were... Well, she was... I could tell she was interested, okay?"
Derek seemed genuinely confused now. "Who was?"
"The redhead." Chloe snapped, "She even mentioned that she wasn't a boyfriend stealer, don't try to play stupid with me Derek. I know your too smart to have not noticed."
He shrugged. "I didn't really notice until she said that, but I had no reason to think she was interested before." He looked back out at the sky. "It might just be because I don't have any kind of interest in that sort of thing so I just don't notice." He looked down at the grass. "Besides, before... Well, you... I've never had a girl interested in me before." Chloe couldn't fight down the blush that rose to her face then, her eyes turning down to the grass in effort to find something to focus on other then him. "They've always just used me to get to Simon, those girls were no different."
"She liked you, though." Chloe told him softly. "I could tell."
"So?"
"Well, it is nice to know you're... Attractive, right?" Chloe murmured, pleased when she didn't stutter. "You can admit that it's nice to be liked, right? She was rather pretty too..."
Derek considered her for a moment. "But why should I care?"
Chloe remained silent.
He sighed heavily. "Chloe, do you find me attractive?"
She nearly choked, her face turning very hot at the blunt nature of his question. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, only to find him staring at her intently. This didn't help her temperature, but knowing that he was waiting for an answer, she nodded a nervous yes.
He leaned back, releasing a breath she didn't know he was holding. "Good. Then that's what I care about."
She couldn't help the small smile that crept to her face. "Do you find me attractive?"
Her eyes widened and she suddenly wanted to crawl in a nearby hole, not believing those words just came of her mouth. Still, she didn't try to retract her words because honestly, she was curious to know the answer.
She glanced at him, only to find him not looking right at her, diverting his almost glowing green eyes up towards the moon once more. He received her entire gaze when she became aware that his cheeks had darkened ever so slightly. Part of her refused to believe that he was embarrassed, let alone blushing over a matter that he had seemed so cool and collected over, that perhaps it was a trick of the light. The other part of her, however, was giddy over the fact that she had managed to make the great, collected, stone faced Derek blush.
She could just imagine if Simon were here now.
"Yeah, course I do." He replied, daring to flick his eyes to her for a second. When he realised she was watching he quickly turned back to the sky, his muscles tensing slightly under her curious look.
Yes, he was definitely embarrassed. It actually succeeding in making her feel better about the whole situation.
Making up her mind, she scooted over close to him, leaning against his side and allowing herself to relax against his shoulder, his warmth intoxicating as her eyes closed in contentment. He was tense for a moment, almost unsure of what to do and for a dreaded second she wondered if perhaps he was going to leave, but she was relieved to feel the comforting weight of his arm across her shoulders, his hand moving to rub her arm. She sighed lightly, content, and the small sound relieved some of the tension from him, his breathing slowly evening out as the seconds ticked by. The last thing she heard besides the stirring of leaves as the wind brushed past them was Derek quietly muttering something about 'no shoes', moving slowly as her gently adjusted her to a more comfortable position.
She was at complete and utter mercy at the hands of someone her Aunt considered to be a bloody thirsty, uncontrollable monster. He had superhuman strength that could crush her without a thought and he could transform into a wolf with fangs and claws designed for a predatory nature. He had been beaten, shot at, bullied, cursed, lied to and ostracised because of his supernatural abilities and had grown an antisocial nature due to how he was treated. He had every right to be the terrifying creature that everyone thought him to be.
And yet, here she was, falling asleep at his side with no fear or thought to how horribly he could harm her. Sure, he could be brash and he had hurt her feelings more times then she could count, but the mere thought of him physically harming her was absolutely ludicrous.
She knew she loved him, and for the life of her she could not understand how others couldn't see that he was merely seeking acceptance from everyone else. He wasn't perfect, but she would accept this "monster" for all he was, antisocial nature and all.
For the first time in months, not a single ghost or body haunted her dreams.
She slept soundly until the first beams of light began to rise over the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant canvas of blues, purples and pinks. She yawned and stretched, her muscles complaining about her resting on the hard wood of the bench for the night. She yawned and blinked up blearily at Derek as he calmly reminded her that everyone would be waking up soon. The last thing he wanted was her Aunt finding her asleep next to him, of all people.
She snuggled back down next to him, her sleep fogged mind not fully registering the situation. "'M tired Derek, a few more minutes."
"Don't go back to sleep, Chloe. If you're out here when she wakes up she's going to go into cardiac arrest."
"Too bad." She muttered back, her brow wrinkling in annoyance at his persistence to wake her. He stiffened slightly as her arms wound around his torso, drawing his warmth back to her. "I'm comfy here."
He tensed suddenly, his hands becoming more urgent trying to rouse her. "Chloe, you need to-"
"Oh. My. God."
Chloe's eyes snapped open, her hands leaving him as she fumbled backwards off the bench, nearly eating dirt had Derek not caught her before hitting the ground. She glanced up to see Tori standing, still clad in her pyjamas, her eyes rolling as she turned, muttering something about sleeping out with the dogs. Simon stood beside her, grinning and delivering his brother a thumbs up, which only earned an eye roll from Derek.
Chloe felt her face go so warm it felt like it was on fire, she mumbled a thanks and she stood and straightened out her clothes. She took a step towards the motel only to stumble as her bare foot hit a rock. She could almost feel the sarcastic look from Derek and she heard him stand, only to find her feet leaving the ground.
"H-Hey! Derek!" She shrieked, her eyes meeting his and she was shocked to find them amused, the smallest of smirks on his face. His brother was having far too much of an influence on his behaviour. Old Derek would never have looked so pleased with himself. "I can walk, you know!"
"I'm not the idiot who came out here without shoes." He told her bluntly, showing no indication of putting her down.
"Well, it's not my fault! I went to your door before, I thought you would be in your room. It's your fault."
"Well, if it's my fault, I should take responsibility."
She huffed, crossing her arms. "And you were worried about Aunt Lauren before, imagine what she would do if she saw us now."
He placed her down in front of her door, waiting for her to turn the handle before turning to head back to the room he, Simon and Kit shared.
"Hey, Derek?"
He glanced back at her, watching with curiosity as she twiddled her thumbs and shuffled her feet. "Um, thank you, I guess... For everything you said last night. It did... Help."
Before he could reply, not the he would have known what to say, she scurried through her door. He didn't need superhuman hearing to hear Aunt Lauren shouting the moment the door closed, demanding to know what she had been doing outside without supervision. Shaking his head, he went into his own room.
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he realised just how stiff and sore he was from sitting in one position the entire night so not to rouse her. He looked up only to see the satisfied grin from Kit and the curious leer from Simon.
He regarded them carefully. "What?"
Kit shrugged his shoulders, turning to the bathroom, his proud expression still firmly on his face. "Nothing, Derek. I just heard you had a good night last night."
Derek shot a glare to Simon, who had easily placed on a mask of innocence, immune to his brother's harsh glare.
Derek remained silent, waiting for Kit to close the bathroom door before approaching Simon. "Just couldn't keep it to yourself."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Simon shrugged. Derek snorted, heading towards their bags to get a clean set of clothes. Simon rocked on the heels of his feet, wondering if perhaps the extra little jab would hurt too much.
Aww, Hell. He didn't get to have enough fun as it was.
"I'm willing to bet poor, innocent little Chloe didn't think she was going to be seduced by the big bad wo-" He was quickly silenced by a pillow flying across the room and hitting him in the face, courtesy of the big bad wolf himself.
Oh yeah, it had been totally worth it.