**Disclaimer** I don't own TeenWolf or any of the characters except my OC's.

Chapter two now uploaded. Sorry for the long wait. Now that I'm getting into a rhythm I should be updating regularly. Ratings and reviews will be much appreciated. :)

Chapter Two.

Sweet Distance

After making it to the bottom of the stairs Derek looked around noticing the U-Haul truck from earlier was gone. He looked up at her in confusion whilst scanning the area to search out any signs of trouble. Eliza chuckled softly under her breath "I had the van booked for the evening so I text them when we finished unloading so they could collect it" he looked up at her with a lifted eyebrow. He could have sworn the he'd never taken his eyes off of her but she'd managed to sneak that by him. "How exactly were you planning on getting all that stuff up the stairs to the loft because there is no way you could have carried half of that by yourself" she looked at him shocked trying to come up with an excuse, ("with my powers") probably wasn't the answer she was looking for. "the removals men would have moved it if I hadn't text them otherwise" she spat out hurriedly. Derek noticed the change in her heartbeat to show that she was lying. "Uh huh" he said with his trade mark smirk. Eliza quickly thought of a way to distract him from prying too much whilst internally slapping herself for not thinking this all through very well.

"So pizza?" she questioned looking around for a vehicle of some kind eyes finally falling on a car shaped object lying under a tarp. Derek walked straight over tarp covered shape pulling it back to reveal a sleek, black Chevy Camaro, Eliza's mouth dropped "No freaking way! Is this yours?" she practically screamed whilst jogging over to the beautiful piece of artwork he called a car. He lifted an eyebrow at her obvious excitement over his baby. "Yep just upgraded to her" he responded never taking his eyes from her. He watched her whilst she looked over his car, watching the way her facial expressions changed and she subtly leaned towards the car as if all she wanted to do was touch it.

Eliza just stared absolutely dumbstruck that the car she had be drooling over for the last 6 months sine she saw one in Dallas was right in front of her. She was broken out of her revery by Derek clicking the unlock button and chuckling softly whilst she almost dived into the passenger seat. Once she was inside she knew she had to get one, it was beautiful black leather and sleek carbon fibre. So much craftsmanship had gone into making this car perfection. She inhaled the new leather smell still lingering in the seats and that default new car smell. Derek climbed into the drivers seat beside her and started the car with a grumble that she sighed blissfully at, no one had ever appreciated his car the way she did.

"So where were you living before here, you don't strike me as a California local" Derek asked cautiously, he wasn't one for prying or small talk but he was generally interested in this women's back story. She was such an enigma. Beautiful, sarcastic and quick witted but definitely new to the area, she didn't have the bitterness or wariness that came from being in Beacon Hills for a long time. He hoped this place never darkened her and that in itself confused and frightened him. He knew of his history with women and he didn't like that he immediately felt drawn to this mysterious girl that literally fell into his life. He had a pack to think about now and he couldn't put them in danger for a pair of pretty grey eyes.

Eliza watched him out of the corner of her eye, eagerly asking a question before thinking briefly and she physically felt his energy darken then pull away from her. He stiffened imperceptibly however she felt the change in him, the hardness and coldness he was now projecting. "I was in Nevada before this although not long" she said with a shake of her head and a frown. "Not a Las Vegas fan then?" He queried. "No" she replied "too loud and busy for me, before that I was in Dallas, New York, New Orleans, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hamburg, Paris, London, Edinburgh and far more than I could list" he looked up at her watching her face trace the memories associated with each place she'd been, with each city she would frown or smirk and he could tell which cities she preferred. "Wow that's a lot of places but none of those are your home town are they?" She suddenly looked up at him in shock, no one had every asked her where her home town was. "How did you guess?" she asked with a slight bite to her tone. "There is a slight accent you have on certain words that I can't quite figure out but it doesn't match any of the places you have mentioned." He replied and her eyes widened, she didn't have an accent did she? She was sure she had perfected keeping her voice neutral. "Almost sounds Scottish but not quite, hard to tell as it's so faint. Maybe Irish" She was impressed at his deductions, this Alpha was one to watch out for. She decided to just give a little bit of truth it wasn't as if anyone would find her if she told him. "You're right" she informed him "I'm originally from Dublin in Southern Ireland but it's been so long I didn't think I had much of an accent left" She turned back to the window, watching his reflection to see what he did. "It's pretty" he replied shocked at himself for the admission even If it was true. This girl was confusing him more and more. Why was he so open with her and why did he find it so easy to talk to her, he turned back to the steering wheel and focused on driving.

They had lapsed into an uneasy silence on the drive to the pizza place, when they arrived they ordered and carried on waiting in silence. He noticed her looking about the shop, out the windows, down the street, it looked like she was just taking in her surroundings but to anyone with as much paranoia as him would know that she was checking everything out, looking for dangers in the shadows, reading the room like she was waiting for someone or something to appear, something that she was trying to hide from. He started thinking back to all the places she said she'd been, was she just moving lot or was she running. They were all large cities with dense populations where someone new wouldn't stand out. What didn't make sense was why if she was hiding from someone would she move from a large city to a small northern California town with a population so low everyone noticed someone new? "So what made you move to Beacon Hills?" he asked before he could stop himself. She seemed to ponder the question for a moment and he wasn't sure if she was going to answer him. "I'm not actually sure to be honest, I was looking at a map and I suddenly got this feeling. Like I was drawn here you know. It's also reminds me a little of home. So the next thing I knew I was looking at rentals and found the loft, it wasn't even on the market for rent and I've never met the landlord but for some reason it was just like it was meant to be." She wistfully smiled at him thinking to herself of how she could be happy here, that maybe this could be home since she could never really go home. Maybe Beacon Hill's could be the place to get away from it all and finally settle.

Derek remained silent for a minute wondering if he should tell her that he actually owned the building and although he rented her loft to her through a retailer and knew nothing about her before he met her except that she was in her 20s, single and new to the area it was ultimately him that gave her the roof over her head. He wasn't sure how she would feel knowing that the guy living next to her, the one whose pack had fallen all over like puppies was the person who owned the building she lived in. She would probably be more wary of him and as much as he hated to admit it, he didn't want her wary and he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. All he had was this overwhelming urge to keep her safe and make her happy like she was his to look after. It was a strange feeling however the more the thought about it and the girl stood next to him he realised that it wasn't all that unwelcome.

—

As Derek opened the loft door for Eliza and himself he looked around expecting to find his pack lazing about, the teens playing video games whist Cora hid upstairs and Peter sat with his face in another mythology book, he stood shocked to find the loft spotless and the table set with plates, glasses and chairs set all around it. The pack never ate together at the table usually choosing to retreat with their food to their preferred seating area and they certainly never cleaned. He looked at them all as they looked up to the door and noticed they had all changed or cleaned up a bit except Peter who was exactly as he expected him, in the armchair with his nose in a book however this book looked different. It definitely wasn't the same book he was reading before. Derek brushed it off and looked back at his pack including Cora who all stood behind the island in the kitchen waiting expectantly. They weren't looking at the food though, it was Eliza they were all waiting for as if they were worried she would change her mind and not come back, they looked relieved when she walked in behind Derek with a crate of beer and a case of cokes as well as a bottle of red wine for Peter as Derek had informed her before she hit the liquor store that he thought beer was beneath him. He couldn't get his head around it, first they had cleaned then they all stood there expectantly waiting for her arrival as if she was the most important person in the world, it was like they sensed something in her that meant something and he was now more curious about this new girl.

Eliza looked around the room and smiled, it was obvious that these teenage boys had gone to a lot of effort to make the place look clean and presentable for her return. There were also obvious feminine touches from Cora as well such as the pressed tablecloth on the table and the scented candles and dim lighting. The room looked amazing and it was obvious that they were looking to her for approval. She let her smile grow to a full beam as she took in the boys appearances, they had all smartened up in true teenage boy fashion. Meaning clean t-shirts and jeans. They all looked great though and she couldn't deny it was nice to feel appreciated. They all looked at her smiling at them and smiled wider, then seemed to come to their sense and suddenly ran over to take the drinks and pizza off of her and Derek. Peter who had taken more of an interest since Eliza stepped into the room shook his head at the younger members of the pack all fawning all over this new addition like she was a Queen. He just couldn't understand it although he could agree that their was something about her. He made his way over to the table when Eliza intercepted him holding out a rather nice looking bottle of Pinot Noir towards him. He looked up from the bottle in surprise. "All Derek could tell me when I asked what wine you liked was red, so I made an assumption and chose a personal favourite of my own." She said to the shocked look on his face. He couldn't believe that not had she gone to the trouble of purchasing the wine for him but had also made an effort to pick a great bottle instead of just a cheap red for the bargain bin. "Thank you" he stammered, not used to thanking anyone. "It's actually a personal favourite of mine too." Peter was quite impressed by this young women, he had never met someone quite like her. Eliza just smiled softly in response as they made their way over to the table where everyone was now waiting for them.

—

Five large empty pizza boxes and a few beers later the pack sat around the table peppering Eliza with questions from where she lived, to her favourite movies, to whether she preferred English or American literature (that question being Peter's of course). She was happy to fill them in on the non important aspects of her life and found herself really enjoying being surrounded by these rambunctious youths and unaffected adults. It had been a long time since she had just sat and got to know people with fear of revealing too much and with this lot that was't much of an issue as they did the majority of the talking, Stiles in particular not stopping to breathe half the time. "So what do you do for a living" Cora asked having been the quietest out of the lot but biding her time for a moments peace. Eliza looked up to the young women face, taking in her deep amber coloured eyes that were staring straight at Eliza as if she was trying to figure her out. "Ah well I teach dance lessons. I've rented a studio downtown and I'm going to be setting it up tomorrow ready for opening day Monday." "What kind of dance?" Stiles piped up looking generally interested. "Pole dancing" she returned with a sly smile whilst the younger men all nearly choked and Derek, Peter and Cora burst out laughing. "Seriously?" Isaac asked with a face of part disbelief and part excitement in the way that only a teenager can pull off. "No" Eliza retorted "but it was worth saying just to see your faces, I teach ballet, modern, ballroom and dance exercise classes. A something for everyone kind of teacher." Cora actually looked a little intrigued, as did Peter however the rest of them look at her like they wouldn't be caught dead dancing. Derek however looked like he was plotting something, with a smug little smirk on his face.

As the evening wore on they all began to learn more about their new neighbour and the pack could all see that their were certain questions she avoided and some where the answer given was an outright lie. They tried to be suspicious of her as it was more than obvious that she was hiding something but for some reason they couldn't distrust her too deeply, everything about Eliza just seemed to put them at ease and in some cases they just thought that she felt like was an odd feeling, one that Derek shied away from with haste. Since his family had burned to death at the hands of Kate Argent nothing had felt like home to him and with his track record with women he certainly didn't feel comfortable liking someone who mystified him and drew hm in at the same time. Derek could tell by the way she acted at the pizza shop and how she was dodging questions this evening that she was obviously hiding something or from something. He knew that that could be very dangerous indeed.

Soon after everyone stood to say there goodbyes and head home. The boys all had something called lacrosse practice in the morning and they needed some semblance of sleep before then, as Stiles put it "coach will be a mega bitch otherwise" he then visibly shuddered so whoever this coach was he was quite the intimidating fella. Peter was next to head back to his apartment with a friendly goodbye and a mile a minute train of thought. After that all that was left was Cora, Derek and Eliza. Cora said goodnight and then with a knowing smile excused herself to her room leaving Eliza and Derek sat at the table surreptitiously watching each other without the others knowledge. There was an obvious attraction between the two of them, one that they were both fighting heavily. Derek was the first to break the silence, gruffly clearing his throat. "Would you like another drink? I think there is still some wine left or I can make coffee if you'd prefer." Eliza smiled at his offer "coffee would be great, this day has hit me harder than I thought it would. You'd think I'd be used to travelling by now" Derek stood to start making the coffee, secretly glad that she hadn't turned him down and left yet. Usually Derek couldn't wait for his solitude and he hated entertaining however with Eliza around it was almost like he was grabbing for one more minute. He shook his head whilst busying himself making the coffee. "So what's with the pack?" Eliza asked straight, Derek's head shot up like a whip crack trying to think of excuses and lies in his head to cover his tracks "What do you mean?" he asked, trying hard to keep the growl from his voice. "You know the gaggle of teenage boys following you around like puppies? Do boys not travel in packs? I thought that covered all teenagers." The sigh that Derek let out at her explanation was almost audible, he noticed that Eliza had cocked her head at him awaiting a response and he couldn't help himself but chuckle at her. "It's a sort of big brother thing, all of them have had a tough time recently and they needed a role model of sorts and we all fell into a rhythm of being together" he informed her semi-honestly although when he thought about his statement it was true if you ignored the full moon shenanigans that came with his pack. I smile appeared upon Eliza's face, Derek couldn't help the deep exhale at how breath taking she looked when she smiled. "You are full of surprises aren't you Derek, wouldn't have taken your gruffness for the big brother type" she said still smiling as his face got that bit more affronted although he couldn't really disagree with her. "I suppose I do come across a bit cross" he replied with a smirk. "Cross?" she exclaimed with a giggle "More like a giant sign on your forehead with "Cross me and die" in bold capitals." Derek physically preened at this statement knowing that was the exact look he had been going for, "I know that I'm not the most friendly of people and as long as people give me my space no lives will be taken" he said whilst trying to keep a straight face. "And yet there you are Mr Gentlemen and your brood helping a complete stranger move into her apartment, I'd say that's pretty friendly." Derek blanched slightly realising that he couldn't admit the he hadn't stopped to help but to stare at this angelic apparition in front of him and only offered so as not to look creepy. "Well who can resist helping a damsel in distress, I mean without my help you would probably still be hauling bags in" he said with a cheeky glint whilst Eliza thought over the fact that if she had of been alone she would have done all of it much quicker then they had with just a click of her fingers. "Oh, of course! I'm sure you can't help but save every helpless female you see and I just screamed "Help me oh handsome stranger!" did I?" she chuckled back at him "so you think I handsome?" he responded almost flirting whilst bringing the coffee, milk and sugar over to the coffee table, Eliza stood to move to the sofa to sit with him. "I was obviously talking about Isaac" Eliza said and there was a bet of silence before they both burst into fits of laughter, they stayed like this for quite a while and whilst wiping tears out of her eyes Eliza noticed how amazing Derek looked when he just let go and laughed. She guessed he didn't do this very often. She actually wondered who he had to laugh with him and just talk. The boys would all be to young and Cora was his sister so they probably didn't spend all that much time laughing.

Things quieted for a while and Eliza and Derek both got to making their coffee how they liked it. Derek noting that she liked a little milk and two sugars, his thoughts telling him to remember that little note of information. Eliza not noting how he liked his coffee but watching all of his muscles bunch and stretch whilst he leant to get his cup and his strong hands wrapping around a mug that looked positively tiny in his grasp. They both looked at each other and smiled, Eliza brought her legs up under her self and settled in blowing the steam from the top of her cup before deciding to continue the conversation without looking to eager to know more about this elusive man. "So is this home to you?" she asked thinking Beacon Hills was probably a safe topic to start with. "Derek looked over at her "Yes I've been here all my life, although I did move to New York for a while" she replied, "what did you think of New York?" she queried wanting to learn all she could whilst knowing she should keep her distance, she was warring with herself knowing as a fact that she shouldn't get close to anyone but craving this normalcy, friendship and closeness were two things she had forfeited for so long that just for a little while she wanted to enjoy it. They talked for over an hour about what they both liked/disliked about New York and Beacon Hills. What it was like growing up in one places vs travelling constantly and anything that came to mind. They talked and talked until they both looked up at the time realising they were well into the early hours, they knew it was time to say goodnight both reluctant after having enjoyed there evening together so much.

Eliza stood ready to grab her things from the kitchen island but Derek beat her to it. "Let me at least walk you over" he said carrying her things whilst Eliza smiled at him realising that he was as unenthusiastic to her leaving as she was to go. They walked over to her loft door silently both stealing looks at each other when they could without being caught by the other. As he reached over to open the door for her he suddenly stopped and turned to her "Do you have any plans for tomorrow afternoon?" he asked, Eliza looked up into his forest green eyes slightly shocked, not sure how to answer until he suddenly explained "They boys have a lacrosse game tomorrow and I wondered if you fancied going to cheer them on. We can introduce you to Californias national pastime" he smiled shyly at her almost kicking himself for the disappointment that she was about to say no. Ready to defend his offer Eliza suddenly stopped him before he could speak. "I'd love to, I've never heard of lacrosse and I think it would be interesting to watch, maybe you can show me around town a bit so I know what's what." Derek beamed at her "sounds great, game starts at 2pm so I can pick you up at 1 and show you around first then we can head over to the school" Derek couldn't hold back the grin, genuinely excited to spend more time with her. They both smiled at each other and said their goodnights. After Eliza shut the door and slid the lock into place both leaned their backs against the door, Derek listening to her heartbeat race and Eliza feeling his aura pulse. Both then smiled and walked away.